just brewed the midwest supplies pumpkin ale

[HopHound12]

Wheatmeister, hate to bother you but I'd really appreciate it if you could send me the slideshow also. I think I will be brewing this soon as my Halloween brew, it sounds amazing. Thanks.

 

[Encinoman]

I did the NB smashing pumpkin kit as well, however I used two whole pumpkin pie pumpkins. Cut them in half, de-seeded/ de-stemmed them and put them in a casserole dish with about 2 inches of water, covered with foil and baked them for an hour. After baking, I removed the skins then I pureed the flesh and placed it in cheesecloth. I steeped the pumpkin puree and recommended 2 lbs of rahr 6-row in a separate bag for another hour. Then I began the normal boil. The beer came out great, with an awesome pumpkin flavor. I don't like a ton of spices because i feel it takes away from the beer itself. I found it to be just right with the spices included, a little more cinnamon couldn't hurt. However, I honestly think the difference is the rahr 6-row, it helps to break down the starches while slightly boosting the OG.

 

[xjmox14x]

I dumped it all in man...let it marinate. Move to a secondary after a week and leave the sludge in the primary(which will take a minute to clean out)

So dumping everything, including the trub, proteins, and hops along with the pumpkin into the primary for a week or 2 won't lead to any off flavors?

 

[Wheatmeister]

So dumping everything, including the trub, proteins, and hops along with the pumpkin into the primary for a week or 2 won't lead to any off flavors?

Just the pumkin, everything else went into the boil in bags and came out

 

[xjmox14x]

Just the pumkin, everything else went into the boil in bags and came out

Ahhh ok, got it. Thanks.

 

[xjmox14x]

Just the pumkin, everything else went into the boil in bags and came out

Another stupid question for you. When you dumped everything into the primary, along with the pumpkin, did you top it off to 5 gal total? Or did you add a little bit extra to compensate for the pumpkin?

I know they say not to as it can water down the beer a little bit and lower the SG, but I feel like most of the pumpkin is of solid matter and obviously won't be absorbed other than it's flavors. So I was thinking maybe going to 5.5 or so?

 

[Wheatmeister]

well if you use the 5 gal of water total plus the pumkin it should work out just fine like any other batch, i topped off with maybe 1/4 gallon tops because of evaporation during the boil but thats about it. The carboy will be more full than usual because all that pumkin takes alot of space. When you siphon to the secondary you'll leave it all behind and have a good 15 minute clean-up job on your hands, but it'll smell awesome.

 

[xjmox14x]

well if you use the 5 gal of water total plus the pumkin it should work out just fine like any other batch, i topped off with maybe 1/4 gallon tops because of evaporation during the boil but thats about it. The carboy will be more full than usual because all that pumkin takes alot of space. When you siphon to the secondary you'll leave it all behind and have a good 15 minute clean-up job on your hands, but it'll smell awesome.

Awesome, thanks again for the advice!

 

[V1king]

Anyone have an opinion on how this recipe would turn out without the use of Irish Moss. I don't have any on hand.....

 

[V1king]

Also, did you use the spice pack that came with the Midwest kit?

 

[sweaterman]

When I made it last year as recommended on the Midwest kit, it came out just tasting like an ale. It didn't taste of the spices at all, nor did it taste like pumpkin. This year I am majorly increased the pumpkin (120oz), roasted about half of this, and added an extra 1/4tsp allspice, 1/4tsp nutmeg, and two split vanilla beans. I can't tell you how it is yet because it is still in secondary, but I am betting it is going to be a lot better.

I wouldn't worry about the irish moss. It's more about presentation than flavor. I added irish moss too see the effect it has, but I really don't give a rip about presentation. I like the haze in beer, honestly.

 

[V1king]

I had my brother bring over some Irish moss. So I ended up OK there. Otherwise, I followed Wheatmeister's recipe. I'm looking froward to this one.

 

[V1king]

So that 120 ounces of pumkin took up a lot of room in the primary. I think I was left with only 3 gallons or so to move into the secondary....

 

[MilkyLep]

So that 120 ounces of pumkin took up a lot of room in the primary. I think I was left with only 3 gallons or so to move into the secondary....

I added the pumpkin to my mini-mash and lost ~1 gallon when I racked to secondary.

 

[epp200]

I used the American ale Wyeast Activator 1056, made a starter a few days ahead of time cause of all the extra fermentables

Hey WM. I really like how you describe the more robust flavor of your tweak. I am getting ready to do my FIRST ever brew and decided to do the MW Pumpkin Ale but with your tweak. I opted for the Wyeast Activator when buying the kit.

