Pumpkin beers: Discussion, developing recipes, tips tricks, and a good practices

[Edcculus]

I'm looking to start a pumpkin beer this weekend and I was looking for some opinions. My main question is what will be a suitable base beer? I am torn between a brown ale, pale ale, and amber/red. Any thoughts or experiences? I am hoping for a beer with a nice head, mouth, and of course great pumpkin pie taste. Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Like I said, a Scottish Ale works very well. If I was to do another one, I'd probably use Jamil's recipe and mash with 2-3 cans of pumpkin.

 

[k2brew]

You can do it all at once if you have room in the grain bag or you can use two bags or two steps. I would combine them to save yourself time.

You are right that the partial mash is pretty easy and to re-iterate, will give the maximum benefit from your other ingredients as you are using the 6-row (because it has a higher diastolic power which will convert your adjunct - pumpkin into fermentable sugar).

The specialty grains that you normally use with an extract brew don't need to be mashed because the kilning process has already done this step for you, but there is no reason (that I know of) that this would hurt them.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

 

[k2brew]

Regarding the pumpkin.

I was just going to stop at the local store and get whatever is cheapest in the natural section.

I'll let you know after this weekend's trip to the store

 

[molson]

I brewed this kit last year and after a few months of aging everyone that tasted it, loved it.

Pumpkin Ale w/ 6 gm Munton's dry yeast :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

Of course this year i'm brewing AG so I don't know if i'm going to do it or not.

As for aging this beer is it better to do it at room temperature or in the fridge. I currently bottle so after I wait the two weeks for it to carb should I just let it sit for a couple more weeks then chill and enjoy?

 

[EuBrew]

Alright, count me in! I'm doing a 2.5 gal batch of something similar to the Southern Tier Pumking ale, second batch so be easy on me!! I know it's just as easy to do a 5 but I'm doing 2 2.5's instead (Creme Brulee Stout clone for second) just to work on technique and I don't really want 5 gal's of either of these around, not really my prefered beers. Go easy on me but here's a rough plan of what I'm going to attempt on the 23rd. Pumpkin will be in the mash after roasting for 1 hr, just got beersmith still learning how to post recipes from that into here and add notes etc. Any feedack is appreciated. I think the grain bill is pretty solid but I'm way lost on the spices!!! Also, should I add the brown sugar to the mash or the boil, if I add to the boil I won't have an accurate pre-boil OG. Thought about doing half the spices in the boil and the other half in the secondary. Suggestions and comments appreciated!!

Southern Tier Pumking Clone
Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer


Type: All Grain
Date: 8/23/2009
Batch Size: 2.50 gal
Brewer: EuBrew
Boil Size: 3.49 gal Asst Brewer: Erica
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (7.5 gal) and Cooler (48 qt)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
2 lbs Fruit - Pumpkin Caned (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 17.02 %
1 lbs Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 8.51 %
7 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 63.83 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4.26 %
4.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 2.13 %
0.25 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 17.3 IBU
0.50 oz Sterling [7.50 %] (10 min) Hops 6.7 IBU
0.13 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
0.50 tsp Allspice (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.50 tsp Clove (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.50 tsp Vanilla Extract (Bottling 5.0 min) Misc
0.75 tsp Nutmeg Ground (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.25 tsp Ground Cinnamon (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
8.0 oz Brown Sugar, Dark (50.0 SRM) Sugar 4.26 %
1 Pkgs English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.101 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.032 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 9.14 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 %
Bitterness: 24.0 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 12.6 SRM Color: Color


Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 11.25 lb
Sparge Water: 1.57 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 14.06 qt of water at 167.0 F 152.0 F

 

[KingBrianI]

EuBrew, I think the pumpkin is about to go through enough, what with the roast and mash and boil and all. No need to cane it as well!

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

bummer. I am not brewing this weekend Mine will have to wait.

 

[EuBrew]

EuBrew, I think the pumpkin is about to go through enough, what with the roast and mash and boil and all. No need to cane it as well!

Sorry if I "misremembered" what I wrote, I'll take a look and edit if necessary but I am not boiling, just roasting and adding to mash. Want to avoid all the trub by adding to mash instead of boil.

 

[KingBrianI]

Sorry if I "misremembered" what I wrote, I'll take a look and edit if necessary but I am not boiling, just roasting and adding to mash. Want to avoid all the trub by adding to mash instead of boil.

