It’s September, which for most of you means summer is winding down and cooler autumn days are ahead; here in Florida, summer doesn't let up until Thanksgiving 😉 It also means it’s time for the next installment of the Homebrew Academy Group Brew.
If this is your first Group Brews, this is where we pick a beer style for the month and any homebrewer who wants to participate brews their own variation. Your recipe gets posted in the comments of this post, brewed by the “brew by” date and then come back to let us know how the brew turns out!
This month we’re taking on the seasonal! Fall (or autumn depending on your place of birth) beers are pretty varied, ranging from Oktoberfest style brews to beers brewed with seasonal ingredients, such as pumpkin. And that’s where we’re going this month – pumpkin beer!
Here is the base recipe that you can use as a guide:
OG: 1.055
FG: 1.018
ABV: 4.9%
IBU: 23
Mash Efficiency: 75%
Batch Size: 5 Gals
Malt and Fermentables
- 7 lb. – 2-row Malt
- 1.5lb. – Crystal 60L
- 1lb. – Biscuit Malt
- 1lb Flaked Wheat
- 4 x 14-15 oz cans of Pumpkin, spread out onto a flat roasting pan & cooked at 375 deg for 25 mins
- or if fresh, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes, roast at 375 till very soft, likely about 40-50 mins depending on the type of pumpkin you use – boil 60 mins.
- *OPTIONAL: 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix in the last 10 minutes of the boil
Extract brewers substitute 4 lb. Light DME for the 2-Row
Hops
- 1 oz. East Kent Goldings (~5% AA) – 60 minutes
- 1 oz. East Kent Goldings (~5% AA) – 20 minutes
Yeast
- White Labs English Ale (WLP002) /Wyeast 1968
N.B. You can change this recipe up a LOT by switching yeasts – I'd love to hear everyone's takes! I actually think I might sub out for a saison yeast…we'll see!
Here is Beer Advocate’s description of a Pumpkin Ale:
“Often released as a fall seasonal, Pumpkin Ales are quite varied. Some brewers opt to add hand-cut pumpkins and drop them in the mash, while others use puree or pumpkin flavoring. These beers also tend to be spiced with pumpkin pie spices, like: ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and allspice. Pumpkin Ales are typically mild, with little to no bitterness, a malty backbone, with some spice often taking the lead. Many will contain a starchy, slightly thick-ish, mouthfeel too. In our opinion, best versions use real pumpkin, while roasting the pumpkin can also add tremendous depth of character for even better results, though both methods are time-consuming and tend to drive brewmasters insane.”
Some commercial examples:
- Dogfish Head Punkin'
- Southern Tier Pumking
- Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale
As with last month’s beer, you can modify the original recipe as much or as little as you like.
Brewing Schedule
- Post recipe and brew by 9/23/2011
- Tasting post on 10/28/2011 (Right in time for Halloween!!)
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toolboxdiver says
September 8, 2011 at 7:01 amI won’t be able to do it in Sept got a Batch Of my Kensington Kreme Ale to Brew maybe by the end of Oct I can do a small 5 Gal Batch
RogueGoose85 says
September 9, 2011 at 4:58 pmGreat idea. I havent done a group brew yet, as I have been on hiatus. Just started doing 2.5 gallon stove top all grains…would love to do the pumpkin!
Billy Ellison says
September 13, 2011 at 7:32 amI’ll have to admit it… pumpkin ales are generally lost on me. Probably because I don’t like pumpkin (just a hunch). So I figure… a pumpkin is a gourd like fruit, so it’s very close to a vegetable. So I can rationally rationalize that I can substitute a vegetable for a pumpkin! Voila! Roasted Red Pepper Cream Ale time!
7lbs 2-Row
12oz Honey Malt
4oz Biscuit Malt
1oz palisades (I usually use Cluster, but LHBS was out. Palisades were similar in AA%)
Wyeast 1056 Yeast
1lb Roasted Red Pepper (Primary)
Billy B. says
September 13, 2011 at 9:13 pmThe logic is a little shaky but I think Vanessa will allow it ; )
Robert French says
September 13, 2011 at 6:46 pmLast year I brewed Yam-Tacu-Ale & It turned out very nice, although the yam flavor was not huge. On the other hand I’m really not sure what yams taste like without butter, brown sugar and marsh mellow topping 🙂 Since I’m not a fan of pumpkin pie spices, I wanted to brew a comfort beer that would drink nice with or after a meal.
8 lbs of Roasted Yams in the mash.
