This is the time of the year for
pumpkin beer, or at least it should be. It seems these days that pumpkin beers
are rolling out earlier and earlier and fewer and fewer are made with a true
gourd. A quick search of Probrewer showed me that many professional brewers
don’t use roasted pumpkin in the mash or even pumpkin puree in their boil,
instead opting for traditional baking spices to mimic the flavor of pumpkin pie
and deceive the consumer. To see this approach was very uninspiring and so I was
determined to do something more authentic. I will admit, I don’t like most
pumpkin beers and now I know why. Brewers are cheating it, taking the easy
route, and getting by with very mediocre versions of what can be an excellent
beer style. At BSB, we would take a different approach.
I called Andrew Voss, our Arvada
hop grower and supplier of much more than hops, to see if I could get my hands
on a couple of the heirloom squash he had grown this year. They are called Red
Hubbard Squash, more specifically, Boston Morrow. From what I gather, this
squash all but disappeared a decade ago but has been saved by a few seed savers
and is now beginning to show up across the country. It is a large squash – the
two we used were nearly 25lbs each. They are a very odd-looking squash as well.
Like a crook-neck squash/pumpkin hybrid with the surface of Mars as skin. The
flavor is somewhere between a butternut squash and a pumpkin – slightly sweet
but also meaty and savory. Andrew harvested two of these squash and delivered them
to the brewery. A plan was developed.
In order to enhance the flavor of
these squash, we decided that we would roast and smoke them. The idea was that
we would caramelize the flesh and bring out its sweetness, and then add a very
subtle smokiness by smoking over cherry wood. We would mash the squash and then
pull the pieces out of the mash and puree them, and add that to the boil. This
was all an attempt to make sure the flavor of the squash came through in the
finished beer.
As brew day neared, we decided
this beer would be our Fall Harvest Saison. We have talked about it around the
brewery for a while and we love the idea of having a seasonally-driven Saison
on tap at all times. In addition to our “standard” red Saison, we are
attempting to use a vegetable, fruit, or spice that is indicative of the
current season and incorporating that into a special, one-off Saison. The first
edition of this idea was a Red Beet Saison we made back in the start of the
summer. That beer would go on to become legendary, and change a lot of people’s
minds about what a beer could be made from and what it could look and taste
like. It quickly became many people’s favorite beer – not just at BSB but in
the world! No joke – this thing was a game-changer. So keeping with the idea,
this fall version would serve as an example of just how good a squash beer
could be.
I cut up the squash the night
before brew day, seasoned it with brown sugar and a touch of cinnamon, and
roasted it in the oven for 45 minutes. The morning of brew day, we fired up the
HLT and the electric smoker and very lightly smoked the squash, seeds and all,
for 25 minutes. This beer was made with the same grist composition as our
standard Red Saison, and we mashed the smoked squash with the grains for 45
minutes. After recirculation and lautering, we pulled the pieces of squash out
of the mash tun and quickly pureed them so that we could put them into the boil
using a double strainer to keep the entire pulpy mess from falling to the
bottom and scorching. Post boil – we chilled and transferred the wort to a
fermenter and repeated the brew again. We brewed the two batches back to back,
the same way, and fermented them together with our Saison yeast.
Post-fermentation, the squash
flavor was still a little light, so I roasted a bit more squash and put it in
the freezer over night. In the morning, the squash was placed into a clean
fermenter and the beer was racked onto it, sort of “dry-hopping” with extra
squash. We also made a trip to Savory Spice Shop and talked baking spices with
the crew there. After smelling, contemplating, scheming, etc, we ended up with
a fairly standard, although extremely high-quality, set of spices for this beer
– Saigon Cinnamon, Jamaican Allspice, and Madagascar Clove. These were all placed
in the secondary as well and allowed to sit for 3 days before we kegged the
beer. Then we carbed the beer and allowed for further cold-conditioning of 2
weeks. Starting this weekend, and lasting only as long as 10 gallons will last,
it will be on tap at the tasting room!
Tasting Notes
The beer is absolutely wonderful
– the color is a brilliant copper red with a nice light tan head that pours ½
inch thick and dissipates nice and slow. The first smell is dominated by baking
spices – predominately the Saigon Cinnamon though allspice and clove come in
right after. It smells wonderfully of fresh-baked pie and invokes feelings for
the holidays right away. On the palate, these spices are the initial flavor as
well. As the beer warms and the palate adjusts, these spices fall away and the
Saison yeast begins to show through, with its earthiness, funk, and black
pepper spice. The squash shows up in the mouthfeel, adding a little weight and
complexity to an otherwise crisp and clean-flavored beer. The beer becomes something
else as it warms, almost showing two entirely different sides, and it makes for
a great ride!
