Farm Fresh Series: Smoked Pumpkin Porter

After a hot summer this year Fall is finally in sight. The changing of the season signifies the time of year when almost every brewery in the country is brewing a spiced Pumpkin ale. An amber ale that sweeps you away on a sensory experience of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and well, Autumn.

For my fall seasonal I'll be using a heirloom pumpkin variety called Red October. A smaller, sweeter, pumpkin that is ready for harvest early in the season. The pumpkins were grown at Wright's Farm in Delaware. They were roasted and then smoked. The smoker that was used is a well seasoned smoker that contributed a huge smoked bacon flavor. After cooking the pumpkins there were twelve pounds of pumpkin meat to add to the mash. The base style to complement the flavor of the smoked pumpkins is a strong porter with a target abv of 7.5%. I'm not using any smoked malt in the grist so the smoked pumpkins will be the only smoke flavor in the beer. Also won't be using any spices to muddle the flavor of this harvest ale. Allowing the smoked pumpkins and dark malt flavors of the Porter to shine.