10 lbs Maris Otter
.75 lbs Crystal 75 Malt
.50 lbs Brown Malt
.43 lbs Chocolate Malt
.37 lbs Special B
.50 lbs Rice Hulls
1 oz of Fuggle @ 60min
.5 oz of Hallertauer Hersbrucker @ 15min
8oz of Grade B Maple Syrup @ 15min
White Labs WLP023 Burton Ale Yeast
When I transfer into the secondary I will add another 8oz of Maple Syrup & 2 vanilla beans. I’m also thinking about “dry yamming” but that will be a game day decision.
Major changes from this years to last:
1. Bumped the ABV to 7% from about 5.75%
2. Lightened up bit on the Chocolate Malts
3. Lowered the IBU’s just a bit.
Billy B. says
September 13, 2011 at 9:10 pmLast year I did a pumpkin beer that turned out great. I used an amber ale base and used real pumpkin in the mash. This year I wanted to change things up and try the Libby’s canned pumpkin in the boil, plus this is waaaay easier than the carving and roasting I did last year. A pumpkin porter sounded good so that’s what I used as my base beer.
Here it is:
Pumpkin Porter
Recipe Specifications
————————–
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.062 SG
Estimated Color: 31.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 25.8 IBUs
Est Mash Efficiency: 78.0 %
Ingredients:
————
10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row)
1 lbs 8.0 oz Munich Malt – 20L
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt 40L
8.0 oz Carafa II
10.0 oz Chocolate Malt
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.00 %] Boil 60.0 min
60.00 oz Libby’s Pumpkin Mix (Boil 60.0 mins)
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)
I didn’t realize that the pumpkin mix had spices added until after I bought it, so I decided to not add any spices myself. I roasted the pumpkin in a baking dish for 1 hour at 350F. It was tough not to eat it right out of the over. Boiling for 60 minutes integrated it into the beer very well as there was virtually no “gunk” at the end.
She’s bubbling like crazy in my chest freezer at the moment. Looking forward to this one.
Chris Ray says
September 15, 2011 at 8:01 pmHere’s a link to the batch we just made
http://hopville.com/recipe/796313/spice-herb-or-vegetable-beer-recipes/mcdrizzle-pumpkin-smasher
BillyBroas says
September 15, 2011 at 10:36 pmThanks for posting Chris. The molasses is a cool idea.
Thom H. says
September 19, 2011 at 5:52 pmHere’s our attempt:
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 6.50 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Ingredients
8.0 oz Rice Hulls – In Mash (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 2.82 %
9 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (1.8 SRM) Grain 50.70 %
5 lbs American Pale Malt (3.0 SRM) Grain 28.17 %
1 lbs Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 5.63 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt – 90.0 SRM Grain 4.23 %
0.75 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 24.1 IBU
0.25 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (15 min) Hops 1.0 IBU
0.50 tsp Allspice (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.50 tsp Cloves (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.50 tsp Ground Cinnamon (Secondary 5.0 days) Misc
0.50 tsp Nutmeg (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1.00 items Vanilla Bean (Secondary 5.0 days) Misc
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
2.00 tbsp Chopped Candied Ginger (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
2.00 items Cinnamon Stick (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
2.00 tsp Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
3.00 items Samll Pumpkin – Skinned , Roasted with 1/2 cup honey per pumpkin – Mash pumpkin and add to Mash
1 lbs Dememera Sugar – Hot Break (2.0 SRM) Sugar 5.63 %
8.0 oz Milk Sugar (Lactose) – 15 min (0.0 SRM) Sugar 2.82 %
2 Pkgs Safale (05) Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile
Measured Original Gravity: 1.080 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.021
Bitterness: 25.2 IBU
Est Color: 11.4 SRM Color: Color
Thom H. says
September 28, 2011 at 6:54 pmTasted this after a week in secondary, very close to what we were going for which was a S. Tier clone. Very Excited that I might be close.
Thom H. says
September 28, 2011 at 6:57 pmMeant primary above and it’s been 1 1/2 week
VanessaG says
September 27, 2011 at 6:46 amCould’ve sworn I posted my recipe last week…damn interwebs….
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
1.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt – 60L (60.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (60 min) Hops 15.5 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (30 min) Hops 11.9 IBU
5lb Calabaza squash – roasted
East Coast Yeast – Saison Brasserie blend
Tasting today to see if I want to add any pumpkin pie spices to the 2ndary – the roasted squash and saison yeast should add a lot of complexity on their own!