Bacon, pumpkin and bacon
I don’t know that I’ve blogged it but my facebook friends know that I have taken to making my own beer and making wine for the wife. I don’t drink wine myself. Anyway, tomorrow, I’ll begin making my first pumpkin beer. It will contain roasted pumpkin, brown sugar, and some molasses. Should be good, in theory.
October 7th, 2011 at 10:04 am
One of the things I love about fall is sitting outside at Barley’s enjoying a pumpkin beer and pizza. They usually have a few varieties. If you aren’t afraid of getting slapped, I also recommend asking for a “pump nut” – half pumpkin beer, half hazelnut brown beer.
October 7th, 2011 at 10:55 am
If I may ask, how did you get started making wine? Are there free information resources online? How expensive/fun is it?
Thanks.
October 7th, 2011 at 10:59 am
I ordered one of these wine kits from amazon and then got an all in one ingredient kit at amazon (they have them for all kinds of wine). And followed the ingredient kit’s instructions. Pretty easy.
October 7th, 2011 at 11:04 am
What are you doing a partial mash? I’ve just hit two weeks of my pumpkin spice ale being bottled. Gonna give it a bit more to age a bit till about 5 weeks in bottle.
October 7th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Pumpkin doesn’t have a lot of flavor to start with and imparts even less to beer. Unless you use a “cereal mash” technique (boiling the pumpkin with a small portion of malt before adding it to the main mash,) you’ll have a very interesting sparge. Recommendation: use only a half can of Libby’s or OnePie pumpkin flesh, and add one tablespoon of generic pumpkin pie spice at the very end of the boil. That way there’ll be some pumpkin in it, and it will taste the way you’d hope. Been there, done it.
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October 7th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Gonna roast the pumpkins and do the mash with them. Everything I read says not to use canned since it clouds the beer and leaves floaters.
October 7th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
I hope yours turns well. I have made pumpkin beer based on a wheat beer a few times with good success. It never involved the cooked (baked) pumpkin going into the mash process. It went in the fermentation pail and got changed out every few days. Your welcome to the recipe I have if your interested.
Might want to go easy with the molasses based stuff. It has a fairly strong taste after the sugar is fermented out and will override the pumpkin taste. Many think that the flavor is “odd” and takes a while to age out.
October 7th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Hmm. Maybe I will put it in the fermentation phase. Sounds like a better plan. regarding molasses, i’ll probably cut back the sugar just to be sure.
October 7th, 2011 at 6:22 pm
My Pumpkin Ale uses canned pumpkin in boil (first baked on a cookie sheet for about an hour to caramelize a bit). It’s always a smash hit. Served it at a company Christmas party a few years back, and I even had a local steak house owner approach me about brewing it for his restaurant.
Anyway, a good month in a secondary fermentor let’s all the ‘floaties’ settle out. Never had a problem with them.
Cheers.
October 7th, 2011 at 6:38 pm
The only time I made pumpkin beer I boiled the crap outta some pumpkins (like 40 pounds worth…), strained the water and used it for the mash and sparge. It came out ok with some detectable pumpkin flavors, which is more than I can say for most pumpkin beers.
If you do this be mindful of your pH during mash (assuming you’re doing a full mash)
October 7th, 2011 at 10:15 pm
I got really hooked on cider and figured if I could clone (USA 5.5) Strongbow [1] for 50 cents a bottle it might just pay off (50 bottles per batch, saving a buck per bottle, might be worth the labor). First batch goes together next weekend.
I’m a big stout drinker too, and there’s not a single stout on the market for less than a buck each. I do buy Yungling black and tan for about 80 cents each though.
There seems to be a bit of savings for a ton more bother by going all grain, but you will never get to the point of making a adjunct-American pale lager for less than you can buy at the store. If you are happy with Bud Ice, you’re just wasting your time trying to homebrew.
[1] my understanding is that in the UK, Strongbow is 7% adjunct-filled swill. The USA stuff still tastes pretty good to me.
October 7th, 2011 at 10:38 pm
I make my own wine and beer and hard cider.
And you know what I’m going to start tomorrow?
My first batch of homemade bacon.
Do some googling. If you can find a supply of fresh pork bellies (think actual butcher shop or meat market) then making your own bacon is actually stupid easy.
It just takes a week or ten days, but you essentially slather the pork belly with your cure (salt, sugar and spices) and let it set in the fridge for a week or more.
Smoke it afterwards, if you want that smoky flavor.
But look into making your own bacon, too.
You could have a sandwich of bacon you made, on bread you made, with a beer you made.
Mmmmmm…………
October 8th, 2011 at 12:36 am
Nice. Happy brewing. I’ll be making a Pipeline Porter clone tomorrow. Brewing your own beer is awesome.
October 8th, 2011 at 9:12 am
@DustyDog
If you want a good place to start, scour used book stores and sites for Winemaking books by a fellow named H.E. Bravery. Though his words are outdated by about 50 years (and British), the wisdom behind them holds true. Though you cannot take a jaunt to the corner chemist where he will sell you glass tubing (and bend it for a half-penny more), You can make do.
For online stuff, EC Kraus (has recipes) and Grapestompers are great retailers.
I found my first recipe in an old cookbook. I just updated the info (never use a crock for a fermentation vessel) and started. From there, I just made stuff up and tailored it to my liking.
@everyone
I do also find cordials and liqueurs to be quite easy and rewarding endeavors. Do be sure to check them out! (I also have good recipes)
October 8th, 2011 at 6:04 pm
I just sampled my first home brewed wheat beer. Not bad at all.
If anyone wants it, I’ve a recipe for some black pepper bread that’s pretty damn good with any frosty beverage.
October 8th, 2011 at 10:29 pm
Good luck, Unc.
I hope your beer is as good in a glass as it is in theory.