Pumpkin Ale.

[BudgetBrewer]

Tried brewing a pumpkin ale, previously did a porter, neither really lended a pumpkin flair...
The last batch (the ale) I used 2 large cans of pumpkin puree baked in the oven in the mash (10 G batch). WORST brewday EVER! Used 3/4 # of rice hulls up, still couldn't keep the recirculating going. Let alone the sparging. All to have a pumpkin ale, with no pumpkin flavour to speak of.
Still a good beer, but anyone have secrets of how to do that better?

 

[Shwagger]

Ask a woman you know to buy you a sixer of her favorite pumpkin beer?


Dont forget the cinnamon and sugar

 

[triethylborane]

Ask a woman you know to buy you a sixer of her favorite pumpkin beer?


Dont forget the cinnamon and sugar

this, srs

 

[jcav]

I made a pumpkin ale two months ago. It came out fantastic and you can taste the pumpkin in the beer, especially in the finish. Some people say pumpkin has no taste but this is not true, if done properly you can taste it. I used 9 pounds of pumpkin in my ten gallon batch. I baked the pumpkin in the oven like you did to caramelize it. The secret is to put the pumpkin in a large mesh bag. Mash your grains as you would normally but DO NOT put the mesh bag with the pumpkin in the mash until you are finished with the mash. Then put the mesh bag with the pumpkin in the mash as you raise the temp to mash out. I have a herms and recirculate the whole time on top of the pumpkin. Then sparge through it also and collect your boil kettle volume in the boil kettle. Take the mesh bag out of the mash tun and put it into your boil kettle. When you reach a boil take out the mesh bag with the pumpkin and let the drippings go into the boil kettle. Boil as normal and add your hops. I also put my spices in a smaller mesh bag at flame out for ten minutes or so. This way of doing it works extremely well and you do not have any issues with a stuck mash this way. Mine came out better than the craft brew pub a few miles away from me, and my friends and family couldn't believe how good it tasted. Give this a try next time I think you will love the results.


John

 

[BudgetBrewer]

perfect! Thanks. Was wondering about a mesh bag, as i use a hop spyder with great results. Didnt want to depend solely on spices or extracts, cheers and thanks.

 

[brewcat]

When I did one, I put the pumpkin in the strike water. It kind of loosened/dissolved it. Then mashed with that. I think maybe you were a little low on the pumpkin and rice hulls. It seems like I used two cans in a 5 gallon batch. Plus one pound of rice hulls.

 

[jalc6927]

Pumpkin in beer is like honey, real hard if not impossible to extract enough flavor without it all turning to sugar and fermenting out, most pumpkin ales have the spice flavor.

@jcav, interesting approach and I’ll try it next year. Maybe you’ve hit on the best way to extract the flavor

Did you use regular pumpkin or pie pumpkin

 

[applescrap]

I have made one the last four years in a row for thanksgiving. I researched the heck out of it and have used the same recipe ever since. I add the cans of pumpkin to the boil, and I put the spices in during the last 5 minutes of boil. I spice it very lightly for two reasons. The first reason is I want to allow the pumpkin to shine and the second reason is so I can drink more than one in a row without being overwhelmed. By lightly spiced, I have to check my notes, but I use 1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg and all spice. I think it's the best recipe but to each their own. Some people and some recipes call for 2 tablespoons of cinnamon. So it's just what you want. Pumpkin has very little flavor imo, and a brulosophy experiment backs up this opinion somewhat. It's really the spices that people associate with pumpkin. That being said if you spice light enough then some pumpkin flavor will shine through. I pour the entire contents of the kettle into the fermenter. I want the pumpkin to sit with the beer as long as possible. I never understood why people put pumpkin in the mash as a 60 Minute boil is sufficient for adding the pumpkin, imo, and the issues you ran into wont happen. Ymmv.

 

[jcav]

Pumpkin in beer is like honey, real hard if not impossible to extract enough flavor without it all turning to sugar and fermenting out, most pumpkin ales have the spice flavor.

@jcav, interesting approach and I’ll try it next year. Maybe you’ve hit on the best way to extract the flavor

Did you use regular pumpkin or pie pumpkin

I used canned unspiced puree, Libby's, or any supermarket brand like Publix, etc. will work as long as it is puree and has no spices in it already. This worked out excellent in the finished product as you can actually taste the pumpkin. Tastes like a gourd, or is squash like, kinda nutty and earthy, with it's own individual flavor on the finish and really added to the beer. The idea was to have a beer that you can taste the pumpkin pie spices, along with the pumpkin and still have it taste like a beer. If I ever was going to brew a pumpkin ale again I would do it exactly the same way, it really was that good. I can't take credit for this though, I got the idea from Gordon Strong. I used his recipe in his book as I wanted to try a tried and true recipe first, as this one is a lot of work. That man is a genius and the beer is a testament to that!

John

 

[PKnotlost]

I’ve learned that the pumpkin flavor mainly comes from the other ingredients and spices rather than solely upon the pumpkin I use this recipe and it’s fantastic.
Southern Tier Pumpking

 

[applescrap]

I used canned unspiced puree, Libby's, or any supermarket brand like Publix, etc. will work as long as it is puree and has no spices in it already. This worked out excellent in the finished product as you can actually taste the pumpkin. Tastes like a gourd, or is squash like, kinda nutty and earthy, with it's own individual flavor on the finish and really added to the beer. The idea was to have a beer that you can taste the pumpkin pie spices, along with the pumpkin and still have it taste like a beer. If I ever was going to brew a pumpkin ale again I would do it exactly the same way, it really was that good. I can't take credit for this though, I got the idea from Gordon Strong. I used his recipe in his book as I wanted to try a tried and true recipe first, as this one is a lot of work. That man is a genius and the beer is a testament to that!

John

+1

 

[applescrap]

it just so happens that I am drinking this year's pumpkin at the moment. Interestingly enough this was also no boil, no chilled. And has quite a bit of pumpkin flavor since it wasn't boiled. I'm so lazy I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever boil again.

 

[Beerswimmer]

Check out the Lady Rumpkin recipe. I have done it a few times now. Add the pumpkin puree, roasted and carmelized with brown sugar and molasses for me, to the last half of the boil in a tight mesh bag. Be sure to strain the wort when racking, every time. You'll lose a LOT of volume if you don't. I use a 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of spice at bottling only. Very pumpkin-y, not over spiced.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Glad to see people spreading GOOD advice about pumpkin ales for a change.

Libby's 100% pure "pumpkin" added to boil adds a super awesome pumpkin taste. I use 8oz per gallon.