I was just playing with you. You had "caned pumpkin" in your recipe instead of "canned". Bad joke.

 

[absolutbmc]

what is the benefit of baking the canned pumpkin??? How long should it be baked? 30mins at 350?

 

[absolutbmc]

bummer. I am not brewing this weekend Mine will have to wait.

Thats a bummer

 

[EuBrew]

what is the benefit of baking the canned pumpkin??? How long should it be baked? 30mins at 350?

A lot of things I've read when researching this suggest roasting at 350 for an hour to get some carmalization going but I'm a newb so don't trust me, that's why i posted here in case someone that actually knows what they are doing thinks I'm way off base.

 

[k2brew]

Eubrew, I think that looks pretty good and I am with you on trying to keep the trub down by mashing and not boiling.

My only thought regarding spices is that it's better to have subtle notes then a bombshell of spice. Granted this is personal opinion of SWMBO, I mean my opinion. I think that this usually makes it more accessible for other drinkers as well. However, I tend to take the approach of brew a batch taste, modify on next batch (this is my first pumpkin so I'm going a little light on the spice).

Is that a boxer?

My understanding is that you bake the pumpkin to get some carmalization of the sugars.

 

[EuBrew]

Eubrew, I think that looks pretty good and I am with you on trying to keep the trub down by mashing and not boiling.

My only thought regarding spices is that it's better to have subtle notes then a bombshell of spice. Granted this is personal opinion of SWMBO, I mean my opinion. I think that this usually makes it more accessible for other drinkers as well. However, I tend to take the approach of brew a batch taste, modify on next batch (this is my first pumpkin so I'm going a little light on the spice).

Is that a boxer?

My understanding is that you bake the pumpkin to get some carmalization of the sugars.

I looked at as many recipes as I could stand and scaled the average for a 5 back to 2.5 but you're right, rather not have it kick me in the junk errrr nose....

I think I'll do half in the boil and add the other half in secondary as a tea if it needs more oomph.

Yeah, he's a boxer. My little 70lb tard thinks he weighs 7 lbs!!

 

[k2brew]

From the first post - from the Lakefront brewery
"For a five gallon batch, this equals only .016 pounds of pumpkin pie spice, .011 pounds of cinnamon, and .003 pounds of nutmeg.) Obviously, the spices you add are very limited in quantity."

From the New Holland Brewery (Note: I love their Pumpkin Ale)

As they are doing a lightly hopped beer "More important are the spices. We use ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. I recommend spicing with 30 or less minutes left in the boil. Add it before this and you’ll boil away flavor and, most importantly, aroma."

I have a 65lb 1 year old Flashy Fawn who is a very pathetic lap dog. He is also kind of a jerk who has recently started talking back at us... Brewing has gotten in the way of training.

 

[jfowler1]

My .02

I brewed my first pumpkin ale about three months ago, and I am planning on bottling it tonight. Granted, it may taste like garbage, so I can only contribute to the process. However, I can tell you that my brew day went very smooth, and the color and clarity are very good after sitting in the carboy for 3 weeks. I have the recipe at home, but it was basically Jamil's pumpkin spice beer scaled to 6%ABV for my system. The recipe measured the color at 11 SRM.

The pumpkin.
First, I skipped the pumpkin in the mash. I was at Smuttynose in NH earlier this year and I asked them about their pumpkin beer. It is one of my favorite examples of the style. They said they just bake the canned pumpkin for 1 hour and add it to the boil. I followed their advice. Simply, pumpkin has no flavor and very little smell. If anything, it just smells and tastes like squash. I wanted a beer that tasted like pumpkin pie, not a beer that tastes like zucchini. Please note, I was not under the dilusion that baking would somehow convert the pumpkin either. The grain bill provided all the fermentables I needed. Why did I add pumpkin at all? I just do not think it can be called a pumpkin beer if there was no pumpkin in the recipe. Shipyard uses no pumpkin in their Pumpkinhead. In fact, it is just a spice extract. That really pissed me off. I used one 15 oz can for a 5g batch, just so I could look at myself in the mirror the next day. In fact, I gave the baking dish a couple shakes of pumpkin pie spice when it was in the oven. I thought Thanksgiving came early.

