I am decidedly NOT a pumpkin spice person – with the proper exception of Pumpkin Pie. But I have been charged to come up with a couple sixtels of pumpkin spice beer for a Halloween Party.
The easiest (and only way) this is going to happen is for me to just add pumpkin spice to 2 kegs. These are fully carbbed beer and these will be sanke kegs so needs to be in an easy format (like an extract).
My options are: Nut Brown Ale, Scotch Ale and Fest Beer … or even a Pils.
If anyone has a cheap hack or suggestion on the beer to f*ck up from the list above please offer it. I appreciate any and all feedback.
Soak your spices in vodka overnight. Then add the flavored vodka without spice solids to the keg. As for amounts… meh… less is more. Figure out how much you think people would like, and then only use 1/4 as much. Human beings, especially Americans, friggin overdo spices every damn time.
yup, a lot of it is the power of persuasion. sweetness would probably enhance the feel of dessert or pumpkin beer. as long as its clearly labeled “pumpkin spice beer”
I’d go for the nut brown. Personally, I hate tincture. I seem to always detect the heat from the vodka. So maybe just use some of the beer to make them.
This is a good idea. For my jalapeno porter, I no longer make a tincture but rather boil the chopped jalapenos in a quart of the finished fermented beer, cool, then add just the spiced beer back in again. Works wonderfully, or so I’ve been told.
2 jalapenos per gallon. I do not add them until the day I bottle or keg. Chop seeds and all, place into a pot, add enough of the finished beer to cover them, bring to a boil for like 10 minutes, cool and add the flavored beer back to the main batch, stir or swirl, package as normal. Easy and effective. And sometimes I split a batch to have some with and without jalapeño.
lol, my following post is getting unrelated now almost, but a good way to achieve a real house flavour could be to use a stock ale that is a ~10+ ABV ale, from which a small amount is added to each brew you make. keeping around a higher ABV plain stock ale would be useful for infusions desired as well rather than whiskey.
i had a commercial whiskey/oaked beer recently and it was just over the top on the whiskey flavour. tasted like a cocktail or something, not totally bad though.
I’ve used some Olive Nation stuff before. Also Amoretti. I will probably go that route. I was just thinking if someone had a tried and true extract or powder that uses such and such amount for 5 gallons … I’m lazy!
Um, is this the 10 step program where we start by admitting we like pumpkin beer?
Hi, my name is Tommy and I like pumpkin beer.
PS. I don’t brew it, but I buy a six pack every year and enjoy it. A few years ago a local bar had pumpkin beer on special in like January. I went back another day for more
one review
“Outstanding! I am a home brewer a friend recommended this pumpkin flavor to me and I was a bit skeptical at first. After smelling and tasting it in my craft beer I can say without any reservations that this stuff is great for brewing. Try a few drops in a glass of nondescript beer I bet youll be impressed. Aroma and flavor are great! I do not bottle only keg my beer but in kegs I use a couple oz in 5 gal. (only a starting point for you)”
I don’t like pumpkin spice beer generally but every year I have a couple at the brewery in town, Stone Cow, it’s actually quite good. They use a brown ale and add a ton of roasted pumpkin they grow on the farm and use a moderate amount of spices.
Damn straight! Every pumpkin beer I have had except for one which was homebrewed by a member of one of the brew clubs I belong to, who unfortunately passed in the last year, were way too damn spicy. His was had best pumpkin beer I ever tasted and luckily he had given me the recipe. Less spice is always better!
This July, I was at Weyerbacher and had their Imperial Pumpkin Ale as it was coming down the bottling line and getting boxed up. After a little bribery, the bartender appropriated one off the line for my drinking pleasure. Pretty solid, for a style that isn’t my cup of tea.
