Best Fall Beer

I love every beer style and this one is fantastic! Couldn't ask for a bettter fall recipe

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January 4, 2018

Spencer C

Purchased
over 2 years ago

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Great recipe

I've made this two years in row, and it's awesome. I do recommend changing the preparation of fresh pumpkin, however. I found I achieved better results by cooking the pumpkin whole at 400 deg for about 40 min, then letting it cool and cutting the flesh from the rind. I used 2-3 pie pumpkins per 5 gal batch._x000D__x000D_I have not tried the recipe with canned pumpkin

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October 8, 2010

Daniel

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Great

I could not find any canned or fresh whole pumpkin when I went to brew this batch. I had my mash already started and the wife out buying pumpkin for me and after 4 different stores she was about ready to give up. So I had her buy two large pumpkin pies (for some reason all the stores had pumpkin pies but not canned or whole pumpkin). I scooped out the filling from both pies leaving the crusts for the dog to eat and added them to the last 20 minutes of the boil. I also added an extra pound of corn sugar at the beginning of the boil. And brewed as I normally do adding only half of the spice pack that came with the kit, seeing as the pies were already seasoned. The primary frementor had some very strange action going on in it. looked like a Laval lamp. Had about 2 1/2" of pumpkin pie and yeast at the bottom when I transferred to the secondary frementor. Left it there for 2 weeks then force carbonated the batch and in about a week it was the smoothest batch I ever made. My wife not a big beer drinker likes a class of it every night and all my friends love it. Will try this method again and it is cool to say that its two fermented pumpkin pies your drinking. Try it you won't be disappointed.

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October 10, 2011

Brownie

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Best batch so far!

I tried several times to write a review and it won't stay on here. I used two large cans of libby's pumpkin pie filling, One in the mash with some rice hulls, and one in the boil. I also added extra spices to the boil. Best batch of beer so far! You will not be disapointed! Ordering another kit today!

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October 30, 2011

Lonny

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awesome

awsome and easy to brew one of my favorites!!!

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March 14, 2012

Blind Dog Brewer

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good

Got this kit as a gift. I went with about 8 15 oz cans of pumpkin in the mash tun, and I would recommend you add in some rice hulls or be prepared for a seriously stuck sparge. The ale came out with a very fall appropriate orange hue and a great spicy nose. I think it'll need a few more weeks in the bottle to balance out but it has great potential. Overall I'm pretty happy at the bold pumpkin on the palate and the nice spice in the finish.

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October 3, 2012

jamie

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Good beer, but...

After tasting the beer out of secondary, I got more pumpkin flavor than the spices. I added 3 cans of pure pumpkin to the mash and followed the recipe. I was a little disappointed as I was expecting a little more from the spices. I added a tsp of pumpkin pie spice to the keg and racked on top of that. Tasted great. I'm sure the spices will mellow over the coming days leading up to Thanksgiving which should round out this holiday brew.

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October 8, 2012

Paul

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Decent holiday brew

I only used 2cans of pumpkin pie filling as suggested by the customer service rep. Overall am ok beer . Friends had mixed reviews. Some loved others thought it was just ok but drinkable. I wish it was a stronger pumpkin. Next time I would use more pumpkin and maybe add some more spice. But for the price I can't complain.

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October 17, 2012

Matt

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Best beer I have ever brewed.

Best beer I have ever brewed. I altered the recipe a bit by adding twice the amount of pumpkin mix, 1lb brown sugar and 3lb's of roasted pumpkin seeds. yummmmmmmmmmmmm

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November 1, 2012

James

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Found the Great Pumpkin!

Great tasting! Used 1 large (29 oz) can 100% pure pumpkin in a hop bag for last 10 minutes of boil. Next time I'll try 2 cans to get a little more pumpkin taste. Also added 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice dissolved in a little vodka when racking to secondary. Drinkable after 10 days in bottle, but getting a lot better with more time.

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December 2, 2012

John

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Great Holiday Ale

Use this kit as a base but added one 16oz can of Libby's 100% Pumpkin to the mash and one 16 oz can to a hop bag with 10 minutes left in the boil. I also added 1 tbsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice from McCormick at flameout. When racking to the secondary there still was not enough spice flavor so I also added 1tbsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice mixed with 2 oz of vodka that had been curing for a week. The end result was wonderful! I have already ordered another kit!

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December 12, 2012

tracy

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pumpkin ale

I did not have any pumpkin as they were out of season...so I used butternut squash. Beer was good! Not something I want to drink a lot of, but a very good beer.

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August 27, 2013

care

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Well balanced, mild ale

Brewed this a few weeks ago. Added one 30. Oz can of pumpkin during the last 5 minutes of boil, as per instructions. Pumpkin flavor wasn't very pronounced at first, but it came out more over time. Next time I'll try adding even more pumpkin to get a more pronounced flavor. Spice was prominent without being overpowering. Very slight bitterness and mildly sweet finish.

