I decided on brewing a pumpkin ale for my next batch. I opted to go with actual pumpkin not just pumpkin spice or canned pumpkin. I would like some advice on what type of pumpkin is best to use when brewing. I'm not sure the importance of the choice in pumpkin but I'd like to give my self the best shot at good real pumkin taste
What type of pumpkin is best for brewing
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kingwood-kid
Well-Known Member
Canned. It's selected for flavor and conveniently pre-roasted and sanitized. But if you want to use fresh, you'll have to search around for the sugar pumpkins, maybe at a farmer's market. The ones at the grocery store are better as porch decorations than as food. You could also use butternut squash, which is cheaper, more flavorful and easier to find. If you want pumpkin pie-type taste, you'll need to use the spices one usually adds to pie, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc... Adding an estery yeast will probably help accentuate the pumpkin flavor as well.
Thnx for the info I've heard people recommend canned pumpkin because the convenience and they've seen great results, but I guess I just have this thing about wanting to use the real deal..but if I can't find the one you've recommended I might just go canned. Also I'm fairly new to home brewing so I'm not to familiar with yeast or what "estery" means. I'm using an NB kit tht comes w safale US-05 ale yeast.
acidrain23
Well-Known Member
Mexican varieties are good if you live in an area with a sizeable Hispanic community- look for these:
The small, flatter "cheese" type pumpkins are also outstanding if you can find them:
Kabocha squash, admittedly hard to find are quite delicious if you can find them:
The small, flatter "cheese" type pumpkins are also outstanding if you can find them:
Kabocha squash, admittedly hard to find are quite delicious if you can find them:
Also one quick question you said tht canned pumpkin comes pre roasted, while researching I've seen videos in which people spread the canned pumpkin on a baking sheet and put it in the oven, would you say thts not needed or a waste of time being tht it comes pre roasted
kingwood-kid
Well-Known Member
Complete waste of time and electricity to me. If you're starting with raw pumpkin/squash, then roasting it whole or cut-up will give you a richer flavor. Canned pumpkin is arguably more "real" than freeze-dried yeast, malt extract, pelletized hops, chlorinated water and pre-toasted and ground spices. It's good enough for Dogfish Head and others, but if you want to use fresh, that's cool too. That Kobocha pic looks sweet (I almost typed kombucha, which is a totally different forum).
Esters are a class of compounds produced by yeast when they multiply. Some yeasts produce more than others, and all yeasts will produce more at higher temps than at low temps, although high temps will produce other compounds as well, some of which taste nasty or give headaches. Esters taste and smell fruity, which may or may not be something you want, depending on you and on the beer. US-05 produces very few esters, but it's probably the best yeast there is for combining ease-of-use and letting the other ingredients shine. If you can find some S-04, you'll get a beer that's a little sweeter and fruitier, but S-05 is fine if that's what you already have.
I made mine this year (my first pumpkin beer) with butternut squash. I cut mine and cooked it on the grill to get some smokey body to it. Then forked it and poured a little maple syrup on it before finishing it in the oven to caramelize. Cut chunks off the rind and tossed it in a separate bag from my grains (I BIAB). Went light on the spices so the squash would be more present. My wife says it is the best pumpkin beer she has had, and I bought her about six different kinds last year. She wants everyone that comes over to try it, but gets pissy if I send some home with them!
When I was growing pumpkins,I used a model paint brush to transfer pollen from one vines flowers to the next to increase yeilds. But it was pop that told me to use the smaller pumpkins for pies & the like,as the flavors are better when they're smaller. Something like 10" or so as he showed me with some I'd harvested. doesn't have to be a sugar pumpkin or other exotic,just the smaller ones.
If you add spices I would recommend roasting those. Roasted spices are always better than unroasted ones and it will pasteurize them.
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