Pumpkin Ale Without The Pumpkin?

[Breck09]

Running into the pumpkin shortage and haven't been able to locate any pumpkin for my brew day tomorrow. Has anyone brewed a pumpkin ale without using actual pumpkin? I have heard that you get most of the "pumpkin" flavor from the spices which I have. Just wanted to throw this question out there.

 

[Priemus]

Most of the receipes in this forum seem to use "spices" and "soup mix". So I guess its just fine in a pinch.

 

[EuBrew]

I see you're close to me (I'm in Merion Village) Try the Clintonville CoOp. It's a small organic grocery just off High street in Clintonville. Here's their webpage http://communitymarket.org/

They had 6 cans of the organic left when I bought mine 2 weeks ago. If they are out, you are out of luck. I went through the same thing. Good Luck!!

They have a decent beer selection there too.

 

[Breck09]

I see you're close to me (I'm in Merion Village) Try the Clintonville CoOp. It's a small organic grocery just off High street in Clintonville. Here's their webpage http://communitymarket.org/

They had 6 cans of the organic left when I bought mine 2 weeks ago. If they are out, you are out of luck. I went through the same thing. Good Luck!!

They have a decent beer selection there too.

Thanks, I'll check them out.

 

[SeaBass512]

I ran into the same problem. After spending (too many) hours on this site looking for the right recipe, I combined a few that I looked at and kind of made it up as I went along. I am an extract brewer for now, so I did some specialty grains and DME. For the added touch, I used roasted buttercup squash and butternut squash in a muslin bag, in with the specialty grains. In the boil, I used a "syrup" from boiling sweet potatoes. There is a whole post about the sweet potatoe syrup somewhere on here. I don't have every step that I did with me right now, nor the time to post it, but if you want, I can post it later/tomorrow.
I did the traditional pumpkin pie spice mix. While testing the OG, it tasted very spiced, but I'm sure that'll mellow out as it ferments. It has a nice color to it, and I'm very optimistic it'll be good!

Hope this helps.

 

[Tdawg]

I'm about to bottle my Pumpkin Ale this weekend! I also could not get any pumpkin so I used canned Yams. Just put them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 350 for an hour.

Let you know how it tastes in a couple of weeks.

 

[Zamial]

Yep it is about pumpkin time. If you do not have any pumpkin this recipe looks like a winner to me....

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/joie-de-vivre-fake-imperial-pumpkin-154242/

 

[beerrepository]

I couldn't find any for mine around Indy either. I ended up ordering it from Amazon, so now I have eight cans in my pantry after brewing a Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale which I got on here from Yuri_Rage.

A lot of people on that thread used squash as an alternative as well.

 

[Breck09]

If i wasn' planning on brewimg this weekend I would order some. Kinda stuck now.

 

[pwndabear]

pumpkin shortage? man, around here we got tons of em already...

 

[kcpaige89]

pumpkin shortage? man, around here we got tons of em already...

Yeah, there are plenty of fresh pumpkins around, but production of canned pumpkin puree, like Libby's, hasn't hit the market yet. Last year rain flooded over 1/3 of the pumpkin crop in Illinois, where 95% of the US's pumpkin comes from. I still have 1 can of Libby's from last year, which I bought when I heard about the shortage in September of last year. This is the can I have saved to brew with while in France, because getting pumpkin there is next to impossible, shortage or not.

 

[Breck09]

Found some at that Clintonville Market. Well as long as they don't sell 10 cans by tomorrow.

 

[EuBrew]

They must have restocked because I bought 4 when I went and they only had 3 left. Good luck! Maybe you should buy all10 and sell them on here

 

[whatsleftofyou]

The best "pumpkin" beer I ever had was one that my buddy made. It had no pumpkin or any other squash in it.

 

[pwndabear]

jeez i feel sorry for you guys, our local grocery store (wegmans) has them up to their necks in stock.

hey you know, if you really need a can or two, i wouldn't mind grabbing a couple for you and shipping em out, as long as you pay for shipping and the cans...

*edit* and give me a [edit]GOOD[/edit] homebrew.

 

[businesstime]

Libby's uses Dickinson pumpkins, which is actually pretty close to the butternut squash. They're much meatier than carving pumpkins. Using butternut squash would get you pretty close, as would sweet potatoes.

 

[Boston85]

I am getting ready to make a pumpkin ale, but like many others I have not been able to find whole pumpkins. All I have are 5 cans of pumpkin mix from whole foods. I want to make this recipe

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/thunderstruck-pumpkin-ale-ag-extract-versions-26699/


do you think the mix is fine to use if I put it in at the start of the boil? What are the negatives of using canned rather than whole pumpkins?

 

[Rhoobarb]

Brewing one tomorrow that uses none. It's in my 'Recipe' drop down. This will be the third year in a row. This year I'm using 50/50 Munich/Golden Promise and adding toasted oats, lactose powder and a vanilla bean in secondary, just for something different.

 

[BuonAnno]

I ran into the same issue so I grated 5# of Sweet Potatoes, baked them at 350 for 90 minutes and added them to the mash.

It has been conditioning in the keg for 10 days now and I would say the yam has really added to the mouth feel and color.