Mash: Heat your strike water to achieve a mash temperature of 152°F (67°C). Add the crushed grains and pumpkin puree. Hold for 60 minutes. The pumpkin can make the mash a bit gummy; a good stir every 15-20 minutes is recommended.
Sparge: Mash out by raising the temperature to 170°F (77°C) and then sparge with 170°F water to collect 6.5 gallons of wort.
Boil: Bring the wort to a rolling boil.
60 minutes: Add 0.75 oz. of East Kent Goldings hops.
10 minutes: Add 0.25 oz. of East Kent Goldings hops.
5 minutes: Add a yeast nutrient and a whirlpool tablet (Irish Moss).
Flameout (0 minutes): Turn off the heat and add all the spices. Stir well and let them steep for about 15 minutes before chilling.
Chill: Rapidly cool the wort to 68°F (20°C).
Ferment: Transfer the cooled wort to your sanitized fermenter. Pitch the yeast.
Fermentation Schedule:
Ferment at 68°F (20°C) for 7-10 days, or until fermentation activity subsides and the gravity is stable.
Optional: Cold crash the beer for a day or two at 35-40°F (2-4°C) to help clear it up.
Packaging: Bottle or keg as usual. Carbonate to 2.5 volumes of CO2.
Instructions (Extract):
Steep: Place the crushed Caramel 60L malt in a grain bag and steep it in 1-2 gallons of water at 160°F (71°C) for 20-30 minutes. Remove the bag and discard.
Boil: Bring the steeped wort to a boil. Turn off the heat and stir in the Dry Malt Extract (DME) and the pumpkin puree until fully dissolved. Return to a boil.
Follow the same boil, chill, fermentation, and packaging steps as the All-Grain recipe.
Tips for Success:
Pumpkin Prep: Canned pumpkin puree works great and is very convenient. If you want to use fresh pumpkin, roast it first (cut in half, remove seeds, and roast at 350°F until tender). The roasting caramelizes the sugars and adds a deeper flavor.
Spices: Start with the suggested spice amounts. You can always add a bit more at packaging if you want a stronger spice character. It's better to be subtle than to have a "spice bomb" beer.
Fermentation Temperature: The US-05 yeast is very clean at 68°F. This will allow the malt and spice flavors to shine through without any distracting fruity esters from the yeast.
Patience: Like all homebrew, this beer will improve with a few weeks of conditioning in the bottle or keg. The flavors will meld together and the carbonation will become perfect.
