I don't have an answer for you but I hope you post the recipe once you know what you're going to do. Thanks.
I’ve decided to go with smoked malt. Seems like I’ll have more control over the smokey flavor - want just a subtle touch of smoke.
Recipe as it stands is for a one gallon batch given my set up but I may make this into a 5 gallon batch (a friend of mine might be giving me some free, larger equipment); just depends on timing. I modeled this after a north English brown ale, but I am using Munich LME as part of the base malts because I have a lot left over from my Oktoberfest I am trying to get rid of.
“Samhain Ale”
Smoked Pumpkin Brown Ale
Partial mash
1 gallon
OG: 1.045
FG: 1.011
ABV: 4.5%
Total fermentables: 2.2lb
IBU: 25
SRM: 19.50
Grain bill:
1 lb (45.5%) Maris Otter Pale
8 oz (22.7%) Munich LME
2 oz (5.7%) Brown Malt
2 oz (5.7%) Pale Chocolate
2 oz (5.7%) Flaked Oats
2 oz (5.7%) Smoked malt
Other ingredients:
4 oz canned pumpkin @ 15 minutes
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice @ 5 minutes
Hops:
6g East Kent Golding @ 60 minutes
(Bittering only, don’t want to add any more unnecessary flavors considering this is already a complex beer)
Yeast:
Safale US-04 English Ale - 3g rehydrated
Procedure:
Mash above grains at 152 x 60 min in 2 qts of water. Vorlauf until clearing and add first wort to boil kettle which should be heated to mash out temp. Sparge with 2 qt of 170 degrees water and let rest for 10 min, collect second wort and add to boil kettle. Bring to boil, whisk in LME and add hops as above. At 15 min stir in pumpkin, then at 5 min stir in spices. Chill to 70 degrees and pitch yeast. Ferment at 65 degrees for 2-3 weeks. Rack to keg and force carb.
Thoughts?