Pumpkin ale

[burnt carpet]

looking for ideas on how to flavor my Pumpkin brew. extract oil? spices? anyone who has a success story on this type of brew?
thanks,
joe
Toledo Brewing

[Ted Briggs]

Try---
Real pumpkin, 1-2 per bbl in the mash. Pre-cook till mushy
Real spices- look up pumpkin pie recipies for type/ratios. add about 1oz/bbl total to the boil for 20-15 mins.
Keep the color light in the grist and you will get a cool orange color from the caratine.
Hop lightly- under 10 IBU, 12-13 OG. let the spices and pumpkin dominate.

[revdrjbob]

Yes, it is that time of year yet again, Pumpikin Ale season! The boss also wants me to brew a batch as our last Pumpkin ale sold out quite quickly. I'm going on a slightly different tack with my effort this year, I think that if I have to brew one then I'll make it the best I can. Going for an amber ale of sorts, roasted pumpkins in the mash, and nutmeg, clove and cinnamon in the boil. Most probably in at the whirlpool. Lotsa hops! Similar to DFH's Punkin ale, about 30 IBUs.

Best of luck,
BBD!

[Greenbrewmonkey]

Hi,

Real pumpkin and real spice is definitely the way to go! I too like the lighter color, and lower hop rate (As odd as that may sound to those who know my love of the hop!) to allow the pumpkin and spice to shine through. Key advice on spicing as above; ratios from pie recipes, and use restraint. Cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and the like can really cut right through a beer, throwing it way out of balance.

An added bit of fun I've done each year. Roast up some more pumpkin, and add to a firkin, you can even add more spices (careful!), or dry hop if you like, add a touch of lactose (0.5-1 lb), and viola, pumpkin pie in a glass! A flavorful holiday treat. We would tap a cask on Halloween, and around Thanksgiving. They would sell out very quickly!

Cheers,
Ron
Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales
PS Remember the added sugars the pumpkin will bring, and prime / vent your cask accordingly! Trust me, you don't want to come into a cellar full of exploded pumpkin!

[burnt carpet]

thanks for the pumpkin ideas, time to brew!

[RobZamites]

Alrighty, my turn....
Ted Briggs suggested:

Real pumpkin, 1-2 per bbl in the mash. Pre-cook till mushy

1-2 what? Pounds? Whole Pumpkins? What size? I need a pounds/bbl ratio if I'm going to dive into this and make a mess of my mash tun

Rob

[Ted Briggs]

sorry, 1-2 average sized whole pumpkins cut into 2x2" chunks with skin on. I have the kitchen bake them off till mushy- scrape the pans and get all the flavor. I have been using about 1 dozen /10bbls going to try more this year for more pumpkin flavor!

[BigWilley]

Are you guys using the rind or scraping the meat only? Last year I used canned and this year I would like to roast some real pumpkin.

[Jephro]

When I brewed with fresh pumpkin we scraped off the skin, but we also added it to the kettle and boiled. The brewery I work for now we add 2 cases of cans to the mash for 10 bbl. It helps that we have an agitator in the MT though.

Still looking for "The Great Pumpkin"

[kylesmi]

Just wondering if any of you have had slow run off's using the pumpkin? I know when I made pumpkin ale using caned pumpkin the runoff took several hours, just wondering if using whole pumpkins would help this out some?

Also anyone use all-spice for there seasoning?

Thanks

[Jephro]

Just started the runoff on our 4th batch of pumpkin, we are averaging about 4 hours per 10 bbls. On our first batch this year I walked in to work the second shift to find the slowest runoff I have ever seen. It was already on hour 3, but after blasting the bottom of MT with hot water, stirring and re-recircing it started moving much faster.
My advice would be to do a fairly long recirc starting very slow, and start your runoff very slow as well. Also whatever you do, don't let your bed run dry or you will have a mash tun with a giant piece of pumpkin pie in it.

[Ted Briggs]

Use the skins in the mash they give you a cool orange color to the beer.
Spices- Cinn., nutmeg, ginger, clove, allspice.

[PatTheBrewer]

Everyone is talking about fresh pumpkin being better than canned, but how bad is it to use the canned stuff? I dont have the time to cook the pumpkin myself so I plan on using cans. Is this a mistake? Also, is 30 lbs. enough for 6 BBL wort? I see some of you are using the pumpkin in the mash. How or why is this better than just adding it straight to the boil?

[hoprocketeer]

I've used only canned pumpkin for our beer, which was at one time our fastest selling seasonal. We used 8-9 #10 cans, and added it directly to the mash during mash in. If you can do it before hand, make sure the pumpkin is sitting overnight in the same room as your grain, that way it is the same temperature as the grain. With the density and amount, it is enough to throw off a mash temp by a few degrees....not the end of the world, just something to think about. Slow runoffs are a given, as the pumpkin will settle on top, forming a nice "dough-like" barrier. We have found as others have, slow recirculation and runoff, and cutting the bed somewhat will help. As for spices, Penzeys all the way, who can be reached online. Low hopping rates allow everything to shine. High alpha hops keep the flavor down. I preferred to boil the spices only for about 10 minutes, keeping some aroma. Interesting the call for lactose, that sounds like a great idea, as pumpkin pie is quite sweet.

Cheers....

hoprocketeer

[kugeman]

hoprocketeer,
How big was your batch size where you used 8-9 10# cans? Did you used un-spiced cans, or did you add spices on top of the spiced canned pumpkin?