Can a Pumkin Ale be made from an Octoberfest Kit?

[KMart104]

All of the local places around me do not have a Pumkin ale kit, but they do have Octoberfest kits. Any way of making this into a pumpkin ale by adding pumpkin to it or other things. I wanted to do this tomorrow because i won't be able to for atleast three weeks if i don't.
Thanks guys

 

[the_bird]

I'm not a big fan of pumpkin beers, but if I *were* to brew one I'd think that a real smooth, very malty beer with no late hop additions and only moderate bitterness would be the perfect base. That screams "Octoberfest" to me. :rockin:

 

[JustARogue]

Oktoberfests tend to be lagers. At the very least you are going to want to switch to ale yeast, but I don't know what else you would need to do.

 

[the_bird]

Well, yeah, but since it's not going to be a traditional Octoberfest it doesn't matter anyway. Use a clean domestic ale yeast like a US-05 and you'll be fine. Almost all of the "Octoberfest" kits that are put together are formulated as ales, anyway.

 

[JustARogue]

Almost all of the "Octoberfest" kits that are put together are formulated as ales, anyway.

Really? Is this just for easy of homebrewing?

 

[brrman]

Many brewers don't have ferm temp control that goes low enough for lagers.

I used WY2112 California Lager yeast (mainly used in Cali Common) in my Oktoberfest and it turned out great. 2112 is a lager yeast that can handle ale ferm temps.

 

[the_bird]

I'm assuming that he's referring to kits like the Brewers' Best kits that I started out with. What I would think of as higher-quality kits like those from NB or AHS will have the "proper" lager yeast, but those that line the shelves of my LHBS? I'd be happy if the yeast they include is just viable, regardless of ale or lager. IIRC, the yeast in the BB kits is just labeled "yeast" (very old-school).

Either way, I'm assuming that if he's asking the question, he can brew the base beer properly.

 

[KMart104]

Im trying to make a pumpkin ale, not an octoberfest. My orginal post is asking if i use an octoberfest kid is there anyway to turn that into a pumpkin ale.

 

[ifishsum]

Yes, you can. Be sure you have an ale yeast, and add pumpkin to the recipe and it will be a pumpkin ale. How much and when I don't know because I've never tried it but you definitely can.

 

[mitch171]

Try adding about 60oz during the boil when you transfer let the gunk stay as you would but this time there will be a lot of pumpkin. Also most of the flavor in a Pumpkin Ale is from the spices, I use 1/2 tsp cinnimon 1/4 each of clove, nutmeg, ginger.

Here is my full recipe

http://beertools.com/html/recipe.php?view=9216

 

[KMart104]

Mitch when do you add the spices?

 

[mitch171]

I added the spices with 15 min left in the boil.