Pumpkin Porter

Making a pumpkin porter from Extreme Brewing book by Dogfish people...calls for a tablespoon of each..cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg. add last 7.5 minutes of boil. I want to add 2 vanilla beans and was wondering if that is too much? Anyone have any experience with vanilla beans in their boil. I am a rookie so any advice would be helpful. Thanks people.

 

welcome to the hobby, you might want to delete this and post it over in the beginners area. maybe a mod will move it.

this is mainly for building projects and stuff like that.

but never used vanilla beans. good luck

 

I made this beer over a year ago, it is amazing. I can tell you right now that you will need to add almost twice as much spice to get a good flavor.

 

Just made a pumpkin ale. You can buy "Pumpkin Pie Spice" which contains all the spices you need instead of buying all the individual containers.

I also second the idea that you'll need about double the amount of spices to get a good flavor (you can add it later after fermenting if you need to).

 

Any thoughts of using actual pumpkin along with the vanilla and spices?

 

Haven't tried it, but Northern Brewer describes an all grain/partial mash technique where partially cooked pumpkin is added to the mash. The barley enzymes convert the starches in the pumkin so that is is not just pumpkin flavored, but the vegetable is part of the structure of the beer..

 

I'm in the middle of a mash like this right now. Pumpkin Brown Ale.

 

I agree. 2 tablespoons of pumpkin spice powder. I added a bag with (3)nutmeg, (6)allspice, and (5)cloves and (4) three inch cinnamon sticks to the last 15 minutes of the boil. Of the 2 brands of spice powder that I used one had ginger and one did not. So I used 1 tablespoon of each. Just add some and taste as you go along. Also I roasted the pumpkin the night before and scraped off the flesh. I sprinkled a good amount of the two spice powders before roasting the pumpkin. You should let this age for a LOOOONG time to let the flavors mellow.
I soon learned that this is a beer drinker's beer. Guys that were into beer could not get enough, while guys used to drinking the watered down overly carbonated excuse for beer did not enjoy it as much. I topped it off with WLP 023 (no starter) and it worked very well.

 

Check out the threads showing up at the bottom of this page too.

 

If you must use vanilla, split it/them down the middle and put them in the SECONDARY or in the primary after active fermentation is over, otherwise you will loose the flavor due to the yeast off gassing.
Good luck.