The spice.
I used 1/2 tsp of "pumpkin pie spice" at 1 minute. I agree that you get more aroma at flame out, but I wanted the boil to kick things around a bit. I thought about doing a type of dry-spice addition in the fermenter, but since this is my first attempt, I wanted to stick with less-is-more. I think it is important to remember when you formulate a recipe; make a good beer first, and then spice it. Too many people are putting the pumpkin and spice issues first, and the grain and hop bill second. The resulting threads are all about stuck/failed sparges and over-spiced beer. My goal is a nice amber beer that you drink and think to yourself, "This is a good beer, and it tastes a little like pumpkin pie".

Finally- it has been said before, but you will have a ton of junk in the bottom of your fermenter after 3 weeks. I will probably come up just short of two cases of bottled beer, so plan accordingly.

 

[k2brew]

Boerderij_Kabouter, I would definitely be up for a Pumpkin Swap if there are people interested.

jfowler1, ie devil's advocate, your post very accurately reflects my brewing philosophy. Make a sure you have a good beer and then tinker with it. Regarding your junk... which I have heard is ugly and smells like squash... this is why I'm going to do a partial mash and not put the pumpkin in the boil (fingers crossed) hopefully this will keep the trub to a reasonable level.

General thought; after rereading some of the earlier posts I'm not convinced that baking the canned pumpkin is necessary (although I will probably still do it) it only seems really necessary when you are using fresh pumpkin.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I did not bake my pumpkin on my first attempt. I will this year because it is an easy step and I don't think it can hurt.

 

[masonsjax]

If you were to bake pumpkin puree, mixing it up periodically, until it was mostly dried out, could that prevent it from sticking up the sparge, or do you think it would just turn back into goop as soon as strike water hits it?

PS. An experienced brewer friend suggested that if you plan to add vanilla extract, you should wait until after the boil and add it once chilled to between 170-180F or cooler, otherwise it will mostly cook away.

 

[blackshirtproud]

I too am wanting to brew me up some pumpkin ale. I absolutely love Buffalo Bills version and would be tickled s#@tles if anything I produced was close.
My question is, Does anybody think that a Belgian Blonde wound be a terrible base and then come up with a spice note?
What made me think that was the biscuit note of Fat Tire.
Well, what do you all think?

 

[Chugger]

Ok, I was planning on making this as an extract version tomorrow. I was going to add the pumpkin to the boil per Yuri's Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale recipe. My question is, if I do that would I strain when adding to the primary or just leave the pumpkin in there and expect to clean out a massive amount of trub in a week or so?

 

[JBZSTL]

The prior posts have all been helpful. Here are my plans. I should note that this will be my third batch and was originally going to brew a BestBrew Amber kit until I started reading this thread.

Ingredients:
For 5 gallons
2 cups Crystal Malt (pkg states for Amber or Pumpkin Kits)
3 lb Amer DME
2 lb Light DME
Northern Brewer Hop Pellets (8 AAU's)
1098 British Ale (Wyeast)

I intend on adding the pumpkins to the mash in a grain bag along with the grains (seperate bag). Is 15oz of canned pumpkins enough? What spices should I add (pumpkin spice, cinammon, nutmeg?) and what quantities of each? I plan on using a "ale pail" for my primary and then racking to a carboy for my secondary.

Am I on the right track or do I have delusions of simplicity?

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

FWIW, I used 60 oz (4 cans baked for an hour) in the boil in my recipe, I ended up with about 5.5 gallons in the fermenter, and due to trub loss only about 4.5 gallons made it into the secondary.

Definitely make about .5 to 1 gallon extra for trub loss. It was an extract recipe.

 

[MVKTR2]

Notes on sweet potato use. Vardeman MS is known as the Sweet Potato capital, good stuff... but no biggie. Us southerners hardly ever eat pumpkin's and the only place you can buy a pumpkin pie is pre-made & frozen in the store. I say that to give you a feel that a few of us carve em up for Halloween, but hardly anyone here eats them... why would ya when sweet potatoes are so much sweeter, taste better, & cheaper! Anyway Mississippi's only microbrewery, Lazy Magnolia, makes a sweet potato stout called Jefferson Stout. What's interesting is the bier is 3.5% abv, but it's very flavorful with just a hint of the sweet potato on the finish.

Just a few thoughts, & a campaign for the mighty sweet potato!!!

Schlante,
Phillip

 

[EuBrew]

bump.......

anyone have any difinitive suggestions on quantity of spices to use for a 5 gal batch??

