A pumpkin ale with no actual pumpkin inside: a paradox? False advertising? The terrorists win? Discuss.
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I didn't have any pumpkin and wanted to try for a clone of Pumpking. Given that the gravity contribution per pound of pumpkin is something like 1.005, and I was making a 1-gallon test batch, I didn't bother putting any in. What I want is something pie-like with cinnamon and clove, which is really what you're getting when you buy a 'pumpkin ale.'
I know that this is verboten were I to try to sell the beer in the US, but what's the consensus? Am I going to be missing anything? The last time I did a pumpkin ale I did it with the prescribed 4 pounds of pumpkin in the mash, and while it smelled lovely during the mash, it ended up with a serious case of DMS.