Pumpkin Ale from Midwest Brewing Supplies

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Anyone tried the pumpkin ale kit from Midwest Brewing Supplies? I just ordered it last night and I'm planning on making some changes to the recipe as everyone that left a review said to up the spices and pumpkin. Here's what I'm planning:

6 lb. Gold liquid malt extract.
8 oz. Carapils
8 oz. Caramel 10L specialty grains
1 oz Mt. Hood hops
1 oz Cascade hops
Wyeast Activator (unsure of strain just yet, drop down menu on website)
4 cups brown sugar
4 tsp. cinnamon
4 tsp. nutmeg
116 oz. of canned pumpkin

The recipe says the OG is supposed to be 1.042 to 1.046 with a FG of 1.010 to 1.012, but I've changed the recipe some. The only thing I've changed is the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Those went from 1 cup to 4 cups and from 1 tsp to 4 tsp. I also upped the canned pumpkin from 30 oz to 116 oz based on what the reviewers that have bought it have said. What I'm looking for here is a pronounced pumpkin flavor along with the spices that makes you feel like you're basically drinking a pumpkin pie, but I still want it to taste like a beer. I'm concerned about overflow or blowoff from my fermenter as well.

Brewday:
The boil is as follows:
1. Steep crushed grains for 10-30 minutes at 155 degrees.
2. Add malt extract and brown sugar while brew pot is off the burner.
3. Bring to a boil and add 1 oz Mt. Hood hops (30-60 minutes)
4. Add 4 cans of pumpkin to boil for last 5 minutes
5. Add 1 oz Cascade aroma hops and spices for the last 2-5 minutes.

Do you think I should screen out the trub or let the wort sit on all that for the next few weeks?

I guess my main question is, will the OG change because of the changes I've made? I'm assuming yes which will obviously affect the FG and the ABV. Let me know of any problems I might run into from the more experienced brewers out there. I've done about a dozen brews so I have a general idea what I'm doing, but this involves more sugars so just wondering what that'll do to me on brew day and bottling time.

Thanks in advance!

 

[brewmaster12]

Using 4 cups instead of one cup of brown sugar will raise your OG significantly, but you should really go by weight not volume in measuring sugars. I'd be careful adding too much sugar. With the spices, as your OG increases it's ok to increase the spices but I'd prob go to just 2 tsp of each...

 

[beertroll]

Duplicate

 

[beertroll]

I made that last year, and made fairly similar spice and pumpkin modifications. It turned out pretty well. IIRC, I siphoned from the kettle to the fermenter, which minimized the trub (there was still quite a bit). That being said, I don't think it will hurt any to let it sit on the pumpkin solids. My big mistake was adding ground clove; combined with the phenols from fermenting too warm, it was much too close to band-aid land for my liking. I don't remember how the extra pumpkin affected the gravity. I think it may have been a little higher, but not substantially so. I didn't add any additional brown sugar beyond what was included.

You might want to consider adding a little allspice to really nail that pumpkin pie taste. I'd recommend mixing up the spices and tasting it first, just to make sure you like the blend.

 

[mike20793]

Check out this thread, it's from like 5 days ago. There was a good discussion on the changes to make to the recipe to make it better. Good luck with it. Cheers.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/pumpkin-ale-344995/

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Yeah, sorry I didn't search before I posted and I'm not a noob to the board so I should know better. Researched some and found some helpful information out there specifically with the baking the pumpkin part. I'll cut back on the sugar as I don't want to get too crazy there. Just really want to nail it with the spices as that seems to be where it's at with this beer, not necessarily the sugar. Still using the pumpkin though even if some say it doesn't make a difference.

 

[mike20793]

That sounds good. Let us know what you choose and how it turns out. I am interested because I am looking to brew my first pumpkin ale this month. Any advice you can give during your brew and when you taste would be greatly appreciated.

 

[beertroll]

Still using the pumpkin though even if some say it doesn't make a difference.

The spices definitely provide the majority of the character, but I think it's important to include the pumpkin for authenticity. It also does a lot for the color.


@mike20793: If you're brewing an all-grain batch and including pumpkin in the mash, the best advice I can give is to use rice hulls, and lots of them.

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

That sounds good. Let us know what you choose and how it turns out. I am interested because I am looking to brew my first pumpkin ale this month. Any advice you can give during your brew and when you taste would be greatly appreciated.

Will do, I plan on brewing it this weekend, so we'll see how it goes.

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

The spices definitely provide the majority of the character, but I think it's important to include the pumpkin for authenticity. It also does a lot for the color.


@mike20793: If you're brewing an all-grain batch and including pumpkin in the mash, the best advice I can give is to use rice hulls, and lots of them.

On that note what I plan on doing is cutting the spices in half and adding 2 tsp's during the last 3 minutes of the boil. Then using the other 2 tsp's on bottling day after making a spice tea. Hopefully this will give me the taste I'm looking for.

 

[DrunkleJon]

I made it last year. I got zero spice flavor after it was done bottle conditioning. It saddened me. Still was a decent beer, just didnt taste like a punkin beer.

 

[Disintegr8or]

I made the same kit last year, with the same changes that are found in the reviews. BUT I boiled the pumpkin the entire time in a 5 gal paint strainer bag.

I brewed it for the Wife because I don't care for pumpkin beer, and she just got back into the final case of them this weekend after noticing Shipyard pumpkin beer on the shelf at the local beer store.

She says its still good even after 9 months.

I'll probably do it again, and add a little more spice this time around.

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Just transferred this to secondary the other day to finish settling out. Probably lost 1/4 of a gallon in the trub which isn't bad, but I made sure I strained it like crazy before I put it in primary. I double pitched it as well as my starting gravity was higher than the recipe called for with my additions and it was getting a little close to the yeasts limit based on what I read. You can smell the spices in the beer and it's a nice dark orange color. I will taste it in another week to see how it tastes and add additional spices from there as needed. I also plan on adding some vanilla extract, yes the good stuff. Never added the extract, anything special needed there?