Trying to make a pumpkin beer this year.

[Ivypunx]

I want to make a pumpkin beer this year. I have looked over a ton of recipes and basicall have down what I am going to use for m batch. I just want to know if anyone on here has made one. What did you have success with. What did you use for the actual pumpkin ingredient. If you have had any success with a pumpkin ale left me know please. Also I am curious as to certain spicing people have had success with

 

[mpjay2000]

This recipe by Reno eNVy is outstanding. I made this twice last year and plan on doing it twice this year also. I will try to post a link to the recipe.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/punkin-ale-145060/

mpjay2000

 

[Ivypunx]

what do you do with the pumkpin. At what point are you adding it. I noticed you said you put it in your mash

 

[jtratcliff]

For my first pumpkin ale last year, I had few lbs of pumpkin leftover from the previous halloween. We had roasted and frozen it.

After reading various recipes on here, I decided to add it to the mash.

I went light on the spice and I think it came out quite tasty.

 

[Ivypunx]

For my first pumpkin ale last year, I had few lbs of pumpkin leftover from the previous halloween. We had roasted and frozen it.

After reading various recipes on here, I decided to add it to the mash.

I went light on the spice and I think it came out quite tasty.

Thanks for the tip. I was wondering how people added it to the brew process. Did you just put chunks of pumpkin in the mash as is?

 

[Beernik]

I'll be making my pumpkin Saison again this year. Maybe spice it a little different. I was disappointed yesterday when I discovered it was all gone. I used two of the big cans of Libbies in the mash. I may roast then this year first to see if that is any better.

 

[Hobanon]

Search for Southern Tier Pumking clones on here, there are a bunch of threads. It's personally my favorite pumpkin ale, if a tad sweet. ST roasts fresh pumpkins before adding to the mash, which I would highly recommend, though some just toss in pumpkin purée. From what I've read, you'll either need to put the pumpkin in a muslin bag or add rice hulls to prevent a stuck mash, especially if you use te purée. I'm in the same boat as you as far as research goes and trying to figure out the recipe/process well in advance.

Also, be sure to watch te amount of nutmeg you add in the boil. Too many commercial pumpkin ales I've had are just total spice bombs, especially dogfish head.

 

[hunter_le five]

Last year I tried to make one with fresh baked pumpkin chunks in the mash, and yielded almost zero pumpkin flavor in the final product (the mash smelled damn good though). Maybe I did something wrong.

This year I'll try the canned puree method and see if it comes out any better.

 

[Ivypunx]

Hey thanks for all the info guys. Keep it coming

 

[SpeedYellow]

Last year I tried to make one with fresh baked pumpkin chunks in the mash, and yielded almost zero pumpkin flavor in the final product ...

That's because pumpkin has virtually no flavor. The flavors we associate with pumpkin are the pumpkin pie spices. If you don't believe it, make a pumpkin pie without spices and see what it tastes like. Basically nothing.

 

[hunter_le five]

That's because pumpkin has virtually no flavor. The flavors we associate with pumpkin are the pumpkin pie spices. If you don't believe it, make a pumpkin pie without spices and see what it tastes like. Basically nothing.

Well that's one mystery solved.

I wonder, then, if I stripped all the spices out of the beer with Irish moss and gelatin? Or if maybe I just need to double the amounts next time.

 

[SpeedYellow]

Well that's one mystery solved.

I wonder, then, if I stripped all the spices out of the beer with Irish moss and gelatin? Or if maybe I just need to double the amounts next time.

Best advice is to browse the different recipes like in the recipe database to see the range of amounts that people are having success with.

The other thing to consider when reading people's suggestions is that pumpkin it's nearly all water and fiber, with just a little sugar and starch. Knowing that, a lot of what you'll hear doesn't make much sense but you can judge that.

 

[jtratcliff]

Thanks for the tip. I was wondering how people added it to the brew process. Did you just put chunks of pumpkin in the mash as is?

Yup... It was cut into about 1 inch chunks when I roasted it. I just added it to the mash just as it was.

Edited to add: I may have smashed the chunks slightly with a potato masher... I can't recall exactly.

 

[Jsslack]

I added 2.5 quarts of fresh, baked, and pureed pumpkin to my boil last year and i assure you pumpkin has its own unique flavor separate from the spices. If you use fresh pumpkin, do some research on what are the best kinds of pumpkin to bake with. We used a Cinderella pumpkin last year. Also i hear pink banana squash (i think is what it is called) is prob the best tasting pumpkin and/or squash to cook with.

 

[Ivypunx]

Awesome. Thanks for all the feedback. Keep it coming

 

[sputnam]

i added 8# of roasted puree to a 5 gallon batch and 1.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice at flameout. tasted great when i kegged it yesterday...brown ale was the base