midwest pumkin ale kit alteration?

[MgMt_Home_Brew]

So I am going onto my 5th extract brew and it is gona be an extract kit that I got from Midwest and here is what it looks like.

6lbs Gold liquid extract
8 oz. Carapils, 8 oz. Caramel 10°L specialty grains
2 oz. of hops(1oz of Cascade and I can't remember the other)
1 cup brown sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
WYEAST American liquid yeast
Im gona use a 30oz can of libys pumkin pie filling

My question is what do you guys think of adding more brown sugar? They are having me add the brown sugar at the begining of the boil with the extract. But i was wondering if it would be too sweet if I added more or if it would be a good idea?

Oh and what do you think about the amount of pumkin I am gona use?

Thanks guys

 

[Yuri_Rage]

What's your goal? More brown sugar will not sweeten the beer - it will dry the finished product and add a bit more alcohol content.

 

[MgMt_Home_Brew]

I want a pumkin ale that isn't too spicy and has a good pumkin flavor and some borwn sugar flavor to it. Im not sure what it is but some pumkin ales have a certain spice that I really don't like, I think it's allspice or something like that.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Brew the recipe as published.

 

[MgMt_Home_Brew]

ok sounds good thanks.

 

[FishinDave07]

+2 brew as it is. Brown sugar when fermented adds a "rummy" taste to your beer.

 

[KENfromMI]

The recipe called for pumpkin pie filling or just pumpkin? Pumpkin pie filling can be loaded with extra spices and sweetener etc. Ken

 

[BarkerBrewing]

I made a couple of modifications to the Midwest Kit. You can see what I'm trying here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/jake-o-lantern-imperial-pumpkin-ale-78696/

I can't speak to the outcome just yet as it's still in the primary. I'll be racking to secondary on Monday, and I figure it should be ready to drink around Columbus Day. I added a bit more brown sugar to increase the ABV and added an extra ounce of Mt. Hood hops to balance it out. I also used 60 oz of regular pumpkin from Libby's (not the pumpkin pie filling. As KenfromMI mentioned above, I've read that it can cause some funky spice flavors).

I'm hoping this batch comes out with a nice strong pumpkin taste with a hint of spices. Regardless, I will brew this beer each year with minor modifications until I get it just right. :rockin:

 

[scinerd3000]

from personal experience (mine was with the AHB Choc rasberry stout), sticking to the recipe is much better because when you tweak your never quite sure how its going to end up....i swapped for real rasberries in the case mentioned and endeded up adding too much and it made the beer gross, almost like a framboise....i would stick with the first batch so you can see how it ends up and then tweak round 2.

 

[MgMt_Home_Brew]

Yeah I meant the all natural pumpkin filling that liby's provides. Today is brew day (and opening day of the football season!!!!!) so I am just gona stick to the recipe. Thanks for the input guys.

 

[MgMt_Home_Brew]

So this thing fermented like crazy and my sg reading last night was already down to 1.12. I tasted it too and it just doesn't have enough of that pumpkin flavor i was looking for. I was wondering if it is too late to add another 30oz can of pumpkin into the primary to add some more flavor? Or is it took late? Thanks guys.