My question is, since this is my first brew, is it really necessary to do the starter? If anyone else has their thoughts I would love to hear them. Thanks.

 

[V1king]

Nope. Just be sure to "smack" and activate the Wyeast a couple of hours before use and also to sanitize the package before you dump it into the cooled wort.

 

[epp200]

Nope. Just be sure to "smack" and activate the Wyeast a couple of hours before use and also to sanitize the package before you dump it into the cooled wort.

Will do. Thanks dude.

 

[BLTalpos]

I also plan on attempting a variation of this recipe this weekend. This is my second home brew ever (I just bottled an English pub ale/session pale ale) and I was curious how long people are leaving the pumpkin ales in secondary or the bottles? I noticed people seem to be kegging, but I will only be able to bottle my concoction. Does waiting a year "finish" the beer? How will it taste around late Oct./Nov. of this year?

Also, I was under the impression that fruit beers did not "age" well.

 

[V1king]

I'd recommend the 1-2-3 method. 1 week in the primary (5-7 days), 2 weeks in secondary, and 3 in the bottle. It will only get better from there. But it's probably drinkable doing a 1-1-2.

 

[collinsDPT]

This sounds awesome! I would love to try this out as my first brew.


WM, your inbox is full haha. Would you mind sending the pics to:

[email protected]

Thanks!

 

[hough77]

Finally brewed this today, 2.5g boil
-60 oz of Libbys mixed with 2 table spoons of pumpkin spice and baked @ 400* for 45 mins.
-Steeped 1/2 of the baked pumpkin with grains for 30 mins
-Added 1 extra cup of brown sugar with LME pre boil
-10 mins added other 1/2 of pumpkin, aroma hops, 1 tbs of pumpkin spice, all spice, whole cloves and cinnamon sticks, and 1 more cup of brown sugar (and supplied spice pack)

Got wort down to 70*, re-hydrated yeast and pitched, OG was on the money @ 1.046.

 

[collinsDPT]

Finally brewed this today, 2.5g boil
-60 oz of Libbys mixed with 2 table spoons of pumpkin spice and baked @ 400* for 45 mins.
-Steeped 1/2 of the baked pumpkin with grains for 30 mins
-Added 1 extra cup of brown sugar with LME pre boil
-10 mins added other 1/2 of pumpkin, aroma hops, 1 tbs of pumpkin spice, all spice, whole cloves and cinnamon sticks, and 1 more cup of brown sugar (and supplied spice pack)

Got wort down to 70*, re-hydrated yeast and pitched, OG was on the money @ 1.046.

I, personally, would love to know how this turns out...

 

[hough77]

Me too, it tasted good, and smelled good through out the house.
It's my first pumpkin so I'm nervous about it, I'm worried about the ferm temp though, its @ 70* and was bubbling away this morning. (turned the A/C off)

 

[ampsman]

Followed this recipe on Friday night, ended up with an OG of 1.06.
Could this be because I didnt account for all the pumpkin when I topped off to 5 gallons in the fermentor?

 

[hough77]

Followed this recipe on Friday night, ended up with an OG of 1.06.
Could this be because I didnt account for all the pumpkin when I topped off to 5 gallons in the fermentor?

Maybe, you had just 5g of wort in the fermenter right? (no pumpkinin there) My OG was 1.046 and I used nor sugars than the recipe called for.

 

[ampsman]

I had put the pumpkin straight into the wort for the last 5 minutes of the boil, I didnt use a bag for it, so yes there was pumpkin in there.
I didnt even think about that when I was topping off. DOHHHHHHH!!

 

[hough77]

I had put the pumpkin straight into the wort for the last 5 minutes of the boil, I didnt use a bag for it, so yes there was pumpkin in there.
I didnt even think about that when I was topping off. DOHHHHHHH!!

Did you pitch already? I'm guessing you did.

 

[hough77]

It's ok, you will have less beer in the end with a higher ABV.
I strain everything before it goes into the fermenter with any batch. I put the pumpkin in a steeping bag to though.

 

[ampsman]

Yup...pitched and fermenting nicely.
oh well, chill and let it do its thing and see how it ends up.
Would 2 primary and 2 secondary be good?

 

[hough77]

Yup...pitched and fermenting nicely.
oh well, chill and let it do its thing and see how it ends up.
Would 2 primary and 2 secondary be good?

If you are gonna add some spices and want to get if off the trube, the secondary, but I would let that sit in the primary for 3-4 weekswith that OG. When I keg my batch, I'm gonna rack ontop of some pure Vanilla extract.
With my OG @1.046, I'm letting sit in the primary till early-mid October, then keg. Might not even taste good, but whatever.