My First Pumpkin Ale

[muse435]

I am about to brew up a batch of Midwest Pumpkin Ale (extract) kits and had some questions.
The first being how much pumpkin, i've read anywhere between 30-120oz, i want a big pumpkin taste but not so much it is overwhelming.
Second, everyone says to leave as much pumpkin sludge in the brew pot as possible, i normally just dump from pot strait into the fermenter and was wondering how best to do this.
Third, what spices should i use? It come's with cinnamon and nutmeg, but i've read pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and ginger.
If anyone has personal knowledge that they would like to share with a young brewer, i would be very happy.

 

[HalfPint]

Hey,

I have successfully used 3-7 lbs of freshly roasted pie pumpkins in my pumpkin ales. With that said, I'm fairly certain that if it changed anything, it was only color, not flavor. I believe the pumpkin flavor that we all are so used to is not pumpkin, but more the spices. As far as the spices go, I've used 1.5 tsp cinnamon, 3/4 tsp allspice, .25 oz freshly grated ginger, .5 tsp nutmeg, and .5 tsp clove (all were added with 5 minutes left in the boil.

Good luck,
J

 

[muse435]

As far as the spices go, I've used 1.5 tsp cinnamon, 3/4 tsp allspice, .25 oz freshly grated ginger, .5 tsp nutmeg, and .5 tsp clove (all were added with 5 minutes left in the boil.

I have never added spices to my beers, do you just dump them in, or do you need to put them in a tea bag?