Pumpkin beers

[nigel_c]

So i noticed the pumpkins started to appear Tesco and got a longing for a pumpkin beer. I went to McHugh's in Kilbarack as they were unpacking the pallet that had their first order of pumpkin beers on it. Happy days. Sipping on a Post road pumpkin ale by Brooklyn at the moment.

Anywho.. I'm gonna brew a pumpkin beer in the next few weeks. Anyone got a tried and tested spice blend for  a pumpkin ale?
I did one before but cant find  the recipe anywhere.
I'm thinking of using wlp500 to try funk it up a bit. My only concern is that the yeast might be a bit much for the pie and mask the lot. I reckon it could go well with the spicing and meatiness of the pumpkin.
Thinking of mashing high aiming for a 1.018 FG. Amber malt with a small % of brown to add some nice crustiness to it. Low hop levels. Single addition to about 15-20 IBU.

Thoughts? Comments and recommendations welcome.

[Dr Horrible]

Not sure how much it's worth but I followed a fairly standard receipe last year and was happy enough with the results
1/4 tsp cinnamon (ground from the bark)
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
Zest of 1 orange
Added the lot to a vial with some vodka and mixed the lot and let it stand for a few hours.  Added 2/3 of the mix at the end of boil and the final amount after three days when the fermentation was mostly done.  It all came out fairly balanced, without the spice being overpowering.
I wouldn't recommend the pumpkins in Tesco though, they're pretty much just bags of water designed to have their insides dug out and chucked for Halloween, they've no taste at all - it  would be well  worth your while finding a decent vegetable or farm shop and getting a nice tasty pumpkin.  I used one of our own pumpkins last year which were very tasty and I think it added a lot to the beer.  Unfortunately, we haven't any this year at all  so no pumpkin beer until next year, I'd say.

[Rats]

Dr Horrible can you post the whole recipe.
Tx

[Dr Horrible]

Well it's not really my receipe, pretty much straight out of Brewing Classic Styles, but with minor mods as follows;
4.5 kg Maris Ottter
250g Aromatic
250g Crystal 30 EBC
250g Crystal 250 EBC
125g Amber

2.5kg Crown Pumpkin roasted at 160deg for about two hours to get nice and caramelised and added to the grist.
Mashed at 68degC for 90mins (to let all the pumpkin starch convert)
Added 35g EKG at 60mins and spices as described above.
Yeast - WLP002

Pretty sure there was a pumpkin ale that did well in the Nationals - the  receipe was in the spreadsheet that came out afterwards, worth a  look at as well.

[irish_goat]

Dogfish Head use tinned pumpkin in their Punk'in Ale. Dunno if that's readily available over here though.

[nigel_c]

Haven't seen canned. Research came up with using 20-25% of your grain bill weight in pumpkin added to the mash after roasting. Over roasting will soften the pumpkin too much and cause problem when it comes to draining the mash.

[Saruman (Reuben Gray)]

Dogfish Head use tinned pumpkin in their Punk'in Ale. Dunno if that's readily available over here though.

Not readily available in most places but it's usually in Fallon & Byrne.

Just use a real one, talk to Brenmurph as he knows how to brew a pumpkin beer. Actually, talk to Kellie as she looked after the pumpkin part of things.

[Rats]

Dogfish Head use tinned pumpkin in their Punk'in Ale. Dunno if that's readily available over here though.

I buy my pumpkin tins from JC's in Swords

[baphomite51]

they were talking about that on the sunday session last week, they had the guy on who made the first pumpkin beer and he was saying he just used a tin of pumpkin pie spice from the grocery store so i guess thats the best way to go. i got a bottle of the brooklyn beer looking forward to trying it i enjoyed the trouble one last year so gonna look out for that on tap aswell

[nigel_c]

Dogfish Head use tinned pumpkin in their Punk'in Ale. Dunno if that's readily available over here though.

I buy my pumpkin tins from JC's in Swords

Have you seen them this year. What size tin are they? I might head up tomorrow before the meet up and see if they have any. I'm working on a recipe at the moment. Hope to brew next weekend. Fresh pumpkins are pretty cheep so might go that rout. I saw a post on a US forum and it recommended roasting the meat low for 30-40 mins, take i out and drizzle with honey before returning to a hot oven for another 30 mins or so. Sounds lovely.

I'd love to use WLP 036 Dusseldorf Alt yeast. Clean but leaves a touch of sweetness.
Plan on using some flaked rye to add a peppery note and biscuit malt for some crusty breadyness as well.
Pale and Vienna as base with some special B for color and body.
Still researching the spice mix but will probably keep it on the low side in the intention of adding more at a later stage. Can always add more but cant take it out. Low IBU. Aprox 20. OG 1.070 ish FG around 1.018 - 1.020.
Not sure how much fermentables the pumpkin will add so not adding it to calculations.
Should be ready for Christmas. 

[Hop Bomb]

Ive a good few cans of libbys pumpkin puree if anyone wants to buy it off me? Il never brew a pumpkin ale even though thats what I bought it for.

[danger_zone]

i'm reading a good book by jamil zainasheff and his recipe doesn't feature any actual pumpkin, just pumpkin spices

OG: 1.056 (13.7 °P)
FG: 1.016 (4.2 °P)
ADF: 69%
IBU: 24
Color: 12 SRM (24 EBC)
Alcohol: 5.2% ABV (4.0% ABW)
Boil: 60 minutes
Pre-Boil Volume: 7 gallons (26.5L)
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.047 (11.8°P)

Extract English Pale Ale Extract (2.3 °L)
Weight 7.9 lbs. (3.58kg)
Percent 81.9

Steeping Grains
   
Aromatic (20 °L) 0.5 lb. (227g) 5.2%
Crystal (40 °L) 0.5 lb. (227g) 5.2%
Crystal (120 °L) 0.5 lb. (227g) 5.2%
Special Roast (50 °L)  0.25 lb. (113g) 2.6%

Hops
   
Kent Goldings 5% AA, 60 min. 1.2 oz. (34g) 23.9 IBU

Extras
   
Cinnamon (ground, dry), 1 min. 1/2 tsp.
Ginger (ground, dry), 1 min. 1/4 tsp.
Nutmeg (ground, dry), 1 min. 1/8 tsp.
Allspice (ground, dry), 1 min. 1/8 tsp.


Yeast
White Labs WLP002 English Ale, Wyeast 1968 London ESB, or Fermentis Safale S-04
Fermentation and Conditioning
Use 11 grams of properly rehydrated dry yeast, 2 liquid yeast packages, or make an appropriate starter. Ferment at 68° F (20° C). When finished, carbonate the beer to approximately 2 to 2.5 volumes.


All-Grain Option
Replace the English pale ale extract with 11 lbs. (5kg) British pale ale malt. Mash at 154° F (68° C). If you want to include real pumpkin in the beer, reduce base malt by 2 lbs. (0.9kg) and add 5 lbs. (2.26kg) baked pumpkin pulp and 0.5 lb. (227g) rice hulls to the mash. In order to make sure the pumpkin converts completely, you may need to lengthen the rest time to 90 minutes.

[nigel_c]

A handy little vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTdBV3yvYm8

[Partridge9]

I made mine,

here (last reading should be 1013.. )

tasted it last night get pumpkin sweetness and the spices, tastes nice, debating to put in some dry hops, think it needs some extra .. ZING.

[nigel_c]

Looks like we'll be having a pumpkin off in  few months.
Brewing mine tomorrow. I picked up some pumpkins today and am just about to roast them off for tomorrows brew day.