Where the heck do you get canned pumpkin?

[PHillBrewCo]

Think I'll be hunting for some cans in S. Jersey soon.. I'm thinking Whole Foods for organic canned pumpkin, or maybe Wegman's... Maybe Trader Joe's

 

[SarahMatt]

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.

Honestly, I first thought of using the actual Starbucks syrup (more sugar, etc). I did find some on eBay for $110!!! So, I decided to make my own:

1.25 Cups water
1.25 Cups Sugar
2 Tbl. ground cinnamon
.5 tsp. cloves
.5 tsp. ginger
.5 tsp. nutmeg
2 Tbl. Pumpkin Puree

Simmer the water and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Add the spices and pumpkin, simmer for 6-8 more miuntes.
Its pretty good in coffee, but I'd add less cinnamon and more pumpkin. I used it "as is" for my Pumpkin Ale.
Hope you enjoy it!!!
Sarah.

 

[rodisian]

+1 for sweet potato as a substitute.

I just made a thunderstruck ale variant and couldn't find any canned pumpkin either (well, I did at Whole Foods, but I'm too frugal to use organic pumpkin!), so I used Sweet Potato: cubed it, boiled it with my mash out/infusion water, and then mashed it. (I also roasted a bit in my toaster oven, just so I had all my boil/mash/roast bases covered)

I was a bit worried, but cracked open a test bottle yesterday and it is fantastic! The spices are the main attraction but there's also a subtle "squashiness"

 

[onipar]

Honestly, I first thought of using the actual Starbucks syrup (more sugar, etc). I did find some on eBay for $110!!! So, I decided to make my own:

1.25 Cups water
1.25 Cups Sugar
2 Tbl. ground cinnamon
.5 tsp. cloves
.5 tsp. ginger
.5 tsp. nutmeg
2 Tbl. Pumpkin Puree

Simmer the water and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Add the spices and pumpkin, simmer for 6-8 more miuntes.
Its pretty good in coffee, but I'd add less cinnamon and more pumpkin. I used it "as is" for my Pumpkin Ale.
Hope you enjoy it!!!
Sarah.

Very cool! It's definitely an interesting way to go about getting those flavors into the primary. You know what might be a neat experiment too is making a similar syrup to use for bottle priming. I'd probably try something like a vanilla bean/pumpkin syrup for that though, since spices might be too strong at that point. I'd also probably use pumpkin juice so there'd be no solids.

Hmmm...maybe something to toy around with for my next year's batch. :rockin:

 

[PHillBrewCo]

+1 for sweet potato as a substitute.

I just made a thunderstruck ale variant and couldn't find any canned pumpkin either (well, I did at Whole Foods, but I'm too frugal to use organic pumpkin!), so I used Sweet Potato: cubed it, boiled it with my mash out/infusion water, and then mashed it. (I also roasted a bit in my toaster oven, just so I had all my boil/mash/roast bases covered)

I was a bit worried, but cracked open a test bottle yesterday and it is fantastic! The spices are the main attraction but there's also a subtle "squashiness"

I think Butternut Squash would work too

 

[drkaeppel]

I ran into the exact same problem yesterday. Called about six different grocery stores with zero luck. Since I already bought the grains for my pumpkin ale, I just left out the pumkin, spices, and molasses, added some honey and called it a honey-blonde ale. It's fermenting away vigorously...should be a nice, light ale for the end of summer.

I'll be taking another shot at the pumpkin ale next month!

 

[KCBigDog]

Anyone have a great pumpkin ale recipe to share?

 

[SLBrooks]

If you have a latin american market near you, you should be able to find it.... it makes pretty good mole.

hmmm a sweet potato pie beer..... collard greens, fried chicken... ill be doing that in a couple months

 

[Beezy]

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!

Yes! I had butternut squash last night. I love it. I am defo doing butternut squash pie and the beer sounds good too.

 

[onipar]

Anyone have a great pumpkin ale recipe to share?

There are a bunch of pumpkin ale recipes in the database: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f76/

Mine is "Moon Hill Pumpkin Ale" (partial mash), but I honestly don't know yet if it's any good because it's a new recipe that I have only brewed once so far, and it's still in primary.

There are a lot of favorites in the database though, including Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale, Samhain Pumpkin Ale, and the Punkin' Ale Clone.

Lots to choose from.

Beezy, yeah, I might eventually try with butternut squash too, but I'm a bit OCD about it, and I like knowing it's actually pumpkin in there. I know, I'm weird.

 

[SarahMatt]

Very cool! It's definitely an interesting way to go about getting those flavors into the primary. You know what might be a neat experiment too is making a similar syrup to use for bottle priming. I'd probably try something like a vanilla bean/pumpkin syrup for that though, since spices might be too strong at that point. I'd also probably use pumpkin juice so there'd be no solids.

Hmmm...maybe something to toy around with for my next year's batch. :rockin:

Awesome!! Can't wait to hear what you come up with!:cross:
Simple syrup (equal parts sugar to water) can be flavored with anything and is probably a good way to impart all kinds of flavors!!
I tested the gravity yesterday and had a sample it was really good!! I think I'll add some brown sugar to secondary, it wasn't as sweet as I was hoping. And it is A LOT of cinnamon.

 

[onipar]

Awesome!! Can't wait to hear what you come up with!:cross:
Simple syrup (equal parts sugar to water) can be flavored with anything and is probably a good way to impart all kinds of flavors!!
I tested the gravity yesterday and had a sample it was really good!! I think I'll add some brown sugar to secondary, it wasn't as sweet as I was hoping. And it is A LOT of cinnamon.

Sounds like it's coming along nicely. Mine will hit 2 weeks in primary on Sunday, but I'm having trouble holding out from taking a sample so I can taste it. I almost tried it today but resisted.

I'm doing a simple syrup with vanilla bean and vanilla sugar (for bottle priming) for a test batch of graff I have in primary. So that should give me a good indication of how it might work for a pumpkin ale. Hopefully it will be good.