Substitute canned pumpkin for fresh?

[brewchick3]

Have a pumpkin ale recipe that calls for 5 lbs of fresh pumpkin. It's still August and I can't find a pumpkin. Can I use canned?

 

[TopherM]

Is it a 5 gallon batch?? Use about 60oz of canned pumpkin per 5 gallons. Two cans of 28oz Libby's or four cans of 15oz organic.

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

I've heard that butternut squash is a good sub

you'll want to split it in half, take out the guts, line a baking sheet with tinfoil, and roast it until it's cooked through. cut-side up because the sugars will cook and caramelize.

 

[TopherM]

Yams and sweet potatoes work too.

There was a post here last year about a guy that did separate batches with pumpkin, yams, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash, all using the same recipe and same pumkin pie spice. All turned out VERY similar.

I've been flamed before for stating my opinion that the addition of the actual pumpkin doesn't add much flavor, and is much more important for the starch additions and mouthfeel, and I stick by it! It's the spice additions that make it taste like a pumpkin beer, no matter where you get the starches from (if at all!).

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

I don't know, I've had pumpkin ales that tasted pumpkiney and not very good which had little spice, and pumpkin spice ales that have a hint of pumpkin and spice flavor and are on the malty side for some sweetness - and i like those better.

so i think you need some fleshy vegetable starch from somewhere for sure, but i agree that most any kind of squash that has a firm meat may be roughly equivalent. I was gonna recommend hubbard or turban squash but if you can't find a pumpkin you aint gonna find either one of those.

Certain grocery stores in utah carry canned pumpkin year round. You might call around to different grocery stores and ask if they have any. They might have some in the back they are willing to sell you, just none out on the shelf.

 

[brewchick3]

Thanks! One more question...I have whole cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and allspice with the kit. It says when to add but not when to remove it. Does it come out when the wort is chilled? Or stay in through fermentation?

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

that's a good question. I used an adaptation of revvy's pumpkin porter and that recipe called for ground spices tossed into the boil at 5 minutes.

whole spices are a whole other ball game

 

[WharfRat]

Plus one for canned pumpkin. I cook a lot, and usually am a big proponent of fresh ingredients, but pumpkin is one thing that I will always use canned with confidence that it won't make that big a difference if any. Except for the fact that you will save yourself from the PITA of working with fresh pumpkin. Only difference might be in missing out on any maillard flavors from the oven roasting?

 

[TimpanogosSlim]

Plus one for canned pumpkin. I cook a lot, and usually am a big proponent of fresh ingredients, but pumpkin is one thing that I will always use canned with confidence that it won't make that big a difference if any. Except for the fact that you will save yourself from the PITA of working with fresh pumpkin. Only difference might be in missing out on any maillard flavors from the oven roasting?

You can roast the canned pumpkin. I recommend spreading it thin in a large baking sheet though, to make it go faster.

One point where canned pumpkin may be superior is the point on which most grocery stores don't seem to carry what I would call a good eating pumpkin. The ones you carve into a jack-o-lantern are a different cultivar than the ones you make into pie.