• Please visit and share your knowledge at our sister communities:
  • If you have not, please join our official Homebrewing Facebook Group!

    Homebrewing Facebook Group

Where the heck do you get canned pumpkin?

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

MikeyLXT

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2011
Messages
60
Reaction score
1
Location
Arnold
I have been to several grocery stores trying to find canned pumpkin and all i get is "we don't carry it in the off-season."

Where can I find this stuff in the off season? If I cant find it then i suppose my pumpkin beer will just have to wait. I am not ordering an entire case online.
 
crazy idea.....but some pet supply stores (small ones not the big chains). The ones by us carry cans of organic pumpkin. the ingredients are just "pumpkin" no spices or preservatives or such. Its not even a "pet product", just so happens to be in the pet stores. A lot of vets recommend it when your dog is having stomach issues.
 
Safeway didn't have it? They used to always carry Libby's. Generally on the bottom shelf in the baking aisle. And in off season, usually only the small cans.
 
I bought my 2 cans last fall for this very reason. Brewing my pumpkin ale next weekend. :rockin:
 
GeoGirl said:
Safeway didn't have it? They used to always carry Libby's. Generally on the bottom shelf in the baking aisle. And in off season, usually only the small cans.

Yes, I just bought some at our local Jewel.
 
Yes, look at the bottom shelves....There is usually some even in the height of summer in larger grocery stores, but they rotate it down to the bottom shelves in the off season. A small grocery store with limited space, no...but a mega box store, even wally world, you should find a few cans down below.
 
I suppose ill make a run by Wally World on my way home from work.

I struck out at 2 Safeways and a Giant.
 
I suppose ill make a run by Wally World on my way home from work.

I struck out at 2 Safeways and a Giant.

I see you live in Maryland. I don't know how far arnold is from Canton or Mt Washington, but the pet store DOGMA carries organic pumpkin year round.
 
I see you live in Maryland. I don't know how far arnold is from Canton or Mt Washington, but the pet store DOGMA carries organic pumpkin year round.

I work next to Patterson Park in Baltimore. Maybe ill go check out DOGMA.
 
What I noticed when I went on my pumpkin search last week (just made my Pumpkin Ale on Sunday) was that most supermarkets will be out of the regular pumpkin, and only have pumpkin pie mix left (which of course we don't want to use).

I ended up finding organic pumpkin at my Weis (Mr. Z.'s) supermarket.

The only other place I could find it was at my local health food store. If you have any small health food shops around, I'll bet they have the organic cans. It costs a *lot* more than Libby's, but when it's the only choice, what can ya do.

If you absolutely can't find it anywhere, I've heard people use yams or sweet potatoes to good effect. Also, I once read that the best pumpkin pie you'll ever make should be made from butternut squash (because it's a similar taste, only better), and I know there's at least one beer recipe here using it.

Good luck! :mug:
 
I picked up a couple cans at Super Target. They didn't have the pie kind, just plain pumpkin.
Off Topic: She still has a little way to go in primary, but I had a sample yesterday....have to say I'm excited for Fall!!! :D
 
I picked up a couple cans at Super Target. They didn't have the pie kind, just plain pumpkin.
Off Topic: She still has a little way to go in primary, but I had a sample yesterday....have to say I'm excited for Fall!!! :D

Which recipe did you use? (sorry, off-topic) I'm *always* excited for fall, but even more so this year, having my pumpkin ale and graff on tap.
 
I can get it for you. My local grocer usually has a couple of cans. I am in Lancaster, PA. I keep it on hand for when one of my Labradors eats something they cant poop. I feed it to them and it acts like a lubricant. Let me know if you want me to look if they have it. It cant cost that much to mail it to you.
 
Yes, look at the bottom shelves....There is usually some even in the height of summer in larger grocery stores, but they rotate it down to the bottom shelves in the off season. A small grocery store with limited space, no...but a mega box store, even wally world, you should find a few cans down below.

+1

Just found 2 cans on their side, behind the pumpkin pie cans on the bottom shelf in the baking aisle of our Albertson's. Expire date showed 2013, so I bought them both. Tough luck to person after me, though :eek:
 
Had the same problem. I brought some on Amazon through Vitacost. Organic pumpkin for $1.49 a can. Have my first punkin brew fermenting right now.
 
I'm going to start buying extra every year from now on so I won't be short come time to make my pumpkin ale.
 
I'm going to start buying extra every year from now on so I won't be short come time to make my pumpkin ale.

This is the way to go. Then you don't have to be at the mercy of the stores and whether or not they sell out. Even at the places that have cans left, it's not new inventory, just left over. I asked at most the stores I checked and they all said it is a seasonal item that they either have or don't.

Another thing you can do (something I've done in the past to have fresh puree for Thanksgiving) is bake extra fresh pie pumpkins in early fall, then freeze the puree in freezer bags. If you do this, make sure to drain the pumpkin over night in cheesecloth first, so it isn't watery.
 
They have pumpkin in the stores here in York, PA. I found quite a bit at the Giant on East Market Street.
 
Which recipe did you use? (sorry, off-topic) I'm *always* excited for fall, but even more so this year, having my pumpkin ale and graff on tap.

I based my recipe loosely on the Punkin Ale from Dogfish Head. I made a Pumpkin Spice syrup (similar to what you would get at Starbucks) for my primary.

10# 2 row
1# Crystal 60
1# Victory
1.5 (1+what I had left over from making the syrup) cans of pumpkin
Centennial @60
Tettnang @15

Wyeast 1056

Into primary on top of syrup.
 
I based my recipe loosely on the Punkin Ale from Dogfish Head. I made a Pumpkin Spice syrup (similar to what you would get at Starbucks) for my primary.

10# 2 row
1# Crystal 60
1# Victory
1.5 (1+what I had left over from making the syrup) cans of pumpkin
Centennial @60
Tettnang @15

Wyeast 1056

Into primary on top of syrup.

Oh, that syrup step sounds really interesting! I tried doing a bunch of different things with my pumpkin ale, but your syrup idea takes the cake. :rockin:

Care to share how you made the syrup? I'm wondering if you simply mixed pumpkin puree and spices to put into the primary, or if you did something like add the puree and spices to water, cooked, strained, then cooked the liquid down to a proper flavored syrup?

Either way, very inventive. I'm jealous. :mug:
 
I just bought some a couple of weeks ago at Target of all places. They had the 29 oz. cans, so I got 3 of them. I couldn't find them at any grocery store though. The Target that I went to was a Super Target (with grocery store) if you have any of those around.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top