Smoked Squash Beer

Ichabod Burning in Effigy.  

Normally I don't name my beers, seems a bit pretentious(?). But a  few Saturday's ago as I was watching chunks of squash smoke on my grill I couldn't resist. After brewing for 4 years, it was finally time to make a Pumpkin beer. The problem is that I generally don't like spiced beers. Pumpkin pie is all right, but I much prefer the hearty flavors of roasted squash or pumpkin seeds. Somehow this train of thought led me to smoking a bunch of squash on my grill and throwing it into the mash of a Munich Helles. Can you even make a smoked lager without smoked malt?  Yep!

In addition to the more common Butternut, Acorn, and Spaghetti squashes; I smoked a large green and gnarly variety called Marina di Chioggia that I've never worked with before (see pics below). The loud woman at the market didn't know much about it, but her sign mentioned "hints of hazelnut" so I was sold.

I quartered 1 large Marina di Chioggia, 1 large Spaghetti squash, 2 medium Acorn squash, and 2 small Butternut squash. The squash were smoke-roasted on my grill with a generous amount of maple and apple chips (35-40 minutes on indirect heat). Everything was peeled and cubed or flaked (stupid Spaghetti squash), although some of the chunks had to finish cooking in a 375F oven. The processed squash weighed 10 lbs and was immediately added to the mash.

Smoked Squash Munich Helles (10 gls)  

10 lbs Weyermann Bohemian Dark Malt

6 lbs Belgian Pilsen Malt

0.1 lb US White Wheat Malt

0.1 lb Munich 20L Malt

10 lbs mixed variety smoked and roasted squashed, cubed

0.75 oz German Northern Brewer FWH

1 oz German Hallertauer Mittlefruh 20''

Mash @ 150F
Expected ABV: ~5.5%

Bloomington, IN water is very kind, but I added 3g of chalk and 1g of salt to the mash. 5 gallons was fermented with WLP860 Munich Helles Yeast- 14 days primary at 45-50F  - racked into keg and conditioned at 32F for >3 weeks

I love this beer.  Too bad it's almost gone!  The smoked aroma and flavor hit hard up front like a barbecue, but after a few sips the beer morphs into a delicious, light harvest lager. Crisp with a brief delicious malt complexity. I will definitely brew again.


BTW I also fermented 5 gallons of this beer with ECY03 Farmhouse Brett and racked it into a used Brandy barrel. lol TBD

I'm still working on improving my posts and integrating picture-taking into my brew day, so please bear with me. Suggestions and encouragement in the comments section will help!