help with my Pumpkin Dunkelweizen recipe

I've heard of people putting pumpkin in the boil. I don't know the chemistry behind converting starches of vegetables or if a boil would achieve this. I think this is why people put it in the mash. I DO know that lots of starches increase the chances of an infection in your brew. I recommend about 1-2tsp of spice total for the last 5 min of the boil. You can add more later. And as for Shipyard, I get a lot of nutmeg. I think that's the most forgiving of the pumpkin spices. The key is that you have ways to add more later, you cannot get it out and it doesn't mellow much in time.

Edit: The recipe looks fantasitc, BTW

 

I would use a debittered chocolate like a carafa special in a dunkelweizen. I could also be tempted to using a very small addition of a crystal malt, in the 2-4 oz range; I've never done so in a dunkelweizen but it might be nice in a pumpkin dunkelweizen. Mind you, I am not crazy about pumpkin beers.

 

Commercially, I prefer Schlaflly's pumpkin beer best, with southern tier pumking second. Schlafly balances the spices perfectly and gets a great pumpkin flavor. Pumking (IMO) kind of overdoes it on the spices, but otherwise makes a damn delicious beer. Both of these brews lead me to suggest that inchrisin's suggestion to take it easy on the spices (and add more later if necessary) is the best plan.

BTW I can't stand shipyard's pumpkin. It's way overblown on the spices and lacks body and everything else that Schlafly and southern tier bring out in their pumpkin beers.

Note that I am not an expert on all grain recipes, but it does look pretty appealing to me. I'd also be tempted to throw in a little crystal malt. I've put crystal in almost all my extract batches and I've never once said "dang, I put too much crystal malt in there." I really don't think you will regret it if you don't overdo it and only add a few ounces.

Hops wise I would use something that doesn't overpower and offers a soft bitterness. Skip anything that's known for strong flavors (cat pee, pine, funk, etc) and go with something like hallertau or another noble hop variety. A little hop tang is probably fine but personally I don't drink pumpkin beers to satisfy the hop head in me.

 

I'm not sure if it's just my head getting bigger, but I'm inspired to make a small batch of double pumpkin,under spice it, and do something stupid like add whipped cream and spice over top of that. Thanks a heap. Where are my damn cinnamon sticks?!

 

Cinnamon... noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!

LOL I can't stand cinnamon in drinks. Both Schlafly and pumking aren't overly spiced with cinnamon.

 

You could ferment on the cooler side Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen for less banana to let the clove shine through. I did a dunkelweizen not too long ago at 64 degrees and it only had a subtle banana ester. Be sure to also pitch enough or even think about over pitching as the link notes.

For my Pumpkin Rye, I usually just boil the pumpkin (put it in a sack). I know some poeple say not to, but I never had problem. Though, you don't really need to use pumpkin at all - just the spices. But that's on you.