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September 30, 2013

Kevin

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Great!

Just opened my first bottle and I am impressed! I followed the all grain instructions and used 30 oz of pumpkin. Great!!

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October 21, 2013

Josh

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Gets better with age

We made this for a friend's wedding, and while we gave it plenty of time to age, it was kind of ho hum on the actual wedding day...just not very flavorful. We found a bottle of it a year later though and whoa, it was really good. Not too much spice, like some unfortunate kinds of pumpkin ales, not too much pumpkin, not too sweet, just a wonderfully rich flavor. Well done Midwest!

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December 3, 2013

Sara

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GREAT Beer

I'm a newbie home brewer and I am extremely happy with this beer!! I made a couple of mistakes, but this beer tastes great! The flavor is outstanding great pumpkin flavor, but not overpowering. I have tried several different pumpkin beers and this one is at the top. I am now brewing the Maverick and can't wait to see how it turns out.

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April 13, 2014

dtibbs23

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smashing pumkin

i have brewed this brew 3 times have better luck with fresh pumkin hey when u find you pumkins buy few bake them an freeze the rest you can have pumk in beer 4th july get pumkin pie spice at the store to add a little kick all the revews i read more pumkin more taste take care guys brew wel brew more

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September 17, 2014

daulton

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Awesome beer, and this was my first attempt at all-grain!

First off, the brew tasted excellent. Secondly, I boiled it too long and put the flavor of pumpkin way off in the far distance. This was, however, my first attempt at an all-grain brew. I will be sure to brew this one again next year. I may do two batches so I have plenty to "share".

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November 21, 2014

Jason

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Good base

I made this near the end of pumpkin season and rolled it out around Thanksgiving. Using the kit as a base, I roasted two small pie pumpkins and put them in the boil with about 10 minutes left, with the provided spices. After tasting when transferring to secondary, I decided it didn't have enough pumpkin flavor, so I roasted another pumpkin and dropped it into secondary with some additional cinnamon and nutmeg. It turned out great! If you're using fresh pumpkin, I'd suggest putting it into the mash, as well. It may give you a bit more flavor. A note - I was going for more pumpkin flavor than pumpkin pie, so YRMV.

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December 11, 2012

Brendan

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meh

I added a 16 oz can of pumpkin to the secondary and let it stew for 3 weeks. Unfortunately, I couldn't taste any pumpkin whatsoever. I'm guessing a whole lot more would need to be added to detect anything

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January 11, 2011

beer me

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Needs Improvement

Have made Pumpkin Ale with all grain kits 4 times. Adding spice at flame out gives you orange ale. No pumpkin taste. If you want to use real pumpkin, you can use canned or the real thing. If you use canned, cook the stuff to liberate sugar and carmelize it. The key is in the spice. I add1.5 tbsp at flame out and 1.5 tbsp more, mixed with grain alcohol to sterilize, 3 days before bottling. That gives you what you're looking for! Also experiment with little bits of roast barley or chocolate... I'm talking 1.5 oz amounts. It can be a real distaff friendly beer if you get it right!

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October 5, 2012

Dave the brewer

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taste missing

Most Pumpkin Ales do not taste like Pumpkin. The kits tell you to steep the spice at flame out. That will not leave any taste as it will mostly be blown off during primary fermentation. You've also got to add spice like "dry hopping" just before packaging. I mix a tablespoon of spice in moonshine type corn liquor and add 4 days before bottling. Also experiment with your own recipes. My favorite has 1.5 oz chocolate and 1.5 oz of roast barley. I always use 120 crystal. Finally, though I use real roasted pumpkin, ( quarter a cooking pumpkin, not the size you carve, and bake at 350 for up to 2 hourss till the meat is soft enough to scoop out with a spoon, and mash it up with a potato masher), I do this for help with the color. You won't taste anything unless you spice properly.Cheers!

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September 23, 2012

brewing dave

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DEEELICIOUS!!

I made this with two large cans of Libb'ys pumpkin pie filling, the store didn't have any canned pumpkin yet so I thought I would try it. I put one can in the mash, with some rice hulls just in case, and one can in the boil. I also added extra spices, I think I added 1/4 tsp ground cloves and a little more cinnamon. I followed the rest of the instruction as well. My starting gravity came out higher than the recipe said but I'm good with that. Results...WOW! I think this is the best beer I have ever brewed! I am definitely going to make this my regular brew and try to stash as much of it as I can, or go clean out the store for pumpkin pie filling! I highly recommend this to everybody that has ever had a pumpkin beer, WAY better than anything I have bought at the liquor store!