Pumpkin ale - partial mash recipe

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njohnsoncs

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I want to brew a 1 gallon pumpkin ale (partial mash BIAB) as an experiment to see whether I like it and how I should adjust the recipe before I brew a full 5 gallon batch for the fall season. I've looked around and found a number of recipes. The one I'm using as a reference is http://www.greatfermentations.com/downloads/instructions/beerkits/PumpkinAle-AllGrain.pdf.

I would like to do a partial mash so I need to convert this recipe. Here is what I have so far. Please give me some advice. Note, this is a 5 gallon recipe so for my 1 gallon batch I will just divide everything by 5.

3.6 lbs. Golden Light DME
3.0 lbs. 2-Row Brewer’s Malt
0.50 lb. Carapils Malt
0.38 lb. Crystal 20L Malt
0.19 lb. Crystal 40L Malt
15 oz. Canned Pumpkin
0.80 oz. Glacier hops

0.50 tsp. Cinnamon
0.50 tsp. Vanilla
0.50 tsp. Pumpkin pie spice
0.25 tsp. Nutmeg
0.25 tsp. Ground ginger

Mash at 152 F for 60 minutes with canned pumpkin. 60 minute boil with Glacier added at 60 minutes, DME added at 15 minutes, and spices added at 10 minutes.

The recipe is almost the same but I've used 3.6 lbs of DME instead of 6 lbs of grain to get the partial mash. I'm also considering using Cluster instead of Glacier hops. I want an ale that isn't too malty, is easy to drink, with ~5 ABV. They recommend the following yeast: Wyeast #1335 British Ale II, Wyeast #1099 Whitbread Ale, or Nottingham dry yeast. I've never used any of these so I'm not sure which to go with (or use something else entirely).

Thoughts?
 
I base my yeast picking on esters, attenuation, and flocculation.
This recipe recommends English strains, but there's a lot of leeway in taste.
A drier beer would steer me to a clean strain with higher attenuation, and mashing low would amplify that effect. On the other hand, this is a pumpkin ale and the directions lead you to mash above 150F to keep some body and use Irish moss, so the choice would lean toward high flocculation to enhance clarity.
If you don't mind esters, choosing a strain that might leave an aroma or flavor essence would do but the spices might cover it up.
Personally, I'd choose a cleaner yeast accenting hops over malt with med-high to high flocculation. Nottingham would be my choice of the three.
 
I base my yeast picking on esters, attenuation, and flocculation.
This recipe recommends English strains, but there's a lot of leeway in taste.
A drier beer would steer me to a clean strain with higher attenuation, and mashing low would amplify that effect. On the other hand, this is a pumpkin ale and the directions lead you to mash above 150F to keep some body and use Irish moss, so the choice would lean toward high flocculation to enhance clarity.
If you don't mind esters, choosing a strain that might leave an aroma or flavor essence would do but the spices might cover it up.
Personally, I'd choose a cleaner yeast accenting hops over malt with med-high to high flocculation. Nottingham would be my choice of the three.

OK. I'll considering trying Nottingham.

Any other comments on the recipe? Should I use Cluster instead of Glacier? Are the amounts of malts correct? I converted the original 9 lbs of 2-row to 3 lbs of 2-row and 3.6 lbs of DME.
 
I think three pounds of two row is fine for mashing the pumpkin. The diastatic rating is 140 so there's way more than enough enzyme power to convert everything you have.
No real comment or opinion on the hopping, though, that's like the spicing ingredient list - all subjective for personal taste.
 
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