That time of the year to start thinking about making a batch of pumpkin ale for your Halloween party. If you never tried pumpkin beer your in for a treat. It's like drinking your pumpkin pie but with a little kick.
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains and pumpkin)
OG = 1.048
FG = 1.012
IBU = 19
SRM = 6
ABV = 4.6%
Ingredients
1.25 lbs. (0.57 kg) Muntons Extra Light dried malt extract
3.5 lbs. (1.6 kg) Northwestern Gold liquid malt extract
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) 2-row pale malt
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) CaraPils malt
5–6 lbs. (2.3–2.7 kg) pumpkin (cubed)
5 AAU Cascade hops (60 mins) (1.0 oz./28 g of 5% alpha acids)
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Dried ale yeast
0.75 cup corn sugar (for priming)
Step by Step
Boil pumpkin cubes in water for 15 minutes. Heat 0.75 gallons (2.8 L) of water to 163 °F (73 °C). Place crushed grains in steeping bag and steep grains at 152 °F (67 °C) for 45 minutes. When pumpkin is ready, add chunks to grain bag and add cool water (to maintain 152 °F (67 °C) temperature). Combine grain and pumpkin "tea," dried malt extract and water to make 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of wort. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at the start of the boil. Add liquid malt extract and spices with 15 minutes left in the boil. Cool wort and transfer to fermenter. Top up to 5 gallons (19 L) with water. Aerate and pitch yeast. Ferment at 69 °F (21 °C).
All-grain option:
Replace malt extract and 1 lb. (0.45 kg) 2-row malt with 8.0 lbs. (3.6 kg) 2-row pale malt. Boil pumpkin cubes in water for 15 minutes. Mash grains and pumpkin chunks at 153 °F (67 °C) for 60 minutes, stirring occasionally. Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops with 60 minutes left. Add spices with 15 minutes left in boil. Ferment at 69 °F (21 °C).
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I like the looks of your recipe and will try it tomorrow. I have been brewing for over 20 years using malt extract and grain. I grow my own hops and enjoy sharing my ales with friends. Keep up the good work. Dave W
I made this brew in October and am still enjoying it now as the new year is upon us (I made a double batch). It's a great drinking beer...flavorful but not heavy. It's been a crowd pleaser at every gathering and holiday party I've brought it to. Great recipe and great site! Thank You!
Pumpkin ale is my favorite flavored beer but I don't think I could make it. What an endeavor!
I like how you stole this recipe from BYO.com and put it right on your own website without any credit to BYO!
As of now, recipes can not be get a copyright, since they are basically a list of ingredients and a list of procedures.
This is from smallbusiness.findlaw.com
For recipes, courts instead have looked at part (b) of section 102. This section limits part (a), stating, "In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work." In a case several courts have followed, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to stop a publisher from selling a cookbook containing recipes that were taken from another publisher's book. Although this court stopped short of saying that a recipe could never be copyrighted, it reasoned that a recipe was more like the exceptions to copyright in part 102(b) of the copyright act, than it was to the covered expressions in 102(a).
BTW, the recipe is not even BYO's it is from "In Search of the Great Pumpkin" by John Naleszkiewicz, November 1995, p. 32.
Hope this clarifies things.
Do you skin the pumpkin or use skin and all?
Do you peel the pumpkin or use the skin and all?
Dave, yes, you should peel the pumpkin before boiling - easily done with a good big knife. As an alternative (I think a tastier one), cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds & guts, put on a roasting pan with a bit of water to cover the bottom (open sides of squash facing down), and cook in the oven at 375 about 30-45 min until soft. Then just scoop out!
Thanks for the recipe, I would like to give this a try now that the holidays are here again. I am wondering how strong the pumpkin and spice flavors are? I find that most 'pumpkin' beers I have purchased at the store don't have much pumpkin or spice flavor. Should I consider adding more of these ingredients or is this already a fairly strong flavored beer? I do realize that is a fairly subjective question :) Thanks again!