However, pumpkin can be added to a much wider variety of beer styles with great success.
Moderately hopped and spiced, amber-colored ales with a bit of maltiness tend to be the benchmark for the pumpkin beer style. 4) Stray from the traditional pumpkin ale style.Įlysian head brewer Steve Luke watches over the sparge of a mash with pumpkin. “One of our favorite pumpkin beers, brewed by Silver City Brewing in Sliverdale, Wash., is made from pumpkins smoked on a steel drum smoker,” shares Cantwell. Bigger pumpkin beers lend themselves to aging in barrels of all types. Various fruits and vegetables can also compliment pumpkin, like sweet potatoes, yams, zucchini, squashes and even cucumber. Pumpkin beers don’t require additions of cooking spices to add more depth and character. Other ingredients can be used to create spice-like qualities, like phenolic, fruity and clove-y yeasts as well as a gamut of flavor-commanding microorganisms. You may be surprised what you’ll favor! 3) Experiment with other non-spice ingredients. Take the time to experiment with different spice additions prior to conditioning. “At Elysian, we’ve also used dozens of different spices in our pumpkin beers-vanilla, mace, dill, lavender, cumin, coriander, epazote, different chili varieties, etc.-but not all at once…that would be gross,” shares Luke.Ĭantwell emphasizes thinking outside the spice box and exploring spices in world cuisines that use pumpkin, like certain Mexican and Indian dishes. Sure the pre-blends can work, but to tailor the spice regimen to your specific recipes, pull a sample after fermentation as you near conditioning and try different spice ratios until you find what works well for your recipe. Elysian uses what they call the “faithful 5” which include cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger and clove. When using spices in conjunction with pumpkin, pre-blended pumpkin pie mixes are available at stores, but for the most control you’ll want to add spices individually. “You may need to use more malt to hit your target gravity.” 2) Control your spice regimen and think outside the (spice) box. “For additions to both the kettle and fermenter, keep in mind that pumpkin has a lot of water-single-strength pumpkin is typically around 8 brix-and should be liquefied with wort rather than more water, since you don’t just want to plop it in un-thinned or have it negatively affect the your starting gravity,” says Cantwell. Using pumpkin in a pumpkin beer may seem too obvious for tip #1, but there are “pumpkin beers” out there utilizing only spices to trick the senses into perceiving pumpkin. Ideally, pumpkin should be evident in both flavor and mouthfeel.įor the most pumpkin-like profile, pumpkin can be added during the mash, boil and even in the fermenter. 1) Use pumpkin throughout the brewing process. We caught up with Elysian founder Dick Cantwell ( editor’s note: Cantwell is no longer with Elysian Brewing Co.) and head brewer Steve Luke to ask for some tips on brewing beer with pumpkin. They also hold their annual event the Great Pumpkin Beer Festival, now in its tenth year.
The Seattle-based brewery produces and bottles four pumpkin-themed beers annually-Night Owl pumpkin ale, The Great Pumpkin imperial pumpkin ale, Dark o’ the Moon pumpkin stout, and Punkuccino coffee pumpkin ale-as well as various other tap-room offerings that showcase the orange gourd.
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