First Try At A Pumpkin Ale Recipe - Thoughts?

[inkman15]

So, I've been brewing for about 6 months now and I've yet to truly create my own recipe. I'm hoping to brew an all-grain pumpkin ale sometime within the next few weeks and here's what I'm thinking so far. I'm new at this, so, any and all critiques/suggestions are welcome!

8 lbs Marris Otter (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM)
1.5 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
.5 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min
0.50 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min
3 lbs Pumpkin, baked (Boil 60.0 mins)
1.00 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (Boil 5.0 mins)

Yeast: 1.0 pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)

4 weeks in primary

Thoughts?

Mash at 156 for 60 min

 

[Lucky137]

Thinking about making one as well...

Any thoughts/research done on mashing the pumpkin? Or do you just boil it with the wort? OR do you put it in secondary?

Some more questions to consider, hope this isn't an overly egregious thread hijacking!

 

[inkman15]

Thinking about making one as well...

Any thoughts/research done on mashing the pumpkin? Or do you just boil it with the wort? OR do you put it in secondary?

Some more questions to consider, hope this isn't an overly egregious thread hijacking!

From what I've read, if you're using fresh pumpkin, you should bake it for 30 minutes and then remove the skin before adding the pulp to the boil. I've seen some people say that adding it to the primary intensifies the flavor in the final brew.

 

[JonK331]

First, that recipe is pretty heavy on the crystal. I would keep it to a pound or less. Also, a half pound or so of Victory adds a very nice flavor to pumpkin ale. If you're doing all grain, it's best to add the pumpkin to the mash (with rice hulls) so the starches in the pumpkin are converted.

 

[cfonnes]

Why use cascade as a bittering hop?

 

[inkman15]

Why use cascade as a bittering hop?

Have some left over from another recipe. Should I go with all Magnum? Something else?

 

[Lucky137]

First, that recipe is pretty heavy on the crystal. I would keep it to a pound or less. Also, a half pound or so of Victory adds a very nice flavor to pumpkin ale. If you're doing all grain, it's best to add the pumpkin to the mash (with rice hulls) so the starches in the pumpkin are converted.

On this subject, what amount of rice hulls are we talking about? I've never used them before... .5 #? 1 #? A handful?


Thanks

 

[EuBrew]

I'd use at least a lb, it's cheap insurance against a stuck mask. It does nothing to your beer, no flavor or color added, just helps in filtering the mash.

 

[onipar]

Agreed on the amount of crystal and the use of victory or biscuit. I didn't calculate the IBU's, but just as a general rule of thumb, you probably don't want it to be much higher than 20-25 IBU's (personally, I go even lower), so the spices shine through.

Most mash the pumpkin, but you can put some in the boil as well if you want. I did both and got a real strong pumpkin flavor.

Spice amounts are largely personal preference. You're on the low end with 1 tsp, but you can always add more in primary/secondary as a spice tea after tasting. Off the top of my head, I think my recipe had 1 tsp in the boil and 1 tsp as a spice tea (could be more, I need to check the recipe).

EDIT: oh, and the hops. I went with Mt. Hood and Hallertauer

 

[inkman15]

Thanks for all of the feedback. Tweaked my recipe and it now looks like this:

8 lbs Marris Otter (3 SRM)
.5 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
.5 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)
.5 lbs Victory Malt (25.0 SRM)
3 lbs Pumpkin, baked (added to mash)
1 lbs rice hulls (added to mash)
.75 oz Hallertauer (4.8%) - Boil (60 min)
.50 oz Mt. Hood (6.00%) - Boil (5 min)
1.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice - Boil (5 min)

Better? Any last minute suggestions? Thanks again!

 

[JonK331]

Just a couple things. With the IBUs that low you are going to be on the sweeter side. Especially with the darker crystal malt, I'm getting 21.8. I usually do about 35 IBUs for mine. The base beer should be balanced but not sweet. Also, pumpkin will add a beautiful orange color that you might be covering up a bit with the darker crystal.

Oh also, be patient with the sparge, it's going to be slow even with the rice hulls.

 

[andrew300]

Looks good. I would drop the late hop addition and just go with the bittering. It might get in the way of the spices. English yeast accenuates the malty flavors more than American, so I might change to that and drop the mash temp down a bit.

 

[Jcmccoy]

I am going to do something just like this I got it from brewing classic styles. but I added the victory and brown sugar S-04 yeast.


Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
60.00 oz Pumpkin canned baked 350 1hr (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
10.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 81.63 %
0.50 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 4.08 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 4.08 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 4.08 %
0.25 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 2.04 %
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 31.9 IBU

0.50 lb Brown Sugar, Light (8.0 SRM) Sugar 4.08 % 10 min

@flame out

1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ginger
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
1/8 tsp Allspice

5.5 gal
OG 1.060
SRM 12
IBU 32

 

[Seven]

+1 to adding some brown sugar or molasses.

 

[inkman15]

So, I never got around to brewing this in October, but we're doing it tomorrow. I've tweaked the recipe again based on feedback. What do you think?

8 lbs Marris Otter (3 SRM)
.5 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)
.5 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)
.5 lbs Victory Malt (25.0 SRM)
3 lbs Pumpkin, baked (added to mash)
1 lbs rice hulls (added to mash)
2 oz Hallertauer (4.8%) - Boil (60 min)

Spice mix (flame out)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ginger
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
1/8 tsp Allspice

Estimated OG 1.049
33.7 IBU
10.3 SRM

 

[brewkegger]

How did this turn out? I am going to do a batch in the next few days the only thing holding me back is I haven't finalized my recipe. Any input on yours? Would you make any changes? Thanks