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

[dbreienrk1]

Pumpkin Ale (partial mash)
Brew Day: 9/10/2011
Secondary: 9/24/2000
5.5 gal 1 hour boil

Recipe:
- Rahr 2-Row Malt 6lbs
- Weyermann CaraRed 1.5lbs
- Brown Sugar 0.5lbs
- Breiss Caramel 40L 0.5lbs
- Belgian Biscuit Malt 0.5lbs
- Flaked Wheat 0.5lbs
- NB Amber Malt Syrup 2.5lbs (late addition - 20 min)
- Canned Pumpkin 60oz (1/2 60 min – 1/2 20 min)
- Wyeast nutrient 1/2 tsp (10 min)
- Super Irish Moss 1/5 tsp (10 min)
- Pumpkin Pie Spice 4tbs (5 min)
- German Northern Brewer Hop Pellets 1oz (60 min)
- German Northern Brewer Hop Pellets 1oz (15 min)
- Wyeast 1272 American Ale II

Spread pumpkin out on baking sheet and bake at 350° for 30 minutes
In a separate pot, bring 1.5gal water to 170°
Main brew kettle pot bring 4gal water to 150°
Mash-in grain and hold at 140° for 20 minutes
Raise temp to 156° and hold for 50 minutes
Remove grain bag and kick on burner to bring to boil
In separate bucket, rinse grains with 170° water
Add “rinsed” wort to brew-kettle and bring to boil
Follow hop, extract and additive schedule
Add wort chiller at 15 min
Cool to 70°
Add sanitized water to bring volume to 5 gal
Pitch yeast

Any thoughts?

 

[jonmohno]

I wouldnt add all your spice at 5 min,unless you like a perfumy beer,I would drop a tablespoon or two also.Unless you like something like shipyards pumpkin head , i thought it was overspiced and tasted like cola more than beer. Although im a fan of smashed pumpkin.

 

[dbreienrk1]

I wouldnt add all your spice at 5 min,unless you like a perfumy beer,I would drop a tablespoon or two also.Unless you like something like shipyards pumpkin head , i thought it was overspiced and tasted like cola more than beer. Although im a fan of smashed pumpkin.

Would it be better to add 1/2 the spice at say 15 and the other 1/2 at 5? Or 30 and 5? I want the spices to be present, but not overpowering. I'm trying to get more pumpkin than spice - and now that I write this maybe 1 Tbs at 15 and 1 at 5 would be better.

 

[jonmohno]

Ive only heard adding all at 60 and you get nothing(i doubt that), but i would add at least some @30 min.Treat them like hops i guess 30 or less is flavoring,15-flamout more aroma.Although i think depending how long it takes to cool your wort your still going to get flavoring. My first pumpkin doing small batches, i used a can of prespiced pumpkin towards the end of the boil and it was pretty perfumy and in my face kind of spice and it tooks many months to really mellow out, but if thats your thing then go for it.
If your dead set on doing 4 tblsp i would split it up some at 60 30 10 or 5 or flamout.
Now i have to go pull out one of my pumpkin browns i did 4 months ago, i did 60 min spice and 2 cans plain pumpkin mashed,definatly wasnt overspiced for a 2 gallon batch 2 tsp pumpk spice @60 min.It was pretty much a brown not my favorite style and it was decent but time usually does the trick but im still waiting it wasnt a big beer but had a lot of complexity in it.

 

[jonmohno]

Ok so i chilled down my 4 month bottled pumpkin brown wheat,its really a good beer the pumpkin is there perfectly the spice is subdued in the background with hints of spice faintly, i used 3/4 @60 3/4 @ 30 of pumpkin spice for a 1.7 gal batch(1/3 of a 5 gallon batch).Not much in aroma but still detected in flavor where i wanted them in the background.My last one i did 2 tsp for a third of a 5 gallon batch which would be 2 tblsp. for a 5 gallon which i think for my preference is good.

If i were to do another i would put a little in aroma and more of it @30 and 60.Even though i used a small amount of spice you get a spice coating like taste in your mouth faintly at the finish i used some blackstrap molassis to in a small amount and that ends up in the finish taste but seems to stick around in the aroma also. I also only got like 12-15 ibus with some chinook hops which i should have went for like 25.At this point i would say im finally happy with this pumpkin which is why i brewed it 5 months ago.Perfect timing.

