Midwest's Pumpkin Ale hops

[Mike37]

Well I'll be brewing Midwest's Pumpkin Ale kit soon. I know it's late in the season but I'm not rushing it. The wife is in the mood for some so I thought I'd make a batch.

Anyway, looking over the recipe, it calls for 1oz of Mt. Hood for 60min and 1oz of Cascade for 2min. Shouldn't that be the other way around? I wouldn't expect late Cascades to mix well with the pumpkin pie flavors.

I'd think the spicy Mt. Hood would mesh much better than the citrusy/floral Cascades. On the other hand, that recipe is one of Midwest's highest rated and the reviews really don't mention issues with the hops.

Can anyone who has done this recipe chime in with their experience?

 

[danthebugman]

I brewed that kit last November. It turned out pretty good. In fact a friend tried some here recently and he liked it quite a bit. He's not a fan of pumpkin beers so that says quite a bit. It did take my batch about 6 months before it started to turn out good. There was a funky flavor present initially and I'm not sure what happened.

 

[Mike37]

That's good to know. Maybe the Cascade mixed with the pumpkin flavors caused the funky taste, then the hops faded over time and it tasted good?

I decided to hold back the late addition hops anyway. This batch is for my wife and she's not a hop fan by any stretch of the imagination.

I'll try to remember to report back here when I try it.