As mentioned last time, this past weekend we brewed a pumpkin porter using a recipe from Extreme Brewing by Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head. The brew process went fairly smoothly, the one hitch being one we had encountered before: it takes a really long time for 4 gallons to come to a boil on our stove. This extended the brew day a little bit more than anticipated.
In fact, with the cooking of the pumpkin and the partial mash, it took about as long as it did when we were doing all grain. For a while there the whole house had a lovely pumpkiny smell about it. Soon to be replaced with the familiar malt/hop smell I so love when brewing.
This beer should be ready just in time for the holidays to be given out to deserving family and loved ones.