The most recent pumpkin i did i added spice @60 although i did some bittering with a spice like hop so with hints of pumpk spice but a hop spice making it more beer like, i like pumpkins but i always think they leave a little bit of a crappy taste in your mouth thats why i bittered mine a little more this time.

 

[dbreienrk1]

@jonmohno - This info is much appreciated. I'm going to revise my spice/pumpkin additions tomorrow and re-post them. Thanks for the advice.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Thanks for the input! I did read the thread!

I know that people are using different things, I just wanted to know what effect those different things had on the outcome.

- Has anyone compared sweet potatos to pumpkin?
- Has anyone compared pumpkin to no pumpkin (just spices)?
- Has anyone compared pumpkin in mash to pumpkin in boil?
- Has anyone compared fresh pumpkin to canned pumpkin?

I'm planning on doing a brewday with a canned pumpkin in the boil, and I think next brewday I'll try either sweet potatos or just spices.

I used canned pumpkin, baked at 350 for an hour, and added it to the mash (what a mess -- I got a stuck mash doing BIAB with it). Then I added spices to the boil at 5 minutes.

Pre-boil it had the taste like beer with squash in it. Not much pumpkin aroma but definitely pumpkin flavor. Not pumpkin pie, just like squash. When I added the spices it immediately developed the smell of pumpkin pie. The spices definitely make up a lot of the aroma and flavor but I would think the pumpkin is the difference between a beer that tastes like (some) winter warmers and a pumpkin ale.

Just my $.02. This was my first go at a pumpkin ale, so take that for what it's worth.

 

[barrooze]

I've got 2 questions. 1) Has anyone brewed the Brewing Classic Styles pumpkin beer, and 2) To make a pumpkin saison, can you just take any pumpkin recipe and ferment it with a saison yeast? Would I leave out the spices or tone them down? (I guess it's three questions... )

Thanks!

 

[BrewMeThatBeer]

Has anyone ever used vanilla beans and/or toasted coconut in their pumpkin beers? I was considering adding one or both and would appreciate any tips on the matter. Obviously I would add these in secondary for about a week before racking to the bottling bucket.

Thanks in advance.

 

[smokinghole]

Has anyone ever used vanilla beans and/or toasted coconut in their pumpkin beers? I was considering adding one or both and would appreciate any tips on the matter. Obviously I would add these in secondary for about a week before racking to the bottling bucket.

Thanks in advance.

I used 10ml of vanilla extract when I bottled my beer for a 5.5gal yield. It made a difference but you couldn't pick the vanilla out.

 

[nailedtonothing]

It'll be about 2 months, but I'm kegging. Bottling is much too tedious.

 

[stblindtiger]

If you guys aren't sick of reviewing Pumpkin Ale recipes yet, I put together a Belgian Pumpkin Ale I'm thinking about using a locally harvested Wild Yeast on...

YEAST INFO:

The yeast has a Medium Floc, but responds well to finings; atentuation range between 78%-84%;

temp tolerance of 66-94 degrees;

It is a belgian style yeast that may contain some Brett, however no lacto-baccilli;

At lower temps it supports malt forward beers with a mild sweetness and few esters, as temp increases it supports more banana and clove flavors, further increases start to create hazelnut, dark fruit, and bubblegum flavors, and above 82 degrees it imparts a certain pepperiness.

No tartness, and only minimal saison like farm yard character.

RECIPE:

Recipe: Belgian Pumpkin Ale
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Style: Belgian Specialty Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.99 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.24 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.063 SG
Estimated Color: 12.8 SRM
Estimated IBU: 28.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 80.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
9 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 2 50.0 %
8.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 3 2.8 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.8 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.8 %
0.75 oz Magnum [12.40 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 28.3 IBUs
1.00 oz Sterling [7.50 %] - Aroma Steep 10.0 min Hop 14 0.0 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 9 -
8.0 oz Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1 2.8 %
6 lbs Pumpkin (3.0 SRM) Sugar 6 33.3 %
1 lbs Milk Sugar (Lactose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 7 5.6 %
0.50 tsp Cinnamon (Ground, Dry) (Boil 1.0 mins) Spice 11 -
0.25 tsp Ginger Root (Ground, dry) (Boil 1.0 mins Herb 10 -
0.13 tsp Nutmeg (Ground, Dry) (Boil 1.0 mins) Spice 13 -
0.13 tsp All Spice (Ground, Dry) (Boil 1.0 mins) Spice 12 -
1.0 pkg West Philly Wild Yeast (WPW #4) Yeast 15 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 18 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 13.75 qt of water at 168.2 F 156.0 F 45 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (1.63gal, 3.75gal) of 168.0 F water

