Honestly, the wife loves the pumpkin beer. I’d say I’ve tried well over 20 in the last few years and like maybe 2.
You may note that I acknowledged Steve’s position in the intro of the article. 
Thanks, homebrewdad7. Every year I look forward pumpkin and other winter spiced ales.
Glad you found it to be useful!
I think my aversion to seeing all the shelf space in my little local markets being taken up by pumpkin beers starting in July, in addition to many bad examples and my own snobbery, has led me to view this style unfairly.
I can totally see that. I love Oktoberfests, but seeing them in July makes me irrationally angry.
I have.
Okay…I’ll bite. What were your findings?
This is hilarious!
Oh my God you guys are cracking me up…Thanks for the laughs after a long week. ;D
For the last 10 years, I have brewed beer for the office Christmas open house. The company pays for my ingredients, as well as some brewing gear on occasionally, so it has worked out well for all parties.
A couple of years ago one of the VPs told me he had a bumper crop of pumpkins this year, including pie pumpkins. Great! I replied, I will brew a pumpkin beer this year.
I cut them up, seeded them, and put them in the oven to roast. What I did not factor in, is that freshly harvested pumpkins have A LOT OF LIQUID in them.
So, while I was merrily getting the brew started up down in the basement, my wife comes home to find the oven smoking like a chimney from all the liquid oozing out of the cut up pumpkin roasting.\
I continued anyway.
At the Christmas party, 2 months later, I received a few compliments on the pumpkin ale. But personally, I could taste kitchen smoke in every sip.
I will never brew another pumpkin ale again. (And to start with, I am with Denny. I have always hated them. Biggest. Beer. Gimmick. Ever. [Okay, session IPA has surpassed that]).
Session Belgian DIPA served from a Pumpkin Randall
Ironically I find DIPAs more session able than Sassoon ipas.
Pumpkin doesn’t matter. Only a single data point, though.
I’ve never brewed one, but if I did it would have no pumpkin in it. Just a touch of pumpkin pie spice in the tail end of the boil and a neutral bittering hop. That would be my plan. Maybe to enhance the spicey pie aspect I’d use a belgian yeast. Or, brew a dark belgian strong and tell people its a harvest beer, leave it at that.
Have you tried Elysian Night Owl? Mine is pretty similar to this, pumpkin pie in a glass
Night owl is one of the only pumpkin beers I like.
Actually, on htinking about it, I kinda like Oakshire’s Big Black Jack, a spiced pumpkin beer with chocolate. Not the kind of beer I’d suck down pint after pint, but I wouldn’t pour it out, either@
In my experience using pumpkin in the mash gives some color and mouthfeel, and makes for a bright orange mash :o