# Pumpkin Ale Recipe Check please



## Chuckie (25/3/14)

Hi Guys,
I've had a bad experience with a recipe from "Homebrew" magazine so this time I thought I'd check with the experts before committing.
My recent bad experience was a recipe with very incorrect malt amounts and this next one I plan to do has a fair bit of sugars again (4.3kg total) so I want another opinion. I've run it through Brewmate and it seems to come close to where it's supposed to but more feedback can't hurt.
Here's the recipe ;
PUMPKIN ALE
Ingredients:
3kg LME liquid
1kg Dex
150g Munich Malt - mash 20mins @ 70 deg
150g Caramalt - mash 20mins @ 70 deg
500g Roasted Pumpkin
5g Crushed Corriander
5g Ground Nutmeg
5g Ground Cinnamon
15g Magnum hops @ 45
15g Galaxy hops @ 45
Saf T58 yeast

Expected figures (according to magazine) :
OG: 1065 FG: 1010
IBU: ~ 50 ABV: ~ 7.2%
Volume : 23 litres

Comments appreciated 
Thanks,
Andrew


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## damoninja (26/3/14)

I've been thinking of doing an all grain pumpkin ale for autumn/winter...
I think 50 IBU is way too high for a pumpkin ale, I'd put it closer to 20... I'd drop the additions down to 20 minutes, they're both pretty heavy on alphas...

I was considering using some biscuit and roast malts as well...


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## Chuckie (30/3/14)

Thanks Damon,
I'll probably do that. I do have a few commercial ales in the cupboard I was going to us as a comparison so I'll crack one of them to check the bitterness. But I recall you are correct, the pumpkin ales ive had in recent years are not very bitter at all. Almost sweet in fact.
Cheers


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## Bizenya (30/3/14)

Sounds very nice- do you roast the pumpkin yourself or use pre-cooked stuff sourced from a can?


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## damoninja (31/3/14)

Bizenya said:


> Sounds very nice- do you roast the pumpkin yourself or use pre-cooked stuff sourced from a can?


Good question.

I know dogfish head use the tinned stuff but I'll try get some for nothing when they're in season. 

They'll be roasted and added to the boil to pasteurise.


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## Chuckie (31/3/14)

The recipe calls for 500g pumpkin "roasted with the skin on till lightly brown".
So I reckon I'll do it with fresh pumpkin myself. I may Google it to see which pumpkin has the best "pumpkin" flavour first.


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## Bizenya (31/3/14)

I saw that "Brew Master" episode the other day when they did the Punkin Ale with the tinned pumpkin- got my interest up on that brew for sure! 

Thinking as I have never tasted it might try a 9L batch to start with

But ill be keen to see how you progress (roast v canned, addition of biscuits etc)


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## insane_rosenberg (31/3/14)

Here's my recipce for a big pumpkin Ale:

Rose Mountain Pumpkin Ale
Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 23.0
Total Grain (kg): 7.900
Total Hops (g): 52.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.072 (°P): 17.5
Final Gravity (FG): 1.013 (°P): 3.3
Colour (SRM): 6.8 (EBC): 13.4
Bitterness (IBU): 22.6 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 75
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
4.000 kg Pilsner (50.63%)
1.100 kg Crystal 10 (13.92%)
0.900 kg Roast pumpkin puree (11.39%)
0.800 kg Wheat Malt (10.13%)
0.600 kg Carapils (Dextrine) (7.59%)
0.500 kg Honey (6.33%)

Hop Bill
----------------
14.0 g Cascade Pellet (7.8% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)
10.0 g East Kent Golding Pellet (4.7% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.4 g/L)
14.0 g Cascade Pellet (7.8% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)
14.0 g Fuggles Pellet (5.7% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.6 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------
7.0 g AllSpice @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
2.0 g Cinnamon @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
14.0 g Coriander Seed @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
2.0 g nutmeg @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
2.0 g pumpkin pie spice @ 5 Minutes (Boil)
14.0 g coriander seed @ 0 Days (Secondary)

Single step Infusion at 66°C for 90 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with Safale US-05

As you can see the IBU is down at about 20, which worked pretty well.

