I brewed this beer on 8/30/2014 as my first ever pumpkin beer, and I have to say, I was very happy with it. I did a 10 gallon batch, and split the fermentation in half with 2 different yeasts. I like doing this to see what differences the yeast make. I used Wyeast 1098 and 1056 (British and American Ale respectively). Both FG ended up at 1.012.
I kegged both of these after 1 week in primary and 2 weeks in secondary. (9/20/2014) I tapped the American Ale after 1 week under pressure in the keezer. The British Ale version I let sit in the keg at basement temp (65 degrees) for 4 weeks, then tapped it. (10/18/2014)
American Ale version: You could REALLY taste the pumpkin, in a good way. The spices started out a little strong, but over the next few weeks it mellowed out. It was a darker pumpkin beer than most people were expecting, so it was hit and miss among the inexperienced drinker. I had people love it, and people that hated it. If I do it again, I may cut back on the nutmeg. It left a bitter after-taste, and I think I could easily half or quarter the amount and still be fine.
British Ale version: This one was harsh coming out of the secondary, so I decided to let it sit in the keg at fermentation temps until I finished the American Ale version. The 5 weeks of waiting worked! It tasted better, in my opinion, than the American Ale version. It was a thicker beer. After awhile, it started losing its pumpkin flavor and started taking on more of a ginger bread flavor. Still fine for a cool fall day though. I took it to my local garage brewer's club, and the common feedback I got was "Too much of some spice." If I mention nutmeg, I got "YES!" back. So, again, too much nutmeg I think.
I'll probably brew this again next year, but I'm going to half the cinnamon and allspice, and probably use 1/4th the nutmeg.
Great beer! Thanks for the recipe!