Fall is the time of year when pumpkins take a prominent place in homes across the country. Families enjoy carving them into “jack-o-lanterns,” making them into pie, or simply using them around the home as a decorative item, but for the brewer only one thing comes to mind – pumpkin ale! This spicy seasonal brew is always a big hit with friends and family members, and it’s no surprise. It’s like pumpkin pie in a glass! Making great pumpkin ale requires a little more time and effort than many other styles of beer, but after trying it just once you’re sure to continue brewing this wonderful holiday treat year after year.
The first challenge you will face when making pumpkin beer is finding the right kind of pumpkin for the task. Unfortunately, pumpkins that are sold around Halloween for carving are not the best choice when it comes to beer making. They are usually bred for their size, bright exterior color, and firmness, but not for their flavor. If you want to use fresh, whole pumpkin for your beer, you will need to purchase pie or “culinary” pumpkin, which usually becomes available in November at the super market or produce stand. Pie pumpkins are much smaller, and come in a number of different varieties, including Small Sugar, Winter Luxury, Golden Cushaw, Cinderella, and Deep Red.
The other option is to use canned pumpkin meat, which is actually preferred by many home brewers for a number of different reasons. Perhaps the best thing about canned pumpkin is that it is often available earlier in the year, so you can brew well before the holiday season and have plenty of time for aging big pumpkin offerings. Canned pumpkin is also easier to use, requiring less effort and offering a more consistent result than processing whole pumpkins by hand. Many professional chefs prefer canned pumpkin due to its texture and ease of use, and commercial brewers often choose it over whole pumpkins when it comes time to make their seasonal beers.
Whether you choose to use whole pumpkin or canned, cooking the product before brewing will help tremendously, as it gelatinizes the starches, making them soluble and easier to convert into sugars. It will also slightly caramelize the pumpkin, producing desirable flavor and color. To do this, simply spread the pumpkin material onto a cooking sheet and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for one hour, stirring every 10 minutes or so. After removing the pumpkin from the oven, let it sit out and cool so that its heat will not affect your mash temperature when you dough in.
Next, choose a base recipe that will allow the pumpkin to shine without overshadowing its somewhat mellow flavor with too much roast or bitterness. Most brewers choose something along the lines of an amber ale, but other more adventurous artisans have produced excellent darker, more complex versions of this style. Including some mid-range caramel malt will produce a nice sweetness and body that compliments the pumpkin, as well as some color, and adding a specialty malt like Victory will bring some complexity of flavor as well as nice orange highlights. Hops should remain relatively restrained to balance the sweetness without overwhelming the subtle pumpkin nuance. Choice of hops can range from more subdued noble varieties to something spicy in character to accentuate this savory style.
Lastly, pick a “pumpkin pie” spice blend, or concoct your own proprietary mix. Common spices used for this style include cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves, which can be mixed in even parts or combined in any number of different quantities to produce the desired result. The total amount of spices used for a five gallon batch is usually somewhere between 0.5-1.5 ounces, depending on how much flavor contribution is desired, and most brewers add spices during the last 10 minutes of the boil to preserve their flavor and aroma. If it is your first time making a spiced beer, it may be better to add a smaller amount to the boil, and then introduce more later in the form of a tea at bottling or kegging time. This allows you to first taste the finished product and then fine-tune the spiciness of the brew.
Here is a sample recipe for a strong pumpkin ale that uses a firm, spicy hop bitterness and a few interesting fermentables:
9 lbs. American 2-row
0.75 lb Victory malt
0.75 lb crystal 40L
0.5 lb brown sugar
0.5 lb Grade “B” dark amber maple syrup
4 cans organic pumpkin, 15 ounces each
1.1 ounce McCormick Pumpkin Pie spice blend
0.5 ounce Chinook hops at 60 minutes
0.5 ounce Willamette hops at 10 minutes
US-05 American Ale Yeast
Start with a protein rest in the 120’s and then bring up to a sacharification rest of 154 for a malty brew. Try using a decoction mash for even more character. Pumpkin makes for a very sticky mash, so expect a longer brew day and use rice hulls as needed to facilitate easier sparging. Add the brown sugar, maple syrup, and spices at flame-out and then rest for a minute or two before beginning the cooling process. Ferment at 68 degrees to completion and then allow at least a couple of weeks for full flavor maturation.
Good luck and happy brewing!
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