My pumpkin process is using a kent (jap) pumpkin, cut it in half and scoop out all the seeds. Then roast flat side down in a 180°C oven for 2 hours or untill all slumpy. Then scoop out the flesh.

The only catch is that the flesh then goes in the mash. If you decide to put it in with the extract, you have to be prepared that there will be pumpkin pulp all through your wort.

Not that it's a bad thing. I also added some flesh at bottling time once. Some people hated pulp in their beer. The judges at VicBrew on the other hand gave it a medal.


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## damoninja (31/3/14)

Bizenya said:


> I saw that "Brew Master" episode the other day when they did the Punkin Ale with the tinned pumpkin- got my interest up on that brew for sure!
> 
> Thinking as I have never tasted it might try a 9L batch to start with
> 
> But ill be keen to see how you progress (roast v canned, addition of biscuits etc)



Not easy to find dogfish head in Australia, but you ought to be able to get a hold of the one by Elysian think it's called night owl. 

Haven't tried it yet but planning to real soon. I love that brewery.

I won't be brewing a small batch. Brewed a small batch of chilli beer thinking oh I'll just use the stove. Huge pain in the ass, never again will I brew on the stove.


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## damoninja (31/3/14)

Shane R said:


> 1.100 kg Crystal 10 (13.92%)


Lordy, that is a mighty **** tonne of crystal. I'm sure it suited though!


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## Chuckie (28/4/14)

QUICK UPDATE:
Airlock still bubbling after 19 days at 18/20 degrees.
ABV is predicted to be 7.2% so I suppose the longer ferment is expected.
Had a bit of a taste yesterday and it's coming out quite ok with a nice "christmas pudding" taste & aroma. The alcohol content is pretty apparent. It could be a good brew with a bit of aging in the keg to mellow it out.
Looks like I will be waiting a bit still though.
Cheers
Chuckie :drinks:


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## damoninja (28/4/14)

Chuckie said:


> Had a bit of a taste yesterday and it's coming out quite ok with a nice "christmas pudding" taste & aroma. The alcohol content is pretty apparent. It could be a good brew with a bit of aging in the keg to mellow it out.


I ended up getting a hold of the elysian pumpkin ale, first thing I though was fruit cake.

I liked it but in all honesty I wouldn't want to do a large batch. I'm thinking I'll do something like a porter and keep it much lighter on the spice.


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## r055c0 (29/4/14)

I've got a batch bubbling away at the moment and I've clearly gone much heavier on the spices, for a 23L batch (all grain at about 7%) I used:



4 tsp Dutch Cinnamon (not as harsh as the regular stuff)

1 tsp Ginger

1 tsp Allspice

1 tsp Nutmeg



All were the pre powdered stuff (ie hoyts) so I guess they aren't as potent as the freshly ground stuff, but holy crap did it smell good going in to the boil (added for the last 10 minutes)



I also used a whole kent pumpkin in the mash (pre roasted whole with skin on for 2 hours, skin & seeds removed), about 1.6kg all up. It's only been fermenting for 5 days but I had a little taste on the weekend and it was pretty good (although still a bit sweet), the spices don't overpower the beer and it doesn't taste like raw vegetables, still a good 2 weeks away from bottling time so will be interesting to see how that changes. 

The brew is intended for a Halloween party so it will have 6 months in the garage to condition.


Edit: I should have added my grain bill but it's at home and I'm not, Maris Otter was the base malt and it was hopped to about 15 IBU


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## TimT (29/4/14)

Quite interested in doing a pumpkin ale or two soon. It's a good time of year for it. To add a biscuity/roast flavour, perhaps toasted oats could be used?


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## TimT (29/4/14)

I've never seen pre-cooked pumpkin in a can in the shops (aside from pumpkin soup) - I thought that was more an American thing?

