How much pumpkin pie spice in pumpkin ale

[freebd]

I am brewing a partial Mash pumkin ale right now and plan to add pumpkin pie spice to the boil. I have read that you really need to be carful with the spices when making a pumpkin ale.
How much spice should I add per gallon of wort I plan to have?

 

[Brooklyn-Brewtality]

is this a commercial pumpkin pie spice pack? what's in it? i wouldn't trust anything that is not 100% spices.

check the recipes in the database for ideas of how much spice people are adding. if you want this to be ready for Thanksgiving however, I would cut it in half. Spices can be very overpowering without time to age.

 

[freebd]

it is just a Tones Ground Pumpkin pie Spice in a small plastice spice container....I will take a look at other recipies..
thanks

 

[steelerguy]

I made Jamil's recipe and added the full teaspoon (I made the mix, wasn't premix). Didn't think it was strong enough so added another teaspoon when fermentation was done...mistake, was way too much.

Err on the side of too little and don't go over a teaspoon for 5 gallons at first. It becomes overwhelming fast.

 

[Q2XL]

I made Jamil's recipe and added the full teaspoon (I made the mix, wasn't premix). Didn't think it was strong enough so added another teaspoon when fermentation was done...mistake, was way too much.

Err on the side of too little and don't go over a teaspoon for 5 gallons at first. It becomes overwhelming fast.

I used exactly what he said in his book, minus the ginger, and it turned out great!!! I can see how doubling it would really up the flavor way too much. It may even be a bit too much with the amount that I used.

Here it is in case you want to try this....

1/2 tsp cinnamon 1 minute
1/4 tsp ginger(I did not use this) 1 minute
1/8 tsp nutmeg 1 minute
1/8 tsp allspice 1 minute

Use 2/3 of that mix in the boil at 1 minute. The remaining 1/3 should be mixed in at bottling time.

 

[dlandryqb]

I am going with 1 tsp, about equal parts allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon at the very end of the boil...I didn't plan on adding a small amount of additional spices prior to bottling. Can anyone else share their experience with this method? Thanks in advance!

 

[jonmohno]

I find that when you do last minute spice you get a facefull of spice. I ended up doing my last one about <1 tsp per gallon @60 and 30. But i dind't want much for aroma.So the tsp is a safe zone for mild spice.It put the spice in the background and mildly and i still had a good brown ale from it with minimum aroma.And more pumpkin noticably.
I got what i wanted to get from the spice and didnt have to wait 6 months for the spice to fade out good like my first one.
I wouldnt bottle with it uless you want it upfront. If its a heavily spice aroma i think its perfumy.But some people may enjoy that.

 

[Naggs]

I am going with 1 tsp, about equal parts allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon at the very end of the boil...I didn't plan on adding a small amount of additional spices prior to bottling. Can anyone else share their experience with this method? Thanks in advance!

Exactly what I did, but mine is still in the primary! I will let you know how it goes.

 

[TheBrewAbides]

I'll go ahead and kick myself now. I brewed a 5 gal batch last night for the first time (first pumpkin spice ale, that is) and had no idea how much to use. I put a cool 3 teaspoons in.

Maybe, since I have a good 5 inches of pumpkin at the bottom of the carboy, some of the spice will get lost in the pumpkin sludge.

 

[Transamguy77]

Funny I was gonna post this, I bought a kit from Midwest Supplies and use the packet with 5 left in my boil and I don't taste it at all now, it's been in primary for almost 3 weeks. Can I add some now? I planned on bottling it sometime next week. I also steeped a whole spice bottle of whole cinnamon sticks with my grains and don't really taste that either. I did use alot of pumpkin could that have absorbed some of the taste too?

 

[dlandryqb]

Thanks guys! Mine smells very strongly of the spices and not much pumpkin...obviously the fermentation will change that somewhat. I will also post my outcome, but it won't be for about 5 weeks, at which point the ship may have sailed on pumpkin ale for the year.

To the guy who used 3 tsp/1tbsp...I saw some recipes that called for that much, so I don't think the amount of spice is an absolute value, but rather, it's related to the other ingredients that you put in. A hoppier pumpkin ale might require more spice, whereas a lighter ale might require less. Just a thought, as I am no chemist!

 

[TopherM]

My pumpkin ale recipe called for 2-3 tsp of pumpkin pie spice.

 

[Naggs]

I'll go ahead and kick myself now. I brewed a 5 gal batch last night for the first time (first pumpkin spice ale, that is) and had no idea how much to use. I put a cool 3 teaspoons in.

Maybe, since I have a good 5 inches of pumpkin at the bottom of the carboy, some of the spice will get lost in the pumpkin sludge.

Exact same here. Raked to secondary tonight after 2 weeks in primary. About 5 inches of pumpkin trub on the bottom, but the beer had a excellent spicy taste I was going for. I'm sure this will continue to smooth out, but I was very please with how things are going at this early stage.

 

[smokinghole]

When I do my pumpkin ale in about a week or so (12 gal possibly) I will be using 6 whole cinnamon sticks in the last 10 min of the boil. Fresh ground nutmeg at 1/4 tsp and that's all I add. I do not like the allspice, and I am up in the air on the ginger for this year. The secret I have when using canned pumpkin is a small helping like 1% of briess smoked malt. The smoked malt adds a little something that is perceived but not identifiable. Also at bottling for a 5 gal batch I add 10ml of pure vanilla extract. Not identifiable but it adds a pie crust quality.

 

[TheBrewAbides]

I'll go ahead and kick myself now. I brewed a 5 gal batch last night for the first time (first pumpkin spice ale, that is) and had no idea how much to use. I put a cool 3 teaspoons in.

Maybe, since I have a good 5 inches of pumpkin at the bottom of the carboy, some of the spice will get lost in the pumpkin sludge.

Oh, did I say teaspoons? I mean tablespoons. About half the bottle of pumpkin pie spice. Oops.