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Pumpkin Beer Review & Recipe

Life has a way of filling up pretty quickly.  But, no excuses.  I haven't been as diligent as I want with this blog.  Now that Thanksgiving is over, maybe I can get back in the swing of things.

For this post, I am going to review our pumpkin beer, Fairytale Debacle.

Appearance
The beer looks great.  It is one of the clearest beers I have brewed with an amber color, almost with an orange tint.  The head is nice and fluffy.  Very respectable pint of beer, if I do say so myself.

Aroma
I get some spice flavors coming through the nose, though, not a whole lot.  Has a good malt presence, too.  Nothing to overpowering, but pleasant.

Flavor
Good beer, easy drinking.  I get a bit of pumpkin flavor with some spice, but not a whole lot going on.  The spice flavors are more subtle and in the background.  Also, I think there is too much nutmeg or ginger which gives it a bit of a sharp aftertaste, but that is not unpleasant and mellows as I drink the pint.

Mouthfeel
Good and easy to drink.

Overall Impression
Overall, I think we did a very fine job with this beer.  It looks good, smells good, tastes good.  I do wish there was a little more spice to it - not an overpowering spice flavor, but something a bit more than what is present.  It was fun using pumpkin in the mash and the beer had a nice, orange-y hue to it.  That may have been my imagination, but I like to think the pumpkin actually DID something.

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So, there is the review.  It is kind of funny that I am doing a review on this beer now considering the keg kicked before Thanksgiving.  I did have some notes jotted down from actual pints I drank, so I am not making up anything above.  We had a birthday party for my son and all the guests drank up my homebrew!  Guess they enjoyed it.

As I mentioned, there wasn't a whole lot of spice going on.  I wish we would have added more... but there is a way to correct that, or at least supplement that.  But that will be a post for another day.

Here is the recipe for a 10 gallon batch:
Malts/Adjuncts (lbs)

15 Rahr 2-row Pale
5 German Munich Malt
1 Briess Caramel 80
0.5 Bries Caramel 60
1 Rice Hulls
8.25 Roasted Pumpkin

Mash at 152 F for 60 minutes.
Our OG - 1.052

Hops

2 ounces of Cluster (6.8%) @ 60 minutes
Added spices at knockout (use any pumpkin pie spices you like)

Fermented cool, around 67 F.

So, while it may be a bit out of season, give the recipe a shot.  I was quite pleased with the results.

Cheers.

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