Pumpkin can be added to your brew in 3 primary ways. The first way is in your boil kettle in brewhouse, for this method, the pumpkin is typically added in the final 5 minutes of your wort boil. The second option is adding cooled in beer fermentation tank, caramelized puree to your beer midway through fermentation just like you might with other fruit additions, this method will preserve the MOST pumpkin flavor by adding it this way. The third method for adding pumpkin is to add it to your grain steeping water when mashing. This may sound odd, but it actually has some great benefits for your yeast! Because pumpkin contains a fruit enzyme called “Protease”, a powerful protein cleaver, adding this enzyme to your grain steep helps to free up the nitrogen locked up within your grains and releases them from the protein, making them more available for your yeast. Yeast love free nitrogen and they will show you through a vigorous and healthy fermentation.
What form of pumpkin is best to add to beer?
Canned pumpkin puree is typically the easiest and most convenient way to add pumpkin to your brew, as it is already pasteurized and ready to use. But make sure you use puree and NOT pumpkin pie filling. Pre-made filling can contain ingredients that would be undesirable in your brewing process. Pumpkin pie filling is also typically “pre-spiced” which prevents you from adjusting the level of spice or lack of spice that you desire.
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Should I cook the pumpkin puree before adding it?
Typically, yes, it is a good idea to “caramelize” pumpkin puree before adding it to your brew, even if that just means a quick “cook” in your brew pot at the beginning of your brewing process. Doing this helps to caramelize the sugars within the pumpkin and helps it to taste less raw “squash-like” and more like the pumpkin flavor we are most familiar with in a pie.
Can I use fresh pumpkin puree?
Yes, fresh pumpkin puree can be used, but if you desire to add it during fermentation, you will want to cook it enough to kill off any infectious pathogens. This is easily done through the Caramelization process.
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