Using pumpkin purée?

Hello I have a question about using pumpkin purée for brewing pumpkin beer. Do you just open the can of pumpkin purée an dump it into the mash or are you supposed to bake it an then add the bake pumpkin purée to the mash?

My favorite is that guy who fermented directly in the pumpkins.

I bake the canned pumpkin with brown sugar sprinkled on top…smells wonderful 8 am on brewday. I add it to the mash. Prefer mine to some of the commercial pumpkin beers I’ve had.

On a related note Schlafly’s Pumpkin ale finally made it to Florida. I’ve been reading about and wanting to try this one for ten years. A 94 on one of the rating sites. And…wait for it, …not good…Way too spice forward for me.

Subtlety is key

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What i found best that works the best is once your strike water is close to temperature mix you pumpkin puree in it then mash and sparge like normal. If you try stiring the pumpkin puree in the mash tun with the grain it can be a fight and run a chance of stuck sparge.

What possible benefits does mashing the pumpkin have? I think if I were to make a pumpkin ale I would just add it to the secondary

I use a muslin bag for the pumpkin during the mash, as I BIAB. Also “rice hulls are your friend.”

Brewers add it to just about any step in the brewing process, but most add it before racking to primary. By adding to the mash I don’t have to secondary. As far as mash vs boil, I don’t think it’s crucial; pumpkin has starch with no diastatic power, but I’m not sure how much conversion, if any, has to happen.

I’ve been happy with the process and the product, FWIW.

There is realy no benefit mashing it gravity and conversion wise. Pumpkins do have a brix of 8 not much. The reason i do the puree in my strike water is to get it mixed up and use the grain as my filter. You can mix it with alittle wort or right in the kettle. This is just the best way i found to do it and works well for me.

colonists in America brewed with pumpkin for lack of grain and probably just boiled it. I’ve had a few most are to heavy on the spice since the fermented pumpkin won’t give you much flavor unless you used an awful lot. That is why ,and I may be wrong ,a secondary fermentation like any fruit would give more bang for the buck.

Other than adding spice pumpkin dont realy have much flavor to it. It does have aroma pumpkin smell and increases mouth feel. But for flavor you wont get much from it no matter when you adding it to you brew.

Beat me to it. Pumpkin tastes like unseasoned squash, as in not much. Some aroma, I get a little orange hue, and mouthfeel. Why bother? Well it’s a platform for the spices just like pumpkin pie. And that, done right makes all the difference.

Also it gives me hope that our freaking hot summer may eventually end and I’ll enjoy one or two in the yard this Fall when our first cold front makes it here!

It might be nice in a spiced Porter. Dessert beer

Absolutely!

By the way in my post above, LOL, it was diastatic, not diastolic :joy::joy::joy:. Dang auto correct!

I make a Pumpkin Weizenbock. I call it Kürbis Weizenbock. Kürbis is german for pumpkin. It more a holiday beer with spices and pumpkin. Its got color
Like autumn hue to it makes it a nice fall beer.

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Me not really into pumkinbeer. My daughter likes it. I do roast the pumpkin. And add it about 30 min into the boil. And the last 10 min. Add pumpkin spices. On the end not much pumpkin taste. A bit so you can taste mild pumpkin.

I do Smashing pumpkin from our hosts every year and use 4 pie pumpkins with some extra biscuit and Caramel 40L plus rice hulls in the mash. I skin and chunk them, sprinkle them with brown sugar and cinnamon and bake them at 350 for an hour. Then I put half in the mash, and half in the last 10 mins of the boil. I’ve liked the results, nice orange color, subtle pumpkin and spice. Perfect Halloween beer to serve to the adults taking all the kiddoes around. Plus, I agree with @voodoo_donut in that the house smells fantastic on brewday. :innocent:

:beers:
Rad

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