"Pumpkin" Beer Recipe... need comments

[one_eye]

Congrats on the new job.

For all,

Here is a recipe from James Spencer's site:
http://basicbrewing.com/database/index. ... e_value=36

With all this talk I think I'm going to brew a pumpkin beer on friday.. Still not sure what recipe I'm going to use.

[paulfdoig]

hey everybody, kinda new with making my own recipes but I am wanting to make a pumpkin brown ale. I have a 5 lb can on pre hopped brown ale malt I want to use up. I am thinking of adding pumpkin, 3 lbs of honey, 1 lb maple syrup some pumpkin pie spice(basically cinimon, nutmeg, pie spice) and was wondering about using canned pumpkin during the boil and finishing with a hops at 10 minutes to go and some prange peel in the fermenter. Probably use some irish moss as well in the boil- any ideas?

[bub]

Worst case it will be Beer....
Not Sure how that will work but in my opine could be good
BUB

[paulfdoig]

LOL that it will buddy, that it will- okay well I will let you know if it cures cancer or taste good - thanks

[paulfdoig]

brewed it as stated above i used one 12oz can of pumpkin found in the pie filling department. It was 100 percent pumpkin I added to boil and it disappeared into mix fine I then added 1 oz pumkin pie seasoning and 5 whole cloves to the boil for 10 minutes. In the fermenter i added 8 very ripe straw berries and the wort tasted fabulous - can;t wait to bottle it. I did add some pectin about 1 teaspoon and some yeast energizers. At 12 hours i have a very healthy bubble going on in air lock

[Captain Kangabrew]

How about adding pumpkin pie filling to the secondary? Otherwise, I would think most of the sugars would be eaten up during fermentation causing very little flavor to come through.

I'm considering brewing a pumpkin stout, but the reviews are mixed.

[bperetto]

No and No.

Sorry, you should not add pumpkin to the boil or the fermenter- there are starches in pumpkin which the yeast won't (can't) eat. You're just feeding any bacteria that may reside in the wort. And pretty much all beer has bacteria, they're just way outnumbered by the yeast. But when you give them food they don't have to compete for- disaster!

Pumpkin should be left to partial mashes or all-grain. Besides, the real magic of pumpkin beers is always the spices, not the pumpkin. Many commercial examples don't use any pumpkin at all.

Paul, I see you've already done it. Don't worry- I've done it before, too. Drink those bottles fast before they turn. Don't put a 6 pack away for next year or you'll most likely get a nasty surprise.