I am brewing the pumpkin ale extract kit purely because it sounds really good. During this primary fermentation period I have been trying a lot of them out there. I started with PUMPKING on the store clerk’s recommendation. UGH! Liquid potpurri. Shock Top had a decent one. But it is a pumkin WHEAT ale. There was another in there that was not notable. Today, the Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin ale really got me excited. It smells ALOT like how NB kit did on brew day.
I am anxious about this batch because of the vast range of tastes when it comes to these Pumpkin ales. Personally I am hoping the NB recipe is based on Sam Adams’ and not the PUMPKING stuff. Anyone have a comparison for me?
To me Pumpking tasted more lie ginger snaps than pumpkin. I’m a real fan; and plan to get some this year. The NB kit will not be near a Pumpking. I don’t want to sound like an ad weasel but the NB kit, as packaged, is a “pumpkin spice” ale, not a true pumpkin ale. That is, it contains no actual pumpkin; they do provide tips on how to upgrade the kit to include actual pumpkin. The upgrade should be no big deal for an AG brewer, but extract brewers need to step up to partial mash. It’s hard to get a true assessment on the kit, as packaged, since it seems most people do upgrade.
The wife and I brewed the extract kit last year, with a partial mash of pumpkin (~5lbs canned) and extra spice. I’m not familiar enough with the commercial offerings to cite a specific example that ours closely matched, but we loved it. The pumpkin flavor was present but took a backseat to the spice. Allspice, and nutmeg came out first, cinnamon and ginger later. The wife wanted the pumpkin to be more prevalent tho. We just brewed another batch yesterday, so ask again in a couple of months…
I am actually in the process of the extract pumpkin ale 5 gal, almost done with the end of first fermentation. Will i be disappointed? haha its still just chilling in the basement.
I know this is a long time coming, but thanks to both of you for replying.
I did the kit by the book and it came out great! It was gone fast.
Next year I might try the canned pumpkin idea. That sounds good.