You could also try the other US classics, pumpkin pie and pumpkin cake. Delicious with some added spiciness from cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.


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## damoninja (29/4/14)

TimT said:


> Quite interested in doing a pumpkin ale or two soon. It's a good time of year for it. To add a biscuity/roast flavour, perhaps toasted oats could be used?


Precisely why I was thinking something dark


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## Chuckie (5/5/14)

From the tastes I've had of mine and commercial one I think that adding oats may be lost. The cinnamon and nutmeg would overpower them. See if you can lay your hands on a commercial sample (although probably hard now that Halloween is over).
Cheers,
:lol:


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## damoninja (5/5/14)

Chuckie said:


> From the tastes I've had of mine and commercial one I think that adding oats may be lost. The cinnamon and nutmeg would overpower them. See if you can lay your hands on a commercial sample (although probably hard now that Halloween is over).
> Cheers,
> :lol:


I can see value in adding oats for mouthfeel still.


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## Chuckie (6/5/14)

True, hadn't considered that. :super:


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## Chuckie (13/5/14)

Well, I got it into the keg, carbonated for a 2 days and did the taste test.
Was a bit disappointed.
Colour is pretty lame.
Taste is a bit watery.
Alcohol level is a bit too high for my liking.
I'm letting it age a bit now I think. Will try it in a few weeks and see if it's improved (rounded off in flavours etc).
Ahh well, it was worth a shot.
Packs a punch though, so it'll be good to get the head fuzzy with LOL.
:chug:


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## damoninja (14/5/14)

Chuckie said:


> Well, I got it into the keg, carbonated for a 2 days and did the taste test.
> Was a bit disappointed.
> Colour is pretty lame.
> Taste is a bit watery.
> ...


Can you taste pumpkin?


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## Chuckie (15/5/14)

Hardly :-(


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## Bizenya (16/5/14)

Bugger. I'm still planning this one . Once of "hallowoween" brew . Will try maybe mid June so it's got four months in the bottle before enjoying.

Do you think more pumpkin? Maybe use a litre of pumpkin soup?


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## Bizenya (16/5/14)

Sorry per 10l


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## Chuckie (16/5/14)

I would look for a better recipe. The one I used had a ABV of 7.2% predicted, I think.
Looking back at it I shouldv'e gone for something with a lower ABV, say 4.5%. That would give a rounder alcohol level.
And it needs more colour and a better malt profile.
I'm also not sure about the pumpkin. I did cut it into chunks when I roasted it and then I tossed it in a mesh bag to go into the fermenter. If I were to do it again I think I would mash it before I put it into the bag.
Yeah, the pumpkin soup might work. Dunno ?
Cheers.


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## TimT (2/6/14)

I made my pumpkin ale last night, in the end following the all grain recipe from _Homebrewer_ mag. Simple enough - pale alt malt base, a little Vienna malt (this was my sub for Munich malt), some crystal malt, and pumpkin in the mash. I think it went well, but my gravity was four points below what was predicted - they gave in the recipe an OG of 1.064; I got 1.060.

Pumpkin is probably an unpredictable brewing ingredient anyway - not sure how much sugar it has in it, and it would probably vary depending on which type of pumpkin you had. I may have slightly overestimated the weight of the pumpkin (not making allowances for scraping out seeds, skin, etc). And I finished the boil a bit too early so it hadn't entirely boiled down (because the damn boil was just taking so bloody long, closer to 2 hours than 70 mins!). So, given those factors I guess a gravity four points below what's predicted isn't too bad. I checked other recipes with a similar grain bill and found the predicted gravity was in the 50-55 area, so I guess the pumpkin probably added a good 5-10 points to the original recipe.

The pumpkin's added some distinctive sweetness, a nice orangey colour (a bit muddy at the moment but it should clarify in the fermentation), and.... a little charcoaley taste from the skins. I think it'll make a nice spicy brew.