 

[sharp63]

FWIW, I used 60 oz (4 cans baked for an hour) in the boil in my recipe, I ended up with about 5.5 gallons in the fermenter, and due to trub loss only about 4.5 gallons made it into the secondary.

Definitely make about .5 to 1 gallon extra for trub loss. It was an extract recipe.

Do you put the pumpkin in for the full boil?

I'm going to do an extract based on an amber recipe and am curious when the best times to add the extra ingredients are. I'm planning on using pumpkins as well as spices, so knowing the best times for each would be really helpful.

 

[14thstreet]

I brewed my 'spice only' red ale yesterday and planned to use the spices according to a recipe in Brewing Classic Styles. For a 6 gallon batch, it recommends adding 2/3rds of the following blend, at 1 minute left in the boil: 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/8 tsp ground allspice. The remaining third is added after fermentation is done, according to taste.

In reality, I split my amber ale batch and to a 2.75 gallon final volume, I unfortunately forgot to use my brain and added 3/4th of the above spice blend at 1 minute left in the boil. The aroma hit me in the face but quickly subsided after a 15 minute steep after flameout. Tasting a sample did not reveal the spice, perhaps the sweet wort is masking it at this time. This one might have to age a bit more than I planned to mellow out the spices if they do overwhelm the beer after fermentation is complete. I did not use pumpkin.

On a side note, I also bungled the other half of my beer, adding the full batch hop additions, making a 72 IBU amber instead of 36!

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

Do you put the pumpkin in for the full boil?

I'm going to do an extract based on an amber recipe and am curious when the best times to add the extra ingredients are. I'm planning on using pumpkins as well as spices, so knowing the best times for each would be really helpful.

Yeah, I boiled for the full 60 minutes, also this beer will be conditioned for a good 3 months before drinking, I added spice to the last 5 minutes of the booil, as well as racking on top of more spice in the secondary, however, I wish I would have made a spice teas to add to the secondary instead of adding the spices dry, but I'll live and learn.

 

[McBrewski]

I'm brewing the Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale on Wednesday.

 

[masonsjax]

I made my pumpkin ale yesterday. Here's the recipe as brewed:

Batch Size (Gal): 6.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 12.75
Anticipated OG: 1.057
Anticipated SRM: 17.0
Anticipated IBU: 23.0
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

9.50 lbs. Pale Malt US 2-row
0.50 lbs. Victory Malt
1.00 lbs. Crystal 55L
1.00 lbs. Munich Malt Light
0.50 lbs. Crystal 120L
0.25 lbs. Chocolate Malt 350L
1.00 lbs. Rice Hulls

30 oz. Canned Pumpkin Puree

0.75 oz. Northern Brewer (GR) 8.90% 60 min.
0.25 tsp Ginger (Ground) 5 min
0.25 tsp Cloves (Ground) 5 min
0.50 tsp Nutmeg (Ground) 5 min
1.50 tsp Cinnamon (Ground) 5 min
1.00 tsp Vanilla Extract 0 min (chill to 170 then add)

Safale S-05 Yeast (use a less attenuating yeast next time, and mash at 156)

Bake the pumpkin on a cookie sheet at 350F ~45 mins, mix and re-spread every 15 mins.
Mash grain, rice hulls, and pumpkin.
Strike with ~4.5 gallons; stir thoroughly. Mash at 158F for 60 mins.
Double batch sparge. Collect ~7 gallons. Boil 60 mins.

The sparge was a little slower than usual, but not too bad. I use a cooler with SS braid. I think the rice hulls helped. There was very little pumpkin trub that made it into the kettle, but I could taste it in the wort. I hit all the numbers right on. Since the OG calculation didn't include any sugars from the pumpkin, I'm not sure if I had poor grain efficiency, or there just weren't any sugars to be had from the pumpkin. This was also my first batch with my new barley crusher, so the crush might not be ideal just yet. I had a fresh US-05 cake that I racked onto, otherwise I would have used something that attenuates a little less. I mashed at 158F to try and make up for that. Next time I'll use an english yeast or something. I would probably cut back some of the crystal malt next time too. This grain bill was purchased to do an Amber ale based on a Jamil recipe, before I changed my mind. The finished wort smelled and tasted pretty good, and I'm looking forward to my first pint.