Author: Malcolm Frazer

Pumpkin vs. Nunkin

I loathe pumpkin beer. I loathe the fact it’s been elevated to such a cult-like status that it has caused a seasonal creep so severe it’s starting to make St. Nick and his 7 dwarfs jealous. Sure, holiday themed corporatizations may show up in late October, and now beers flavored by a seasonal gourd with spicing reminiscent of wintery pies and Yankee Candles are beginning to appear as early as mid-July.

I also love hyperbole– my distaste for beers of this style is at least partly a cartoonish reaction to their pervasiveness. I truly believe all types of beer that are brewed well, deftly showcase the ingredients, and demonstrate balance have their place and time. Admittedly, I make one or two spiced gourd beers every year for friends and relatives or to pour at local events. My major complaint has to do with balance, which reminds me of an eloquent lesson I learned from a great philosopher:

First learn balance. Balance good- pumpkin beer good, everything good. Balance bad- might as well pack up, go home.

Fine, Daniel-san may not have been asking about when he gets to learn how to make pumpkin beer, and I may have taken a little creative liberty with Mr. Miyagi’s response, but the point remains the same– balance is key! With brewers throwing so much spice at their pumpkin beers these days, it’s only natural that some have begun to question whether adding actual pumpkin really even matters. As is often the case with these types of debates, passionate opinions reside on both sides with some believing a pumpkin beer can’t be a pumpkin beer without pumpkin, claiming it does indeed contribute positively to the overall character, while others view its use as merely gilding the lily.

Since my military days, I have come to dislike performing tasks for the sake of ceremony alone– ever wax a white tiled floor in a submarine’s engine room? Yeah, ludicrous. As such, I’m not much interested in adding pumpkin to a beer and dealing with the associated challenges if doing so produces a product indistinguishable from one brewed without it.

| PURPOSE |

To evaluate the differences between two gourd-forsaken Autumn Spice Beers, one brewed with real pumpkin and spices while the other received spices only.

| METHODS |

I started off by designing a malty Amber Ale recipe of medium-high strength with a moderate amount of spices in order to give the pumpkin batch a fighting chance and also make it drinkable for people who are not basic white girls.

The namesake for my non-pumpkin batch was graciously loaned to us by a great local brewery called East End Brewing Company whose owner, Scott Smith, is a good friend to the local beer scene. In addition to welcoming the idea of me using the name, he also invited me to collect data at his premises. Regarding East End’s Nunkin Ale™ recipe, here’s what Scott has to say:

How many pumpkins do we use in this beer? None! It’s not like you can actually taste the squash anyway, so let’s be up front and honest about it, ok? Only available when the Nunkins are in season!

Pumpkin vs. Nunkin Autumn Spiced Ale

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM OG FG ABV 5.5 gal 60 min 18 8 1.064 SG 1.013 SG 6.7%

Fermentables

Name Amount % 2 Row Malt, Great Western Malting Co. 4 lbs 3 oz 31 Munich, Avangard 4 lbs 3 oz 31 Vienna, Avangard 4 lbs 3 oz 31 Caramunich II, Weyermann (SRM 45) 15.0 oz 7

Adjuncts

Name/Form Amount Use Time Pumpkin puree 3.63 lbs (2 large cans) Mash 60 min Pumpkin puree 0.94 lbs (1 small can) Boil 5 min Saigon cinnamon, ground 4.0 grams Boil 1 min Candied ginger, crystallized 2.0 grams Boil 1 min Nutmeg, fresh grated 1.0 gram Boil 1 min Allspice, pods 0.5 gram Boil 1 min

Nunkin recipe included all the same spices without any of the pumpkin puree additions.

Hops

Name Amt/IBU (Tinseth) Time Use Form Alpha % Magnum 15 g/18 IBU 60 Min Boil Pellet 13.1%

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Ferm Temp WLP002 English Ale Yeast White Labs 70% 67°F

A couple days prior to brewing, I produced a 3L starter using two White Labs PurePitch pouches of WLP002 English Ale Yeast, which I selected because I thought its slightly lower attenuation would work well for this style. After harvesting some for the future, the leftover starter would be split between the 2 batches.

