F6-01-01-06: Pumpkin Patch Lager

Label inspiration: I just wanted a neat picture of a pumpkin patch...

This beer was by far the best smelling beer so far, at least when it comes to the beer-making process. The spices I put in before I put the extract in made the whole house smell like Fall (or some sort of gift shop full of "smell-good" items).

(based on Mr. Beer’s Pumpkin lager)

ABV- 5.1%           SRM- 10         IBU- 22

1 can West Coast Pale Ale HME

1 can Mellow Amber UME

1 packet of yeast

½ C brown sugar

1 can cooked pumpkin puree (my addition- organic pumpkin from Farmer’s Market)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

slightly less than ½ teaspoon ground cloves (my own addition)

Brewed batch on September 19, 2010.  Sanitized the keg real well, filling it almost to the top with diluted One-Step and sanitized the utensils, too. Used cloves along with the other spices just because my favorite pumpkin pie recipe calls for cloves. I also bought a can of organic pumpkin from Farmer’s Market at Railway Market. It said “cooked” in the instructions so I put it in a pan and warmed it a bit. I think it may have helped in the dissolution a bit (it wasn’t as chunky). The brown sugar and spices smelled really good before I put the extracts in.

After a few hours, I thought I would see some “action” in the fermenter, but…nothing.

October 2, 2010 I noticed that the temps have been going from 62-66 off and on due to serious changes in the temperatures outside. I think they are gradual changes and hopefully it won’t affect things too much.

Bottled batch on October 12, 2010. Tasted it for the first time. A little sweet but I LOVED the smell and the flavor! Maybe this will turn out to be my best one yet! I used the organic sugar with this recipe and bottled the same way I have been for the past few times.

Conditioned beer on November 12, 2010.

Drank beer on November 19, 2010 and again on November 25, 2010. The clove flavor is just too overpowering that it’s hard to figure out if this is a good beer or not.

February 28, 2011. Had a few more Pumpkin Patch Ales tonight. No bad, but definitely not great because of the clove flavor. NOTE: A slight less cloves and definitely some nutmeg next time!

OVERALL SCORE: 6 of 10