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Partial Mash Pumpkin Porter

wxworkoff

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Hi all,

Hoping to make a pumpkin porter in a few weeks, and this will be my first effort in creating my own recipe.  It'll be a partial mash...and what I've come up with is a merging of two friends' recipes...one a pumpkin ale, and the other a different pumpkin porter (which I'm pretty sure is just the AHB Jack O'latern recipe, he just won't admit it).

I'm hoping to develop a well balanced flavor and mouthfeel from the grain profile, while also adding a touch of sweet.  As the recipe stands now, I'm going with maple syrup for the touch of sweetness...and I've found using a pound of candi syrup or brown sugar tends to make beers too sweet for my liking.  I guess I could always just use a half pound though.  Also hoping to get a bit fuller mouthfeel...I'm ok with sacrificing a few abv points, as I'd like this to be fairly sessionable...so I'm planning on mashing in the 155-160 range. 

Since this is my first partial mash where I've put the grain bill together myself, any thoughts and opinions would be appreciated!  Also, any opinion on the use of maple syrup in this type of recipe?  I kind of like the idea...but I'm not sure how the flavors of pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and maple syrup will actually mesh.

p.s. I'm planning on mashing 4 pounds of pumpkin...or perhaps 3 pounds and adding another pound for the last 10 minutes of the boil. I know the pumpkin debate has been discussed at length in these forums, and I'm not trying to re-ignite that debate here. 

I appreciate any help you can give!

Brew Method: Partial Mash (~6 qt)

Mash Time: 45 min
Mash Temp: 158 deg

Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons
Boil Size: 3 gallons
Planned efficiency: 70-75%

Targets:
Original Gravity: ~1.075
Final Gravity: ~1.02
ABV: ~ 7.2%

FERMENTABLES:
Partial Mash (45 mins at 158 deg):
1.5 lb - Crystal 75L
1 lb - Pale 2-Row
0.5 lb - Victory
0.5 lb - Special B
0.5 lb - Chocolate Malt

Boil:
6 lb - Dry Light Malt Extract (60 minutes)
1 lb - Maple Syrup (15 minutes)

HOPS:
1 oz - Fuggles (60 min)
1 oz - Fuggles (20 min)

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
3 lb - Pumpkin (fresh or canned), Mash
1 lb - Pumpkin(fresh or canned), Boil (10 min)
2 tsp - Pumpkin Pie Spice, Boil (5 min)

YEAST:
Safale - English Ale Yeast S-04
 
have not brewed a beer with pumpkin yet but all I see that may mess it up is the maple syrup. If you use the all natural homemade type its fine but when you buy the brand name stuff from the stores that is loaded with who know what it in the way of artificial flavors and preservatives. this may mess with the yeast and or, give off flavors. good luck with your brew.
 
I've used pumpkin to make a pretty good pumpkin ale.  Although, mine was an all grain recipe and I put the pumpkin in the mash.

I also baked my pumpkin in the oven with pumpkin pie spices, then let it cool before putting it into my mash tun.
 
Maple syrup won't add any sweetness. It will ferment out and at best leave behind a woody flavor. I recently made a batch using ten gallons of maple sap.
http://www.beersmith.com/forum/index.php/topic,10648.0.html
Didn't end up tasting like maple at all. I'd suggest you save a few bucks and save the syrup for bacon and fried potatoes.
 
After revisiting my maple sap beer, I think a pound of syrup wouldn't hurt anything but your wallet.  The maple flavor seems to fill in some corners and bring it together without itself being specific or pronounced. To me anyway. No sweetness. That all fermented out. But the woodsy flavor gives a bit of barrel charm.
 
I was thinking of trying to make a pumpkin porter this weekend that also included maple syrup. Could you prime with maple syrup to get the flavour? If so what ratio would you use compared to corn sugar?
 
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