My first order of business on brew day was weighing out the same amount of grain for both batches then milling it all in preparation for mashing.

I staggered the start of each batch by 30 minutes in an attempt to reduce (not eliminate) the crazy, the pumpkin version was up first. In order to avoid the dreaded stuck sparge caused by the 2 large cans of pumpkin puree in the mash, I opted to use 1 lb of rice hulls to keep things fluffy.

Shameful of the crime I was committing, I donned an identity concealing protective cover.

To keep things as even as possible, the Nunkin batch received the same amount of rice hulls. I considered attempting to guesstimate the amount of sugar the pumpkin puree would add to the wort (sources list anywhere from 0.002-0.005 PPG) then add the required amount of base grain to the Nunkin batch to achieve a similar OG, but in the end I chose not to as I wanted to limit the impact of any extraneous variables. Any differences between these beers would be a function of the pumpkin. Each mash rested for an hour at my target temperature.

The pumpkin batch was boiling as I was collecting the sweet wort from the Nunkin batch. I added 1 small can of puree to the boiling wort with 5 minutes left until flameout.

I added the pre-measured and ground spices to each batch with 1 minute left in the boil.

The Nunkin batch was treated exactly the same except no pumpkin was added. At the end of each boil, the wort was chilled and transferred to 6.5 gallon glass carboys. Sitting next to each other prior to aeartion and pitching yeast, a big difference was already noticeable. Would this translate into a perceivable difference?

An observation I absolutely was not anticipating was the difference in original specific gravity between the batches. As I alluded to earlier, I considered compensating for the additional sugar I expected would be added by the offending fruit, but ultimately opted against it. Apparently this was a good decision, as the Nunkin wort had a higher OG than the pumpkin wort. What the hell?!

I can only guess the addition of any sugar from the puree was offset by a decrease in mash efficiency, but really, I’m at a loss. Obviously more testing and research is needed before anything conclusive can be determined.

Both beers received the same amount of pure oxygen before the yeast was pitched. They were rockin’ and rollin’ 18 hours later.

When visible signs of fermentation had diminished, I measured the SG of each beer to ensure they’d attenuated to my target FG. Interestingly, while the Nunkin batch started a few points higher, it ended .001 point lower, leaving me wondering if the gourd had reared it’s ugly head.

I let the beers sit a few more days before confirming FG had indeed been reached, then they were cold crashed, kegged, then left to carbonate in my keezer for a couple weeks before being presented to tasters for evaluation. While I usually fine with gelatin, I forgot to do so with these beers due to work and family obligations. I was hoping some extra time might assist in the clarification of these beers, but no such luck. Perhaps it’s my own self-confirming bias, but I actually perceive the mildly hazy-orange as both pleasing to the eye and suggestive of pumpkin, even in the Nunkin batch. After a couple weeks in the cold keezer, I did notice the Nunkin batch had cleared slightly more than the pumpkin beer.

| RESULTS |

Over a 3 day period, 40 gracious participants agreed to sacrifice their taste buds for this xBmt. The panelists included folks from various backgrounds ranging from BJCP judges, experienced homebrewers, professional brewers, bar owners, hardcore craft beer lovers, and a couple casual beer drinkers. Each participant was served 3 samples in separate colored opaque cups, 1 from the Nunkin (spice only) and 2 from the beer brewed with pumpkin puree and spices.

In order to achieve statistical significance with the given sample size, 19 tasters (p<0.05) would have been required to accurately identify the Nunkin beer as being different. Of the 40 participants, only 17 (p=0.11) were able to correctly identify the unique beer in the triangle test, a response rate consistent with chance, suggesting a general inability for tasters to reliably distinguish between the same pumpkin beer brewed with and without actual pumpkin.

Since we failed to reach significance for this xBmt, despite using a slightly more liberal statistical test, the comparative evaluations of those participants who were correct on the triangle test are arguably meaningless. Because of this, I urge caution when interpreting this information and would recommend not using as a basis for your decisions.

