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Making a pumpkin beer

Discussion in 'Beginners Beer Brewing Forum' started by stuknkrvl, Mar 9, 2015.

 

  1. #1
    stuknkrvl

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Mar 9, 2015
    Hey everyone. I promised my wife I would make her a pumpkin beer. I started putting together a recipe but got stuck right away because I'm not sure how adding in the pumpkin is going to affect my OG. Any advice?
    Thanks,
    Shane
     
  2. #2
    FirstAidBrewing

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Mar 9, 2015
    Canned pumpkin or fresh?
     
  3. #3
    stuknkrvl

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Mar 9, 2015
    Canned. I'm in south Texas, so fresh isn't an option this time of year.
     
  4. #4
    stuknkrvl

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Mar 9, 2015
    My initial plan is all grain...

    75% Maris otter
    13% Crystal 40
    7% Special roast
    5% Dark brown sugar
    6 pounds pumpkin

    Target OG 1.058

    I've never made a pumpkin beer before so I'm not sure how adding the pumpkin will affect the gravity. I assume it will raise it?
     
  5. #5
    Genuine

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Mar 9, 2015
    If you really want to make it simple on yourself, Northern brewer has a great All grain Pumpkin ale kit that i've been brewing for the past 3 years. I don't know what kind of system you have, however this year I'm using a recirculating mash system and the pumpkin created a stuck recirc and sparge - pain in the ass. I think this past year will be the last year I use canned pumpkin in the mash. I'll just leave it up to the spices. I don't know if it made a huge difference.

    Generally what I did with mine is that I baked 2 cans of pumpkin and added brown sugar which did bump up the abv a bit, however it was welcomed.
     
  6. #6
    freisste

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Mar 9, 2015

    Can't answer your question, but if you go this route, adventures in homebrewing has a really good pumpkin kit. Comes with the spices you need. Nobody believed me when I said there wasn't any actual pumpkin added. Great reviews from everyone who tried it as well.

    Which reminds me...I still have a couple bottles squirreled away in the back of a closet...
     
  7. #7
    mwjtennis

    Active Member  

    Posted Mar 9, 2015
    Here is my last pumpkin recipe that came out great (10 gals). I will not change a thing next halloween. Definitely recommend those exact spice ratios and boil them for last minute.

    2 Row 14 lb
    Victory 3 lb
    Crystal 60L 3 lb
    Flaked Wheat 2 lb
    Kroger 29 oz canned pumpkin (Mash) 3 cans

    Magnum 0.5 oz 60 min

    Cinnamon 2t 1 min
    Allspice 1t 1 min
    Ginger 0.5t 1 min
    Cloves 0.5t 1 min

    S-05
     
  8. #8
    Mexibilly

    Mexibilly

    Posted Mar 9, 2015
    Did you secondary on the pumpkin? Roasted?
    Not trying to hijack, but I brewed a pumpkin last year that was basically gross until the last few at 6 months maybe smoothed out.
     
  9. #9
    myerstyson

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Mar 10, 2015
    Are those teaspoons or tablespoons?
     
  10. #10
    frazier

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Mar 10, 2015
    t = teaspoon.
    T = tablespoon.
     
    myerstyson likes this.
  11. #11
    hunter_le five

    Sheriff Underscore

    Posted Mar 10, 2015
    Pumpkin beer? In the spring? :p

    Guess I'll start brewing my winter warmers then. They'll be ready just in time for the July heat wave.

    Regarding your recipe: The pumpkin itself is not going to add much noticeable flavor. I would suggest adding some pumpkin pie spices to the boil.
     
  12. #12
    hunter_le five

    Sheriff Underscore

    Posted Mar 10, 2015
    tsp = teaspoon
    tbsp = tablespoon
    t = :confused:
     
  13. #13
    Carusoat

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Mar 10, 2015
    I use 29 oz (2 big cans) of pumpkin puree in my pumpkin beer.

    Also, I throw 1/2 lb of rice hulls in the mash to help prevent a stuck sparge. The pumpkin gets pretty thick as you can imagine.

    Not sure how much this adds, but I also bake the pumpkin in the oven at 375 for about an hour with brown sugar on top. Then cool it and add it to the mash.

    My spice regime is completely different than above so I'll keep it to myself.
     
    IslandLizard likes this.
  14. #14
    Radobrewer

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Mar 10, 2015
    Here is my pumpkin recipe that I brewed for my wife and it is her favorite beer ever. It is based on Dogfish Head's Punkin' Ale. I added pumpkin pie spice at the last 5 minutes of the boil and more pumpkin spice in the secondary to her taste:

    American Amber Ale (6 B)

    Type: All Grain
    Batch Size: 5.00 gal
    Boil Size: 6.79 gal
    Boil Time: 90 min
    End of Boil Vol: 5.98 gal
    Final Bottling Vol: 4.60 gal
    Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage

    10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 74.4 %
    1 lbs Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.4 %
    1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.4 %
    5.0 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.3 %
    2.1 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 5 1.0 %
    0.50 oz Hallertau [4.50 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 6 7.3 IBUs
    1.00 oz Hallertau [4.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 13.2 IBUs
    1 lbs Brown Sugar, Dark [Boil for 60 min](50.0 SRM) Sugar 8 7.4 %
    1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 9 -
    0.50 oz Hallertau [4.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 1.3 IBUs
    2.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 11 -

    Notes
    Additional mash: 60 oz Libby's Pumpkin Pie Filling (unspiced) baked at 375 for 60m.
    1.5 Tbs McCormicks Pumpkin Pie Spice (last 5 min of boil).

