Jack-O-Lantern Ale
by Rich Rabassa
| Most of us, when we see a Pumpkin, think of Halloween or Thanksgiving... Usually not Pumpkin beer! But ale made from Pumpkins was a tradition started quite a long time ago by early American settlers such as the Pilgrims. And while beer made with vegetable adjuncts are not terribly popular (when was the last time you had a Zucchini Ale?), the all American Pumpkin has inspired many a brewer including such notables as George Washington (an avid "homebrewer"). As a matter of fact, Pumpkin was used as an essential “base” for beer in the colonial days. |
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One of the earliest documented Pumpkin Ale recipes was published by the American Philosophical Society in February, 1771 (founded by Benjamin Franklin):
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“Let the Pompion be beaten in a Trough and pressed as Apples. The expressed juice is to be boiled in a copper a considerable time and carefully skimmed that there may be no remains of the fibrous part of the pulp. After that intention is answered let the liquor be hopped culled fermented & casked as malt beer.”
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While we don’t recommend beating your pumpkins (or pompion: a colonial term for pumpkin) in troughs, we do recommend you take a look at our Pumpkin Ale recipe for a nice change of pace. By the way, don’t take any short cuts in making your Pumpkin Ale... In other words, don’t use the canned pumpkin stuff... The Pilgrims didn’t cheat, why should you?
| Jack-O-Lantern Ale
Ingredients:
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- 1/2 pound Carapils
- 3 pounds Klages
- 3 pounds light DME
- 1 pound amber DME
- 10 ounces pure maple syrup
- 1-1/2 ounces Fuggles hops (bittering)
- 3 pounds sliced up pumpkin (smaller "sweet" pumpkin)
- 1-1/2 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
- 1-1/2 teaspoons ground Allspice
- 2 teaspoons ground Cinnamon
- 1/8 ounce ground Ginger
- 1 ounce Fuggles (finishing)
- 1 tsp of Irish Moss
- Wyeast #1056 (American Ale)
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| Procedure: |
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| Clean and bake the pumpkin at 325 degrees for about 1 hour or until soft. Cut the pumpkin into 1 inch cubes. Crack the Klages and Carapils and mash with the pumpkin in 6 quarts of water at 150F-155F for 90 minutes. Sparge with 8 quarts of 170F- 175F water into brew pot. Add DME and syrup and bring to a boil. Add bittering hops and boil for 35 mins. Add irish moss and boil for 15 mins. Add spices and boil for 10 mins. Add finishing hops and boil for 2 mins. Total boil time is 62 mins. Cool and add to primary. Top up with water to 5 gallons and add yeast. Ferment as usual.Then rack after fermentation is complete into a secondary.
Allow to sit for 1-4 weeks, then bottle as usual.
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