Pumpkin Ale

[Oventoasted]

So, i bought the pumpkin ale kit for homebrew supply dot com. here is a link http://www.homebrewsupply.com/pumpkin-ale-all-grain-recipe-kit.html

now when i received the kit i was expecting it to be some sort of magical bag of milled goodies ready to go! i was wrong though. this was the "batteries not included" version of a all grain kit.

i need to find myself a 1lb bag of brown sugar, 2 cans of pumpkins and, couple tablespoons of pumpkin spice from my local star bucks. which they didnt feel the need to include or felt i was a white girl with these supplies readily on hand. (i dont blame them i did order a pumpkin spice kit...)

needless to say i will not be roaming around looking for pumpkin spices around my town.

i am thinking of getting the 1 lb of brown sugar though because that does sound interesting.

*EDITED out grain bill*

should i just mash the grains and see what happens? never added brown sugar to a boil before.

 

[hercher]

The pumpkin should be roasted before adding. What I do is roast my pumpkin over relatively low heat -- 250-275 -- until it is soft and begins to caramelize. This may take longer than you think, at least two hours, though mind you, I use fresh pumpkin. For the last half hour or so, I put the brown sugar on top, so that caramelizes a little also. Otherwise, it ferments out completely and doesn't add as much flavor as you might think.

A note on using canned pumpkins -- be sure there are no preservatives, and that it is 100% pumpkin. I think Libby makes one, if you can't find it.

Regarding the pumpkin pie spice, if you can't find that in your local grocery store, just look up a standard pumpkin pie recipe, and get those spices.

 

[Cyclman]

I do a pumpkin every fall. Be stingy on spices, they go a long way. Canned pumpkin, roasted until it's carmelized is best. I would do candi syrup, don't care for the molasses flavor of brown sugar.

Best of luck!

 

[specharka]

DO NOT ADD THAT MUCH CANNED PUMPKIN TO THE MASH OR BOIL WITHOUT ANY RICE HULLS. You will be risking one of the worst stuck sparges imaginable. Again, roast the pumpkin first until carmelized and add a few handfuls of rice hulls to the mash.

 

[Saboral]

DO NOT ADD THAT MUCH CANNED PUMPKIN TO THE MASH OR BOIL WITHOUT ANY RICE HULLS. You will be risking one of the worst stuck sparges imaginable. Again, roast the pumpkin first until carmelized and add a few handfuls of rice hulls to the mash.

As someone who uses canned pumpkin every September to prepare my pumpkin beer I can agree entirely with this statement. Absolutely make sure you use rice hills!

 

[hercher]

+1 on the rice hulls. With beers like this, they are your best friend. I speak from experience.

 

[Oventoasted]

honestly guys i really appreciate the advice! buuut, i went ahead and just mashed the grains. nothing fancy!

i found out the shorted me 1 oz of Hallertau Mittelfruh. so, i made it up with .5 oz of Hallertau Mittelfruh i had extra from another brew and .5 oz of Northern Brewer.

all in all at the end my OG was 1.060 with just those grains. i pitched my Wyeast american ale with a 26 hr starter. its already bubbling like crazy not but 3 hrs later.

i guess it would be some kinda amber ale or something. since it has not spices or fancy squashes in it.