As the leaves begin to turn colors and the air starts to have a crisp bite, I invariably gravitate towards beers with a more malt presence. My fellow beer-drinking friends know that I’m a self-proclaimed hophead, but rich malty beers during the cold winter months are quite satisfying. In particular, the fall season brings about the opportunity to make a beer with fresh local ingredients that can highlight the malts. To this end I will be brewing a derivation of a pumpkin ale that I brewed last year (before I started my blog) that many friends really liked.
I tweaked the recipe a bit and added 1 pound of flaked rye to get a toasty/bready and creamy mouthfeel. The recipe included 3 pounds of butternut squash that I bought at a local market, as well as two sugar pumpkins from a local farmers market. Always get the sugar pumpkins as the carving pumpkins lack depth of flavor.
To prepare the pumpkin:
- Cut up pumpkin, discarding skin, pulp and seeds (unless you want to toast em’).
- Cut the flesh into one inch cubes and place in a backing pan.
- Toss with cut butternut squash, along with 2 tbs of brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp of allspice, and ¼ tsp of nutmeg.
- Roast for 1 hour or until soft at 375°F.
- Mash until slightly chunky with a potato masher or fork.
The beer recipe:
- 10 pounds of Maris Otter pale malt
- 1.0 pound of flaked rye
- 0.5 pound of Crystal 40L
- 0.5 pound of Caramunich malt (56L)
- 0.5 pound of Honey malt
- 0.25 pound of chocolate malt
- 3 pounds of roasted pumpkin
- 3 pounds of roasted butternut squash
Mash in with 19.25 qts of water for a protein rest at 122°F for 10 minutes.
Saccharification for 45 minutes at 154°F
60 minute boil:
- 1 oz First Gold (7.5% AA) at 60 (23.6 IBUs)
- 3 tsp Cinnamon (5 minutes)
- 1 tsp Allspice (5 minutes)
- 1 tsp Nutmeg (5 minutes)
- ½ tsp of ground cloves (5 minutes)
Cool to pitching temps (68°F) and pitched a 1.5 liter starter of Wyeast 1099 (Whitbread strain)
SG: 1.060
FG: 1.019
IBU: 23.6
The brewday went well except for the fact that I forgot to heat my mash to mashout temps of 168°F. Combine that with the rye, squash, and pumpkin, this turned out be a thick mash. I had a few stuck sparges which was a pain to deal with and made the brewday a bit longer.