    Good luck! :mug:
     
  15. #15
    william_shakes_beer

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Mar 10, 2015
    If you've ever tasted actual fresh pumpkin, it has little to no taste. What you think of as pumpkin flavor is the spice bill in front of the residual sweetness of the remaining ingredients. The first 3 years doing pumpkin I was shy on the spices and got little to no flaor. This year I went overboard and got a very bitter brew. Next year I'm going to do 1 rounded table spoon each of
    ginger, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and allspice
    at 5 minutes (like an aroma addition) .

    I always drop my wort into the fermenter through a ss seive, so I think in previous years I was straining out all my spice. This is half the spice I did this year.
     
  16. #16
    IslandLizard

    Progressive Brewing Staff Member  

    Posted Mar 10, 2015
    For a 5.5 gallon batch I baked 75 oz (5x 15oz cans) of pumpkin puree on 3 cookie sheets in a convection oven for a few hours to get a nice toasty crust on it. First the oven will need to drive off the water before it can caramelize. Then I had to scrape and redissolve the crusty puree in the strike water. Lautered with 12oz of rice hulls, and it took over an hour to get the last runnings.

    When all was done there was a only the slightest detectable hint of pumpkin flavor in the resulting beer (spicing was kept very simple and subtle) and perhaps some of that smooth mouthfeel I had heard of. The color was the most outstanding, a beautiful orange. Next time I will use 2 or 3 more cans, but since I'm not sure baking really adds much, I may skip that ordeal. I'll add some oats too for extra smooth mouthfeel.

    The beer got better with age and was about perfect after 6 months in the keg. Still looking to get more of the real pumpkin flavor, though.

    Added:
    If you get a chance to try, New Belgium brews a remarkably good Pumpkin Ale. I can actually taste the pumpkin in it. I suspect they use some sort of flavoring.
     
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2015
  17. #17
    Radobrewer

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Mar 10, 2015
    +1 for rice hulls if you are sparging. As previous posters have mentioned, most of the flavor comes from the spice. I wouldn't add it until the end of the boil and/or to the secondary.
     
  18. #18
    mwjtennis

    Active Member  

    Posted Mar 10, 2015
    No pumpkin in fermentors, only mash.
     
  19. #19
    IslandLizard

    Progressive Brewing Staff Member  

    Posted Mar 10, 2015
    I was actually considering to add the pumpkin puree itself to a secondary for a couple weeks and filter through a fine mesh hop bag when racking. The pumpkin puree sludge can be strained and squeezed under sanitary conditions, contributing more color and hopefully some flavor.
     
  20. #20
    mwjtennis

    Active Member  

    Posted Mar 10, 2015
    t meant for teaspoon, sorry
     
  21. #21
    sboyajian

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Mar 10, 2015
    I roasted my pumpkin at 375 for 90 minutes until it started to caramelize on top then I added it to my sparge water, mixed it up good and used that mixture for my sparge. Added the pumpkin pie spices to the boil with 5 minutes to go.

    Took about 4-5 months of conditioning, but it's pretty good now.
     
  22. #22
    KeninMN

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Mar 10, 2015
    I also recommend the Northern Brewer Smashing Pumpkin Ale recipe. I mashed three 15-oz cans in with the grain. I hate the taste of nutmeg, so I used 2 tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp each of cloves and ginger in the last 10 minutes of the boil. I also made a spice tincture by steeping the same amount of spice in 5 ounces of vodka for two weeks before bottling, and then adjusted the spice level before I added the priming sugar. In addition, I added 1-lb of lactose to the bottling sugar water to add some sweetness and extra mouth feel. It turned out fantastic and was very well like by everybody who tried it.
     
  23. #23
    stuknkrvl

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Mar 10, 2015
    I'm fairly new to brewing. So far I've only brewed with a buddy but I'm about to get my own setup and told my wife I'd make her anything she wants. She wants a pumpkin beer. Who cares about the season if the beer tastes good, right?

    Anyway, I only posted the grain bill in my original post, so here's the completed recipe...

    5 gallons
    Target OG 1.064
    80 minute boil
    Mash @154 for 75 minutes

    10 pounds Maris Otter
    2 pounds Crystal 40
    1 pound Special Roast
    Half pound dark brown sugar (added after the mash)
    6 pounds pumpkin roasted @350 for an hour - half in mash, half added to boil
    1 ounce UK Kent Goldings at 60 minutes
    2 T ginger
    1 T clove
    1 T allspice
    0.5 T cinnamon
    0.5 T nutmeg
    (Spices all in at 3 minutes)
    Wyeast 1450

    Most of the recipes I've looked at use pale 2 row for the base, but I wanted a little more malt on the backbone so I chose Maris Otter.

    Thoughts or suggestions?

    Thanks!
     
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