Autumn, and a homebrewer's thoughts turn to capturing the sensory experience of the season ... crisp nights, colorful leaves, and ripe gourds being turned into pie. We're often asked for pumpkin beer recipes at this time of year, and it's easy to understand why: sipping this spiced amber ale is like drinking a slice of pie.
Smashing Pumpkin Ale is clean and sweetly malty with just enough hop bitterness to balance and no hop aroma to mask the spices. A dose at the shutdown of the boil imbues the beer with a complex, lingering spice profile full of nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger that persists from the pour to the last swish in the pint glass.
The perfect small batch size for the 3 Gallon FastFerment.
I bought the 2 gallon recipe because I want sure I'd drink 5 gallons of this beer during the season. I had high hopes as I enjoy pumpkin ales. I added the purée and the 6 row as instructed. I could not find a recipe specific to the 2 gallons so I split the difference between the 1 and 5. Also the recipe instructions included were a bit vague with the yeast. I only put 1/2 of the supplied packet into the wort. I think it could be worded a little better. I finished in a 1.75g keg and the volume was perfect for it. However, I didn't add any sugars for carbonation. I just force carbonated in the keg. The flavor is a bit flat and I was expecting a bit of a sweeter finish. I'm sure it's my experience level as this is only my second batch I've brewed. Next fall I'd like to attempt a pumpkin wheat ale... maybe I'll have more experience by then. I probably would have given a 3 star but figured my lack of experience was the root cause of the flavor. Ready for the next batch!
J
James E.
The Great Pumpkin would approve!
An all around solid pumpkin beer. Easy to make and turned out delish.
G
Grey
Smashing Pumpkin Ale 2 Gallon Beer kit
very easy to make and taste really good, the only hard part was waiting for the bottles to carbonate before drinking.
C
Cynthia G.
Pumpkin Ale
Friends love this brew. easy to brew
M
Michael J.
Fantastic
Used roasted fresh pumpkin and it came out great !!!!!!
I bought the 2 gallon recipe because I want sure I'd drink 5 gallons of this beer during the season. I had high hopes as I enjoy pumpkin ales. I added the purée and the 6 row as instructed. I could not find a recipe specific to the 2 gallons so I split the difference between the 1 and 5. Also the recipe instructions included were a bit vague with the yeast. I only put 1/2 of the supplied packet into the wort. I think it could be worded a little better. I finished in a 1.75g keg and the volume was perfect for it. However, I didn't add any sugars for carbonation. I just force carbonated in the keg. The flavor is a bit flat and I was expecting a bit of a sweeter finish. I'm sure it's my experience level as this is only my second batch I've brewed. Next fall I'd like to attempt a pumpkin wheat ale... maybe I'll have more experience by then. I probably would have given a 3 star but figured my lack of experience was the root cause of the flavor. Ready for the next batch!
J
James E.
The Great Pumpkin would approve!
An all around solid pumpkin beer. Easy to make and turned out delish.
G
Grey
Smashing Pumpkin Ale 2 Gallon Beer kit
very easy to make and taste really good, the only hard part was waiting for the bottles to carbonate before drinking.
C
Cynthia G.
Pumpkin Ale
Friends love this brew. easy to brew
M
Michael J.
Fantastic
Used roasted fresh pumpkin and it came out great !!!!!!
Click here for recipe kit instructions
