Pumpkin Ale 2014 - Pump it up!

[pliny]

It's that time of year again - the annual Pumpkin Ale. Sometimes I wonder why I brew a pumpkin beer because I'm never crazy about it. However it's a bit of a novelty and friends like it and we talk about beer.
The attached picture is from last year. I made a Pumpkin Saison using the wonderful WY3711 yeast.

The following is the grain bill:
10 lbs 2row (82%)
1 lb carawheat (9%)
4 oz c120 (2%)
4 oz melanoidin (2%)

For the hops:
1 oz Mt Hood at 60 mins
.5 oz Saaz at 20 mins

Yeast - US-05 this year. I know, I should make it more exciting but life is busy these days.

I cooked my pumpkin last night. Split the pumpkin in two and scraped out the seeds and guts. Put it in the oven 400F for about an hour. I think this is good for me since it will help in keeping the brew session at a reasonable length of time. As I recall in years past the pumpkin brew was long!
Add the pumpkin to the mash. No rice hulls because I don't have any and never used them. Let's hope for the best.

For the spices:
1/4 t of nutmeg
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t allspice
1 t ginger
I've tried different spices in the past and this seems to work for me. Not overpowering and yet you can taste some spice. Or maybe, you can taste some spice and not overpowering.

Nothing original or spectacular about the recipe. I keep thinking that someday I would like to make a dark pumpkin beer but I never do.
OG should be around 1.052
Looking somewhere around 20 IBUs Hopefully drinking this in the first week of October.

This was a long session. I was having issues with my barley crusher and wasted a bunch of time crushing the grain. No stuck sparge but it was definitely a slow sparge. Wort smells and tastes great. OG: 1.054

[Two Wheeler]

Hey @pliny, how did you like the pumpkin saison? I'm thinking of making one for a Halloween party on the 31st

[pliny]

Hey @Two Wheeler, it done fermenting but still in the carboy. It'll be on soon as there's an available tap. I tasted it, it's decent. I'll make sure to save some for a meeting.