Pumpkin Ale

[Evil Andrew]

Usually I brew an Irish Red Ale for the fall, but this year I'm going to brew a Pumpkin Ale.

My barley order came today - Rahr 2- Row Malt, German Munich Malt and Breiss Caramel Malt. Add a little Cascade hops, pumpkin pie spice and Wyeast American Ale yeast. The hard part will be the pumpkin. I don't know where to get it out of season. You're supposed to cut up 10 lbs, roast it in the oven and add it to the mash.

If I can brew it in July, it will be aged and ready to drink in mid September.

More to come....................

[Sawtooth Jack]

Love pumpkin ales! Could you use canned pumpkin, or maybe dried?

I saw this link and thought maybe you could investigate to see if any of the farmers shipped:
http://highlandpark.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/pumpkin-pie-in-july/

[Evil Andrew]

Brew day will be Saturday. I ended up finding fresh butternut squash to use. It tastes almost identical to pumpkin. I'll post some brewing pics.

[Evil Andrew]

So, Brewing Day went well, and I have 5 gallons of ale in the fermenter. Tomorrow, I will rack it into the secondary fermenter. Bottling Day will be August 7 or so. Then aging until October 1 . I cant wait!

http://www.hauntforum.com/picture.php?albumid=970&pictureid=11341

Here is a pic of the brewing system at work. The top cooler holds 170* water. The middle cooler holds the barley, and for this recipe, the the squash. The barley is steeped at 152* for an hour. This converts the starch in the barley into sugar. This step is called "the mash", and the cooler that holds the grain is called the "mash tun". Then the grain is slowly rinsed with more hot water and drained into the boil kettle. The rinsing step is called "the sparge". The liquid going into the boil kettle is called "wort" - unfermented beer. The "wort" is then boiled for and hour, and then quickly cooled. Add yeast and let it ferment. The brewing process takes about 5 hours from setup to cleanup.

[Evil Andrew]

Looks like bottling day will be Aug 11. Here is a concept drawing for the label. It was inspired by a picture of a carved pumpkin I saw on the internet that said "Nevermore".

http://www.hauntforum.com/picture.php?albumid=970&pictureid=11419

[mysterymaiden]

I LOVE this entire idea. I don't know why I've never thought about brewing beer for Halloween. Great label, and the name "Nevermore" is classic!

[The Halloween Lady]

WOW... what an fun idea! I wonder if I could get my hubby involved? It would really be a nice adition to our yearly bash.

[Evil Andrew]

OK - Bottling is done - now I just have to wait till October 1 to crack one open. For then next 6 weeks, the ale will "condition" in the bottle. It will become carbonated and the taste will improve as it ages.

http://www.hauntforum.com/picture.php?albumid=970&pictureid=11449
http://www.hauntforum.com/picture.php?albumid=970&pictureid=11450

[RoxyBlue]

Very pretty:)

[Sawtooth Jack]

Great label. Love that wretched-looking raven!

[Evil Andrew]

Since the ale turned out so good this year, I bought some pie pumpkins to use for next year. This is about 13 lbs of pumpkin - in the freezer till next August !

http://www.hauntforum.com/picture.php?albumid=970&pictureid=13106
http://www.hauntforum.com/picture.php?albumid=970&pictureid=13107