How to Brew a Pumpkin Ale

This hub will show you how to home brew a pumpkin ale. The recipe is simple albeit delicious. Pumpkin Ale is smooth, spicy and delicious. It is the perfect holiday and post-holiday beer, sure to invigorate the senses and cleanse the pallet. With the spices and fresh pumpkin, there is the perfect balance of flavor. It tastes like pumpkin pie while maintaining just the right amount of hoppy bitterness.

With these simple instructions, you will be well on your way to making this splendid and easy-to-make beer. All of these ingredients can be purchased at a local home-brewing store. They can also be purchased online.

• 8.00 lb Golden Promise (2 Row) UK Grain 50.38 %
• 4 cans Pumpkin (organic is best)
• 1.00 lb Toasted Malt Grain
• 1.00 lb Wheat
• 1.00 lb Rice Syrup Solids
• 0.50 lb Priming Sugar
• 0.50 lb Molasses
• 0.50 oz Magnum Hops
• 0.50 oz Saaz Hops
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp Irish moss
• 1/4 tsp gypsum

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour canned pumpkin into a baking dish and bake uncovered for 50-60 minutes, until bubbling and caramelized.

Bring 3 gallons water to 152 degrees in a large pot. Add Irish moss, gypsum and all of the grain ingredients. Add the pumpkin and mix well. Allow the grains to soak for 60 minutes. Stir occasionally and press the grains down to form a bed on the bottom of the pan.

Pour mixture through a strainer into a large bucket, making sure to leave all sediment behind. Discard grains and transfer the liquid back into the pot. Add 2.5 gallons water.

Bring the liquid to a rolling boil. Add Magnum hops and boil for 50 minutes. Add molasses and continue to boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add all of the spices and boil for 5 more minutes.

Turn off heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Transfer mixture into the large bucket.

Add the yeast. The bucket should remain covered and airtight for at least 1 week. 2-3 weeks is preferable as it allows the flavors to fully develop. Also, this is to make sure that all of the alcohol has been produced to the fullest capacity. Store the beer bucket in a dark place, and make sure the temperature stays at 72-73 degrees.

The final stage of the beer-making process is to bottle the beer. Start out by boiling the priming sugar in a small amount of water, about 2 cups. Add the sugar water to the beer. The yeast consumes the sugar, thus producing alcohol and carbonation.

To bottle the beer you will need a bottle capper. You can get a cheap plastic one at a brew store or one of the online brewing stores. Nothing fancy is required, just something to install the caps on the bottles, making sure they are perfectly airtight.

The best way to transfer the beer into the bottles is to create a syphon using a plastic tube. They also sell release nobs to control the flow of the beer into the bottles.

After bottling and capping, store the beer at room temperature for 2 weeks to ensure that the carbonation is at its peak and that the fermentation process is complete. Then the beer is ready to be chilled and served.

Any questions, please leave me a comment below. Thanks, and enjoy!