Brewday info posted August 20, 2008: http://thehouseofgordon.blogspot.com/2008/08/maple-pumpkin-ale.html
Maple Pumpkin Ale v.2.0
Brewed December 27, 2008.
Both were pumpkin beers brewed with actual pumpkin. The caramelized flesh gives some fermentables to the homebrewing process, and the gourd's innards supply actual, gasp!, pumpkin flavor to the finished product. Some pumpkin ales call themselves that due to their spicing. It tastes like pumpkin pie. You could achieve that by brewing an auburn-colored pale ale and adding appropriate spice and nothing more. Me? I went for actual bona fide pumpkin in my homebrewed beer.
MPA Version 1 was brewed way ahead of time in August. The amount of time required for the solids to settle out was incredible. One week in primary fermentation, transfer to secondary for one week, then transfer yet another time to sit for 2 weeks. Then, allow it to sit in the bottle and carbonate for 2 to 3 weeks. An August brew for an October consumption.
It was a winner within our circle here. A tasty libation that many were unaware was a homebrewed concoction. Seriously. It was a staple at sunny autumn Sundays for Browns games, and the last bit of it was saved for Thanksgiving get-togethers.
For Christmas? No more to be had.
This was an outrage. How could this nectar be no more? Surely something could be done about it! Surely the brewer could be enticed to brew another batch out of season. The brewer REALLY wasn't going to wait until August 2009 to brew another batch, right?
Rules are meant to be broken. Maple Pumpkin Ale v.2.0 will indeed be ready for drinking in February 2009, the perfect month methinks for a pumpkin ale.
I won't re-post the recipe here. You can see it in the original August 2008 post. Minor modifications to v.2.0 include:
- 5 cans of pumpkin instead of 4 were caramelized
- more maple syrup now: 8 oz at 90 minutes, 8 oz at 20 minutes, and 4 oz at 2 minutes
- 8 gallons of water boiled to compensate for the liquid loss due to pumpkin absorption
- California Ale yeast WLP001 used instead of American Ale yeast WLP060
A full diary is to be seen with each Flickr photo over on our Flickr account, but for the purposes here on the HofG, here are some pics:
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