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## Chuckie (2/6/14)

A quick update on my Pumpkin brew.
It's been 3 weeks since kegging/bottling now. I've had a keg in the fridge and it's still there.
BUT !
I cracked a stubbie I had bottled with the remainder of the fermenter and it's pretty good actually.
It has the nice Christmas spice about it and a reasonable pumpkin colour and a hint of pumpkin taste.
If I were to do it again I'd lover the ABV (is 7.4%) and add some more colour and maybe a bit more pumpkin (was 500g).
I haven't yet checked the kegged beer which I thought was dodgy, but I'll do that later today.
It might be that it got a keg infection and the bottled brew didn't.
So, maybe a bit of tweaking and maybe I'll try it again at some stage.
I'll be interested to hear how you guys go.
Cheers,
Andrew


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## Bizenya (2/6/14)

Nice one

I've managed to find some canned US pumpkin, so when I do this brew I'm going to try with that. The US foods shop Melbourne has it in stock!!

Great to hear your is tasting better- you seemed quite defeated over it last time you posted!!


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## Chuckie (3/6/14)

Yeah, I was pretty bummed. I did have a schooners of it from the keg last night and it was..........ok.
Certainly not great. Possibly not even pretty good or even good.
Just.......ok.
Ah well, live and learn.
I couldn't drink more than 1 at a go. Definitely not a session beer.
Hope the canned stuff gives you some better flavour. Could well do.
Cheers
Andrew


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## Chuckie (3/6/14)

PS - in retrospect : I would keep the ABV down. Certainly not above 5%.
Also I would up the bitterness from my recipe (under this topic). Mine is definitely too sweet.


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## TimT (3/6/14)

Is it a pumpkiny sweetness? The pumpkin might have some unpredictable sugars in it, I think - stuff that's more hard to ferment than malt sugars.


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## mr_wibble (3/6/14)

Do you boil it with the skin on ?


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## TimT (3/6/14)

I roasted my pumpkin first to get caramelisation happening, then the next day I mashed. Skin still on. If I'd been more fussy I would have removed the skin before dunking it in the mash. All the flesh seemed to dissipate during the mash anyway.

Roasting would probably be better than boiling - no chance of any starch or sugar being lost in the boil water.

It's looking very foamy now. I have a feeling this could be a very frothy heady beer (pretty much what I want, so I'm happy).


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## r055c0 (3/6/14)

TimT said:


> Is it a pumpkiny sweetness? The pumpkin might have some unpredictable sugars in it, I think - stuff that's more hard to ferment than malt sugars.


Yeah, my FG was a few points higher than I expected, I even pitched more yeast (us-05) and gave it another week but the gravity didn't drop below 1.020

Edit: testing a bottle on thursday


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## damoninja (3/6/14)

ro55c0 said:


> Yeah, my FG was a few points higher than I expected, I even pitched more yeast (us-05) and gave it another week but the gravity didn't drop below 1.020
> 
> Edit: testing a bottle on thursday


What was your mash temp?


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## r055c0 (4/6/14)

Around 65C


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## damoninja (4/6/14)

ro55c0 said:


> Around 65C


Well that's not your problem.

On another note - here's the recipe that I'm considering:

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/80599-a-pumpkin-ale/


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## r055c0 (10/6/14)

[SIZE=10.5pt]Had a go at mine last week, I was pleasantly surprised. The high FG gave it a really nice thick mouthfeel, the overwhelming flavour is the spices but you can taste some roast pumpkin there too. I made a traditional pumpkin pie last week so I could see what the yanks were on about and the beer was pretty close to that flavour. It's not a quaffer but definitely one I'll be bringing out when friends are over for dinner. [/SIZE]


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## damoninja (14/6/14)

Mine's been in primary for 7 days and woah can you taste the pumpkin. It's still young and I'm not even going to think about bottling it for another 2 weeks. 

I did add some more spice as I found they didn't show through at all...


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