Pumpkin Ale Recipe - Feedback Appreciated!

[Ballardinho]

So, I have been wanting to do a Pumpkin Ale recipe for the past few weeks but have probably looked at TOO much info on here. There are so many good recipes that I have decided to try my hand at creating one on my own (this is my third batch ever, BTW). I want to be able get the "pumpkin ale taste" for sure. I am not sure what the gravity readings would be on this, either. Hoping for something in the ABV range of 6-8?

If y'all could weigh in on your thoughts, I would really appreciate it! Want to get this done by end of week!!

Pumpkin Ale
5 Gallon Extract Recipe

8.25 lb Pale LME (could use DME??)
.5 lb Crystal 60L
.25 lb Special Roast
.5 lb Biscuit Malt

60 oz Canned Pumpkin at 60 min (I have read all the opinions on canned v real pumpkins...can't find real ones now so going canned....is 60 minutes the right call? later in boil?)

1 oz Hallertau at 60 min
1 oz Hallertau at 5 min

Irish Moss at 15 min

1 lb Light Brown Sugar at 10 min

Spices at 5 min (1/2 tsp each of nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and clove...should I go more?)

Yeast: planning on 1056 as it is what I used in my first two batches....kinda scared to try another one for this brew. But how much yeast? Don't want to do starter yet, either. One pkg enough?

I plan to run wort through sieve into fermenter.

Planning to taste prior to secondary and add more spices and/or some vanilla.

Anyone care to take a stab at whether or not this sounds ok?

Thanks so much!!

 

[jdauria]

Looks good. 1/2 teaspoon of spices at 5 minutes is probably enough, you can always taste during fermentation. Did a pumpkin last year and also added in the boil for 60 minutes and it came out great. One tip is to add it in mesh bag so that it slowly drains/melts out in the boil.

You may want to roast the pumpkin on cookie sheets for 20-30 minutes at 325F to get some caramelization. Not much flavor to plain puree. You could sprinkle brown sugar on top too.

If you add more spices and vanilla to secondary, would recommend doing a spice tea. Boil some water, add the spices to the water, let cool and then add. This way since it's post boil, you are sanitizing the spices.

 

[alers22]

I think you are going way overboard on the spices. 1/2 tsp. of each is a lot for 5 gallons. Depending on how 'spicy' you like it, you may want to stay around 1-2 tsp total in the boil. You can always add more spice to the secondary if you want. too much spice is a great way to destroy a pumpkin beer.

 

[Ballardinho]

Got it! Thanks!!

 

[Ballardinho]

Ended up going with 6.6 lbs Golden Light LME. Wanted a lighter, or orange-ier color. Kept the biscuit malt but omitted special roast.

Any thoughts about me adding any DME on top of the 6.6 lbs of LME? Maybe a pound of dry amber or something? Would that come out ok? Add some ABV?

 

[mrphillips]

It's a long shot, but any chance you have any notes laying around as to how this turned out (I know is been 6 years, but there's no harm in asking)? I'm putting together a pumpkin recipe with the exact same spice amounts, and I'm curious how yours turned out. Thanks!

 

[Jag75]

If I were to brew this again I'm skipping the brown sugar.

 

[mrphillips]

Thanks for the info! I was planning on using 16oz of maple syrup in mine, but that might have the same affect the brown sugar had in yours (I've used too much in ciders before and had it come out very winey).

Do you recall how your spices came across in the beer? I'm personally not a huge fan of overly spiced seasonal ales, and I have NO idea what to expect from the spices.

 

[Leezer]

I use the same blend of spices but not in equal amounts. For a 5G batch it would be 1tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp each of all spice and ground ginger, and 1/4 tsp each of nutmeg and clove. So, total 2.5 tsp spices but not equal amounts, some are stronger than others. To me the spice level in the beer was not overwhelming or overboard, came out to a really nice level. Got a lot of compliments on it. Also, instead of brown sugar or syrup I use 4oz molasses at 10 mins left in boil.

 

[mrphillips]

I happen to have a TON of molasses. I might consider using some of it. The more I read about Maple Syrup, the more it seems like the flavor doesn't come through like you'd expect. Again, thanks for the notes.

 

[Alicgmood10]

Thanks for the info! I'll try it