The 17 tasters who correctly identified the unique beer in the triangle test were asked to compare only the 2 beers that were different, the nature of the xBmt remaining unknown. Very few experienced the aroma (3) and flavor (4) as being not at all different, with most reporting them as being either somewhat similar or exactly the same. Five of these tasters thought the mouthfeel of the beers was not at all similar, while 9 felt they were somewhat similar and only 3 thought they were exactly the same. Pretty inconsistent, if you ask me. Comments were all over the place, with one person describing the Nunkin beer as “less harsh” while another person said the beer made with pumpkin was “smoother.”

These tasters were then asked to select the beer they preferred and, interestingly, 13 of the 17 (76.5%) endorsed the Nunkin batch. Following this, the nature of the xBmt was revealed and the tasters were instructed to select the beer they believed was brewed with spices only. The responses were split, 9 got it right while the other 8 wrongly believed the Nunkin batch had been brewing with pumpkin.

My Impressions: I hadn’t really developed a strong opinion regarding whether or not the use of pumpkin in such a beer mattered all that much, though it has been common for me to do so in the past. I must say, I was pleased with how both the Nunkin and pumpkin beers turned out, they were pretty close to what I’d envisioned when designing the recipe. Even with my involvement in the process, and despite the different OGs, distinguishing between these beers was more difficult than I expected. In multiple “blind” trials, I was unable to tell them apart. However, and likely as a result of bias, I do feel like I developed a better ability to tell them apart after sampling them side-by-side many times. To me, the batch with pumpkin had a minor vegetal note that, with the spice character of the beer, came across as somewhat like zucchini bread, and I experienced the mouthfeel as ever-so-slightly fuller when I really paid attention to it. I also thought the spicing in the Nunkin beer was a little more assertive and upfront. Honestly though, these beers were far more similar than they were different.

| DISCUSSION |

It was humorous to watch people react when they first approached the sample cups for this xBmt, despite being an extremely popular style and having a ravenous fan base, such Autumn inspired beers are certainly polarizing. Where a subtle look of joy would wash over some tasters’ faces as their noses entered the cup, as if they’d just smelled fresh baked cookies, others would quickly shoot me a look of utter displeasure. I came to enjoy this part of the process. One panelist joking declared they’d been duped into drinking a “godforsaken pumpkin beer”, while a group of young women asked for more. While the contentious opinions regarding this style overall will likely persist, perhaps the results of this xBmt have shed at least a little light on the question of whether pumpkin is a requisite addition when making such a beer. From a purely statistical perspective, and based solely on this single xBmt, it would appear to have minimal impact.

One caveat to this xBmt is the fact I used pumpkin straight from the can, whereas some brewers prefer roasting it first in order to remove water and create maillard reactions that purportedly intensify the flavors. It’s wholly possible such treatment would impart enough character that a non-gourd’d version would be more reliably distinguishable by tasters. We’ll have to get to this one another time, maybe next season, once I’ve washed the essence of pumpkin pie spice completely from my palate.

So, to pumpkin or not to pumpkin?

Well, if you tend toward a decision-making approach that relies primarily on empirical evidence, or if you simply prefer less complicated brew days, you might opt to forgo using pumpkin in your next seasonal spiced beer. On the other hand, if you like employing traditional methods for the sake of custom, or trust the tongue of yours truly, go ahead and toss some pumpkin in. Assuming an otherwise sound process, both approaches are likely to result in similarly decent beers. Like with most things in brewing and life, do what you think works best and provides you the greatest degree of enjoyment. Oh yeah…

HAPPY FALL!

Support Brülosophy In Style!

All designs are available in various colors and sizes on Amazon!

Follow Brülosophy on:

| Read More |

18 Ideas to Help Simplify Your Brew Day

7 Considerations for Making Better Homebrew

List of completed exBEERiments

How-to: Harvest yeast from starters

How-to: Make a lager in less than a month

| Good Deals |

Brand New 5 gallon ball lock kegs discounted to $75 at Adventures in Homebrewing

ThermoWorks Super-Fast Pocket Thermometer On Sale for $19 – $10 discount

Sale and Clearance Items at MoreBeer.com

If you enjoy this stuff and feel compelled to support Brulosophy.com, please check out the Support Us page for details on how you can very easily do so. Thanks!

Advertisements

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Tumblr

Email



Like this: Like Loading...