(Edited the water volumes... I was getting some weird amounts in the previous post. I fixed my equipment set-up in Beersmith though and it looks pretty good now)

I hope I get some feedback, as this is only the second recipe I ever put together. I kind of combined Jamil's recipe with Southern Tier's Pumking, plus a belgian style yeast.


What do you think?

 

[KingBrianI]

The recipe looks solid. The only thing that I'm questionable on is the lactose, I don't know how that will work in a beer with belgian yeast character. You may want to lower the bittering down to like 20 IBU and drop the lactose so that a malt sweetness comes through but the beer remains dry and not artificially sweet. That's just my opinion though.

I would like to hear more about that yeast though! Did you catch it or was it caught by someone else? Sounds like it has been fairly extensively documented and the flavors it makes sound awesome! Any way for interested brewers to get a slant or something?

 

[EuBrew]

Sounds pretty interesting, but with 6 lbs of pumpkin I'd increase your rice hulls to at least 1 lb if not 2, they're cheap insurance to a stuck mash.

Good luck!! I plan on brewing my latest attempt at the pumking next weekend if I can get my rig finished by then!

 

[stblindtiger]

Thanks for the quick feedback guys! I was thinking about dropping the IBU's down a bit as well. I just wasn't sure how much... I dropped the Magnum down to about .5 ounce and that brought the IBU's to 18.9.

The only reason I was going to add the Lactose was to increase the mouthfeel a bit, as I feel as though Pumpkin may have some in there as well.

Maybe bring it down to 1/2 lb or should I drop it all together since I'm using the Wild yeast?

King Brian.... I got the West Philly Wild yeast from a local homebrew club meeting. The owner of my LHBS was there handing out samples from a customer of his that was trying to sell it.

I have the guys email/contact info if you are interested in getting some.... I don't know the guy at all, but like I said the local homebrew supply owner was handing out samples in the hopes that people would be interested in it and want to buy some. If you are serious about getting some, I'll email him and see if he still has any...

 

[Oddball]

Great thread! I want to get pumpkin batch ready for Halloween. Better get started....

 

[CrystalShip]

I brewed a pumpkin ale the first week of august and just bottled it yesterday... tasted pretty good if not a tad boozey. The recipe went something like this...

7lbs two row pale
4lbs munich
1lb crystal 60
1.5 cups of organic turbinado sugar (in hindsight I would have used dark brown sugar)
2oz tettnanger hop pellets
a large can of libby's pumpkin (thrown in the mash)
wyeast 1056
about 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice blend (end of boil)

It was supposed to be a five gallon batch but I lost a bit straining a TON of trub out of the kettle. I primed with DME, and heard that it might take a bit longer than with corn sugar but that's no prob since we have a while before All Hallows eve!

 

[inkman15]

Question about equipment - I'm going to be using my homemade Rubbermaid cooler mash tun for this (the kind with a stainless steel braid as a filter). Will that be an issue with pumpkin getting inside it and clogging?

 

[nailedtonothing]

Question about equipment - I'm going to be using my homemade Rubbermaid cooler mash tun for this (the kind with a stainless steel braid as a filter). Will that be an issue with pumpkin getting inside it and clogging?

Use some rice hulls, should keep from clogging you up with a stuck mash. Update on my ale: it came out awesome. People that have sampled it say that it is only bested by pumking from the others that they have had. I'm extremely happy with the results!

 

[HollisBrewCo]

I came up with a really good method using canned pumpkin to avoid any problems with runoff or a stuck sparge. http://hollisbrewco.blogspot.com/2011/09/pumpkin-ale-brew-day.html I just dissolved the canned pumpkin pie filling in my mash water while it was heating up. the rims system was recirculating the water at the time so that ensured it all got dissolved.

