pumpkins: added to boil, fermentation or both?

[primalyeti]

Hello everyone,

I'm thinking of brewing a pumpkin ale in a few weeks in order to have it ready for October. I've never done a fruit / vegetable beer and figured this was a good way to get into it.

I've done a bunch of reading on how to add fruit, and noticed that the most common time to add it is during secondary fermentation; which led me to believe that the same would be true for pumpkins. However, after reading a bunch of pumpkin ale recipes, it seems the most common thing to do is to add the pumpkin to the boil.

Is there a reason it's boiled and not added to the fermenter? Could (should) I do both?

Thank you

 

[FreddyMar3]

Almost all of the pumpkin flavor that you associate with pumpkins actually comes from the spice additions in a beer. You might as well add the pumpkin to the boil because you aren't going to be losing much in the way of flavor by having the pumpkin in there for primary fermentation so you might as well add it during the end of the boil to be sure to kill anything. If you were to do the same with fruit, primary ferm would just blast away most of the fruit nuances. With pumpkin, you're not losing much although I'm sure others will disagree.

I just brewed my pumpkin beer last week (extract) and I have to say, I agree with those that say it doesn't make sense even adding pumpkin if you aren't going to be mashing it to get some utilization out of the starches. I tasted it when racking to secondary and all it added was a squash-like flavor (I added 15oz canned, baked for 45min@ 350 with 1/4 cup brown sugar). I originally planned on skipping the pumpkin but felt that would be fraudulent. I regret that decision. Maybe it would taste better if I started with actual pumpkin instead of the canned stuff. I'm going to brew another pumpkin beer and use just spices as a comparison.

 

[primalyeti]

I originally planned on skipping the pumpkin but felt that would be fraudulent.

That's kind of where I'm at. I feel like if I didnt put pumpkins in there, it'd just feel wrong haha. I think im going to try roasting it, then adding it to the boil but in a nylon bag.

 

[BayviewBrewer]

I'm doing a pumpkin ale in a few weeks and I plan on mashing the pumpkin. I also plan on adding a healthy dose of spices in the last 5 min of the boil.

 

[beaksnbeer]

I baked 4 pie pumpkins with spices at 250 for couple of hours (till they were soft) Splashed with 180 proof liquor and put in freezer then added to secondary with a bit more spice. Used a Cream Ale recipe with oatmeal friends say it's pumpkin pie in a glass

 

[primalyeti]

I baked 4 pie pumpkins with spices at 250 for couple of hours (till they were soft) Splashed with 180 proof liquor and put in freezer then added to secondary with a bit more spice. Used a Cream Ale recipe with oatmeal friends say it's pumpkin pie in a glass

So the pumpkin and spices really come through when added to the secondary?

 

[FreddyMar3]

So the pumpkin and spices really come through when added to the secondary?

You are going to find all kinds of different opinions on that. I've personally never tried the secondary route with pumpkin so I can't comment on that but it is definitely worth a shot.

This thread has lots of info on different techniques and methods. You'll here everything from mashing it, to adding it at the end of fermentation, as the previous poster does.

In the end, it is going to be one of those thing you have to test out and see what works for you. Good part is, pumpkin beer is almost always a crowd pleaser so you will have no problem getting people to drink it.

 

[beaksnbeer]

So the pumpkin and spices really come through when added to the secondary?

I tasted the the secondary hydo reading and the spices weren't comint through quite as much as I wanted so I added 1/8cinn., 1/8 nutmeg,1/4 allspice(tsp) The next one I will add a vanilla bean

 

[Iceman6409]

Just my two cents here. I have made two AG pumpkin ales and I chose to boil the pumpkin meat. I did bake them prior but I put no spices on the pumpkin itself. I personally chose to use 1 tablespoon of McCormicks pumpkin spice and no other spices. I was trying to avoid some of the "warm" pumpkin spice taste I had tasted in commercial beers. Then I discovered Southern Tier Pumking. BEST pumpkin beer ever in my opinion and that was the flavor I wanted. A little more "creamy" and less "warm". And I got that in the path I chose mentioned above both times. The ONLY bad part about boiling the meat is the cleanup afterwards. Strands all over the wort chiller, if you use one, and there was SOME clogging but I worked through it. MORE than worth a few minutes extra work in my world.

 

[primalyeti]

I think I'm going to take a similar route. My plan at the moment is to boil a bunch of roasted pumpkin for 90m in a nylon bag, to avoid a lot of the mess, and to use one of those pre-mixed pumpkin spices.

How much pumpkin have you guys used for a 5 gallon batch?

 

[Iceman6409]

I always go for a 9 or 10 pound pumpkin to get about 5-6 pounds of pumpkin meat

 

[primalyeti]

So pretty much a pound and a bit of meat per gallon.

Cheers!

 

[Iceman6409]

I guess. it has been working for me so far