Kodiak’s Pumpkin Ale:
Don’t know about how you guys prepare your pumpkin // but we do it like this!
(image source: google image for the below 1 photo)
Above people pour beer inside a pumpkin to give it an additional flavorings, plus it looks cool. Here is a video on youtube that shows a tapping of a pumpkin with beer already inside… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjNBBCxUYHw
In addition we have done another article about how to prepare pumpkin for brewing if you should grow them in your back yard or you purchased them from a local pumpkin patch: https://kodiakbrewing.com/wordpress/?p=1364
2014 Brew details:
For this brew, we added the pumpkin meat both at mash and boil stages. We brewed a 7 gallon batch with OG of 1.059 (using the same amount of grain as for a 5 gallon batch) // spot on exactly as last year. We did the mash for almost 2 hours, (which included some re-circulation time). The boil was 75 minutes this year, because the pumpkin was frozen, so added 15 minutes in both steps for the ice cube treatment 🙂 We did not use rice hulls to help mash out, we simply raised temperature to about 170 F while re-circulating at the same time, and when the beer is clear – we drain it off.
FG 1.014 ( 1 full week ) // Final ABV 5.91% – or rounded off at 6% // again this was a 7 gallon batch, instead of a 5 gallon.
We used a British Ale #1098 this time // ferments dry and crisp, producing well-balanced beers with a clean and neutral finish, it also has a better lower temperature range, better for basements.
2013 Brew details below:
We brewed a 10 gallon batch on 7/6/2013, we got an OG of 1.064, better than when doing the 5 gallon batch for some reason, using same method and equipment. For yeast we used 2 packs of Wyeast American Ale (1056) . We used total of 16.5 gallons of water, and ended up slightly with more than 10 gallons, I say about 11.5 – so no matter how you look at it, we are happy.
FG on the 10 gallon batch was 1.016 – so it ended up as 6.4% ABV.
5 gallon batch ingredient picture below:
Usually brewed for the Holidays and Fall/Winter – breweries brew it ahead of time so that it is ready for brew events, and stores. This bear likes to drink it all the time and so we brew it all the time, regardless if there are any holidays or not, everyday is a holiday here!
The pumpkin can be added either at mash time, boil time or fermentor time and some people – do it at all 3 stages. But you have to ask your self if you want a really strong pumpkin beer or a nice hint of pumpkin, so that you can still enjoy the beer. If you add the pumpkin to mash (some people add rice hulls) and they are used traditionally to prevent a stuck mash. Rice hulls are the outer covering of rice, and that’s just it, there is no actual rice being added to the brew – that’s one way to do it.
List of ingredients for a 5 gallon recipe.
OG 1.059 +/-
FG 1.020 +/-
(1.059 – 1.020) * 131 = 5.109 approx.
Alcohol by Volume about 5.11%
- 11 lb of american 2-row
- 3/4 lb crystal malt 20L
- 3/4 lb Cara-Pils (Dextrin)
- 1 ounce mt. hood hops (bittering, add at start of boil)
- 1 ounce cascade hops (last 2 minutes of boil)
- 1/2 lb brown sugar (add before returning to heat, before start of boil)
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg (last 2 minutes of boil)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon (last 2 minutes of boil)
- pump-kin meat (boil for 10 minutes in a sock, we just add it at the last 10-15 minutes of boil)
MASH for 60 Minutes, with a re-mash for an 30-60 additional minutes, longer is better.
BOIL for 60 minutes and add all the ingredients at the right time.
We used a liquid yeast (Wyeast American Ale with direct pitch activator).
Age for 3 months any beer you brew, (some longer) its the best thing to do! Also before serving we cold-crash our kegs that hold the beer, this helps to clear the beer and gives it a superb taste.
Don’t forget to take the OG gravity reading and record the reading number before the beer goes to fermentation and later after it ferments, take a FG reading. Both of these are considered SG readings.