 

[Monstar]

I came up with a really good method using canned pumpkin to avoid any problems with runoff or a stuck sparge. http://hollisbrewco.blogspot.com/2011/09/pumpkin-ale-brew-day.html I just dissolved the canned pumpkin pie filling in my mash water while it was heating up. the rims system was recirculating the water at the time so that ensured it all got dissolved.

Hm, thats really interesting!

 

[HollisBrewCo]

it worked perfectly, I read all the horror stories and I couldn't believe how well dissolving the pumpkin worked

 

[Poobah58]

I came up with a really good method using canned pumpkin to avoid any problems with runoff or a stuck sparge. http://hollisbrewco.blogspot.com/2011/09/pumpkin-ale-brew-day.html I just dissolved the canned pumpkin pie filling in my mash water while it was heating up. the rims system was recirculating the water at the time so that ensured it all got dissolved.

Same here. Made sure the canned stuff was disssolved and also used some real pumpkin. I did 15 gallons in a sanke keg using a RIMS. Used about 2-3# rice hulls and ran beautifully!

 

[smokinghole]

I was looking up some veggies last night and thought it'd be interesting to use some butternut squash along with pumpkin in a spiced pumkin/squash ale. I think the combo of the pumpkin and nuttiness from the squash would work well. I'll plan for that next year since I already baked all my pumpkin last night for brewday tomorrow. I used Fairy Tale pumpkins for this year's batch instead of canned pumpkin.

 

[Poobah58]

I was looking up some veggies last night and thought it'd be interesting to use some butternut squash along with pumpkin in a spiced pumkin/squash ale. I think the combo of the pumpkin and nuttiness from the squash would work well. I'll plan for that next year since I already baked all my pumpkin last night for brewday tomorrow. I used Fairy Tale pumpkins for this year's batch instead of canned pumpkin.

I use pumpkin, butternut squash and sweet potato.

 

[Ridebreck]

I've got 2 questions. 1) Has anyone brewed the Brewing Classic Styles pumpkin beer?

Yep. It's my go-to every fall. I roast two pie pumpkins until well-carmelized, cube one and mash up the other before adding to my mash (along with a crap ton of rice hulls). Mash for 90 min. I toss in the spices 1 min before flameout. Mine's been in the fermentor for 3 weeks now. Just crashed it last night. Great beer.

 

[dooman333]

Brewed 3 weeks ago.

5 gallon batch

6lbs LME
1lb Crystal 30
0.5lb Chocolate

8 lbs of cubed pumpkin added (once baked for 1 hour @ 350 with HALF of spices sprinkled on top)

Spice...

1 tsp Cinnamon
0.5 tsp Ginger
0.5 tsp All Spice
0.5 tsp Nutmeg

Half sprinkled on baking pumpkin.
Other half added to wort.

1oz East Kent Golding pellet @ 60min
1oz Fuggles pellet @ 30min

1tsp Irish Moss @ 15min

Safale US-05

Estimates...

OG 1.051
FG 1.013
IBU 35.6
ABV 5.01
SRM 20.9

Didn't like how weak it tasted at the 2 week mark so I vodka teabagged in some more spices.Been fermenting for 3 weeks. What do u think? How long should I keep her in the secondary? Thanks guys!
:rockin:

 

[yellowjacket151]

Anyone have thoughts/experience with using Challenger hops in a Pumpkin Ale?

I've got an ounce in the freezer but don't have a lot of experience with using it. I'm concerned the aroma and bitterness quality might clash with the pumpkin spices.

I'm thinking 1/2 oz first wort and 1/2 oz @ 15 minutes into a Northern English Brown base. BeerSmith estimates 21 IBUs with 0.459 IBU/SG.

 

[beargrylls]

has anyone added pumpkin after fermentation? I was thinking about roasting 15 oz of canned pumpkin until caramelized and adding for a week before I bottle

 

[Revvy]

has anyone added pumpkin after fermentation? I was thinking about roasting 15 oz of canned pumpkin until caramelized and adding for a week before I bottle

If you do something like that, you're going to want to leave it for a week or so, THEN rack it again to another vessel, (either a secondary if adding pumpkin to primary or a tertiary if adding it in a secondary,) and leave THAT for a couple MORE weeks to actually clear.

You really just can't simply dump pumpkin in then declare that your beer is going to be bottle-able a week later. There's waaaaaaay too much gunk involved in working with pumpkin for it to be that easy.