[jtmillir]

I am brewing the morebeer thanksgiving (pumpkin) beer this weekend.  this is my first time with a pumpkin beerI am going to get pumpkin spice to add and pumpkin to add.  When do you guys add it and how much do you add?

[EnkAMania]

I do a tsp of spice near the end of the boil and another tsp at kegging.

[goose]

I know a lot of people use actual pumpkins and basically stew them a bit before adding the meat to the wort.  I found it was easier to use pumpkin puree instead of whole pumpkins.  It is a lot easier to work with.  If you are doing an all grain batch (if that is what the kit is), you can put he puree directly into the mash.  Just make sure you use rice hulls if you go that way to keep from sticking the mash.

[denny]

If you insist on using pumpkin, Drew has a good trick.  Put the canned pumpkin in a pan and bake it for a few hours to concentrate the flavor.

[reverseapachemaster]

Most of what you think of as the flavor of pumpkin beer is really pumpkin pie spices because pumpkin doesn't have a ton of flavor to it so before committing yourself to adding pumpkin ask yourself what you intend to get out of adding a messy ingredient to the beer.

If you can find quality heirloom pie pumpkins you can get some flavor out of adding actual pumpkin although it isn't really what anybody thinks pumpkin tastes like unless you have actually eaten pumpkin flesh so you might spend a lot of money on an ingredient that does not meet your expectations. Heirloom pie pumpkins have a great squash-y flavor with some floral flavors and are fairly sweet but if you are just dumping pie spices on top of it then what are you really getting out of it?

Regardless of your source of pumpkin I am a fan of baking it down in the oven. Pumpkin is very watery raw or out of a can and reducing the water content can help caramelize some of the sugars and give it a more pie-like flavor.

[Kevin]

By using real pumpkin you are just asking for a stuck sparge and/or clogged tubing. Personally, I wouldn't bother and choose to just add pumpkin spices.

[Robert]

Roasted pumpkin was used, out of desperation, in colonial times, as a source of starch in conjunction with 6 row malt.  Of course back then they were using walnut shells in place of hops and all kinds of weird stuff. You can read about it in Randy Mosher's book Radical Brewing in a section titled "The Horrors of Colonial Ale," which should tell you all you need to know.

Fatigued as I am with pumkin spice everything, I have to admit that's got to be the better way to go.

[denny]

Here are some episodes of Experimental Brewing dealing with brewing with pumpkin...

https://www.experimentalbrew.com/podcast/episode-1-triangles-and-pumpkins

https://www.experimentalbrew.com/blogs/drew/better-way-pumpkin-part-one-preparation

https://www.experimentalbrew.com/blogs/drew/converting-wicked-pumpkin-time

[denny]

Roasted pumpkin was used, out of desperation, in colonial times, as a source of starch in conjunction with 6 row malt.  Of course back then they were using walnut shells in place of hops and all kinds of weird stuff. You can read about it in Randy Mosher's book Radical Brewing in a section titled "The Horrors of Colonial Ale," which should tell you all you need to know.

Fatigued as I am with pumkin spice everything, I have to admit that's got to be the better way to go.

Were they actually using malt back then?

[Robert]

Roasted pumpkin was used, out of desperation, in colonial times, as a source of starch in conjunction with 6 row malt.  Of course back then they were using walnut shells in place of hops and all kinds of weird stuff. You can read about it in Randy Mosher's book Radical Brewing in a section titled "The Horrors of Colonial Ale," which should tell you all you need to know.

Fatigued as I am with pumkin spice everything, I have to admit that's got to be the better way to go.

Were they actually using malt back then?

Yeah, whoever brewed would malt their own, but from what I've read even the six row they could get to grow in America in the early  days wasn't a really high yield crop, so they used lots of other sources of fermentables.   Any kind of starch, like root vegetables or corn, and of course molasses.  It's not surprising cider and rum were so popular in the colonies.  I think the revolution did American brewing a huge favor, by cutting off the supply of rum and molasses from the Brits in the Caribbean.   Finally had to improve the local beer.

[BrewBama]

Roast the pumpkin, brew a beer, throw the pumpkin in the trash and drink the beer.


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[KellerBrauer]

While I have never made a Pumpkin Beer, I spoke with my local brewmaster last year who told me he cuts up a whole deseeded pumpkin into 3” chunks, places them on a roasting pan, seasons them with pumpkin spice and roasts them in the oven at 325° for about an hour to concentrate and meld the flavors.  Then he adds the chunks to the top of the mash along with rice hulls.

For what it’s worth, he makes the best Pumpkin Ale I’ve ever had the pleasure of drinking.

[mainebrewer]

Roast the pumpkin, brew a beer, throw the pumpkin in the trash and drink the beer.


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Absolutely!

[EnkAMania]

I do 4 lbs of roasted pumpkin in a paint strainer bag in the mash and boil.  I do BIAB, so no stuck sparred.  Good to see the anti-pumpkin goons out in full force.


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[denny]

I do 4 lbs of roasted pumpkin in a paint strainer bag in the mash and boil.  I do BIAB, so no stuck sparred.  Good to see the anti-pumpkin goons out in full force.


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Please, no name calling.