Back to Shopping at NorthernBrewer.com

Pumpkin lager

Northern Brewer General
#1

I’ve seen that a lot of people on this site have brewed pumpkin ales, but how many have brewed pumpkin lagers? I’ve looked all over google but haven’t found much info in general.

Do you guys in the US make mostly pumpkin ales because pumpkin is in season during your warmer months? Or is is simply that an amber ale style is well suited to the addition?

I currently have a pumpkin ‘pilsner’ in primary– lots of pumpkin, no spice and mostly weyermann pilsner malt with a bit of carapils/carafoam. I lightly used hallertau mittlefrau for bitterness, the rest coming from the tannin of the green pumpkin skins in the boil.

I’m hoping to get a big pumpkin flavour with a bit of nuttiness, a clear, orange colour and white head.

Any other pumpkin lager brewers out there?

#2

Most of that “pumpkin” flavor you’re talking about, I believe, comes from the spices one would commonly put in pumpkin pie, not the actual pumpkin. An amber lager would work well with those spices and a little baked pumpkin in the mash. Not sure about a pilsner with it though…
Let us know how it turns out.

#3

Beersk, I agree. The flavor comes from the spices NOT the pumpkin per se.

A pilsner with no spice and just pumpkin. That’s certainly interesting.

#4

Kind of off topic, but I read this article last fall and thought it was pretty interesting.

http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/09/p ... ref=search

Sorry to highjack. Back to the OP.

#5

If the intent is merely to replace malt with the meat of the pumpkin, it makes some sense (guys have used popcorn, Captain Crunch cereal, etc… In that role). But I don’t know about starch conversion and extraction relative to pumpkin pulp to be able to advise how it would best be done. It is possible, but if the taste is the key, you may have to experiment with the trade off between pumpkin and malt to zero in on what your palate likes.

#6

Best pumpkin beer I ever tasted did not have any pie spices in it, just lots of roasted pumpkin in the mash. Sounds like the OP ought to produce something similar - a showcase for the pumpkin flavor.

#7

Not trying to hijack.

Shade what did the plain pumpkin beer taste like?

Back to Shopping at NorthernBrewer.com