Brewing Beer Inside a Pumpkin – Behind the Scenes of My Halloween Special
Brewing Beer Inside a Pumpkin – Behind the Scenes of My Halloween Special
Every October, I tell myself the same thing:
“This year, I’ll keep it simple. Start in time. No stressing.”
And every October, I do the exact opposite.
Because when you’re both a homebrewer and a YouTuber, “simple” never makes the schedule.
This time I went all in for a Halloween special — a beer that would be as insane on camera as it was in the fermenter.
So I brewed beer inside a pumpkin.
And that’s when things started to get… spooky.
👉 Big thanks to Angel Yeast, who kindly sponsored the experiment video this blog is based on. Don’t forget to check out their brewing products ->
The Idea That Sounded Brilliant After a Couple of Beers
The concept looked easy on paper.
Grow a pumpkin. Hollow it out.
Ferment beer inside it. Film the whole thing.
Add a bit of storytelling, cinematic lighting, maybe a few dramatic voiceovers… what could possibly go wrong?
Except that when you’re doing everything yourself — brewing, filming, editing, scripting, and somehow remembering to hit record — the “simple” idea turns into a full-blown production marathon.
The real challenge wasn’t the brew. It was Halloween.
The beer had to be ready, the video edited, thumbnail shot, captions written — and now apparently, even this blog post — all before October 31st.
Because what’s a Halloween special without, well, Halloween?
The Pumpkin That Started It All
It began in the garden, months earlier, with my first ever successful home-grown pumpkin.
After a season of slugs, bad weather, and questionable irrigation methods, I finally had one big, orange, beautiful gourd.
Most people would carve it.
Some would bake it.
But me? I looked at it and thought, “Fermenter.”
So I sanitized everything like a madman, carved the lid, and scooped out the flesh to make room for a four-liter brew.
There it was — my future beer vessel, glowing in the shed like Frankenstein’s first test subject.
The camera was rolling.
This was going to be epic.
When the Brew Day Becomes a Film Set
Brewing while filming is a unique kind of chaos.
Everything takes twice as long, and your camera battery dies exactly when it shouldn’t.
You don’t just pour water — you pour it from three angles.
You don’t just pitch yeast — you pitch it while narrating in your “cinematic” voice.
And every time you start to feel like a genius, you realize the microphone was off.
I had an amber-lager kit lying around, but I wanted to make an ale — something fancy — so I swapped the yeast for a high-quality one from Angel Yeast, CY115 British Ale Yeast.
Angel Yeast were kind enough to sponsor the video, so a big shout-out to them — and to the Brew Crew for emotional support during this madness. 🍻
Still, it felt like everything was coming together: the shots looked okay, the pumpkin was kind of sealed and wrapped in cling film, and the story was unfolding perfectly.
Until it wasn’t.
The Nightmare Before Halloween
About a week later, I opened the pumpkin.
The plan was to transfer the wort while it still had a bit of life left in it to scrub out the oxygen.
Camera ready, lights set, prepared for the grand reveal…
Let’s just say it didn’t go according to plan.
The pumpkin wasn’t built for fermentation.
Who could’ve guessed, right?!
The inside looked… haunted.
And my Halloween-beer dreams? Dead.
No beer.
No happy ending.
No video.
And Halloween was now dangerously close.
The 48-Hour Redemption Arc
That night, Chewie and I were hanging out in the shed, surrounded by gear, trying to figure out how to fix it.
I wasn’t giving up that easily.
Then it hit me — I couldn’t brew in a pumpkin, but maybe I could brew with one.
I could make a fast, no-boil Shake N Brew and ferment it under pressure.
If I was lucky, it would finish in time. CY115 could handle the challenge.
Next day I went pumpkin-shopping, roasted it in the oven at 200 °C for about 50–60 minutes, and made a purée.
Zested one orange. Measured everything.
Then I grabbed my gear, hit record again, and started what would become The Redemption Brew.
The full recipe is free on my Buy Me a Beer page → https://bit.ly/ByMEaBEER
Shake. Steep. Top up. Dry hop. Pitch yeast.
Ferment under pressure at 25 °C, ramp to 30 °C, and hope for the best.
It was brewing speed-running — and somehow, it worked.
The Beer Rises (and the Video Too)
Three days later, I had beer.
Done in 48 hours, but I gave it one extra day and a three-day cold crash.
And with just a few days to spare, it was ready to pour.
Golden. Bright. Foamy.
Aromas of orange, fruit, and sweet malt.
It wasn’t a traditional pumpkin beer — no spices, no clichés — but it was mine.
A Swedish twist on an autumn classic.
I filmed the final tasting scene, finished the Multimash skits, cut the last B-roll clips, and exported the video just before midnight.
(Not really, but it sounds more dramatic 😄)
Halloween was saved.
The beer was real.
The video was done.
And I was completely exhausted — in the best way possible.
The Redemption Brew – Recipe
Batch Size: 8 L
Fermenter: 9 L Mini Keg
Method: Shake N Brew (no-boil steep)
Fermentation Pressure: ≈ 20 PSI
Yeast: Angel Yeast CY115 British Ale Yeast
Nutrient: Angel Yeast BrewNutri-Z
Fermentation Temperature: 25 → 27 → 30 °C
Fermentables
-
1 kg Light DME
-
150 g Cane Sugar
-
250 g Roasted Pumpkin Purée
Hops & Additions
-
50 g Amarillo (steep)
-
50 g Amarillo (dry hop before fermentation)
-
Zest of one orange
-
½ tsp BrewNutri-Z
Water
-
1.5 L boiling water (for steep)
-
6.5 L cold water (top-up)
Process
Add everything except yeast and dry hop directly into the sanitized keg.
Add boiling water, shake, and let steep 20 minutes.
Add cold water, shake again, add dry hops, then pitch yeast.
Ferment under pressure at ≈ 20 PSI, raising temperature gradually.
Cold crash at least 3 days before serving, a week will improve it even further.
Stats
OG ≈ 1.055 | FG ≈ 1.012 | ABV ≈ 5.6 %
Bright golden with orange citrus and subtle pumpkin undertones.
Lessons From a Pumpkin and a Deadline
This whole experiment wasn’t just about brewing.
It was about creating — balancing brewing, filming, writing, editing, and trying not to lose your mind when it all goes sideways.
Creativity under pressure is a lot like fermentation under pressure —
things get intense, sometimes messy, but the results can be amazing.
In the end, I didn’t just make a beer.
I made a story. The failure and the struggle became part of the saga.
And now that the Halloween special is out, the brew is done, and this blog post is (hopefully) released in time…
I can finally enjoy my Redemption Brew.
Until next year, of course — when I’ll definitely do something even stupider.
Or maybe I’ll try it again, sealing the pumpkin with wax this time.
After all, no one remembers a coward.
Cheers and thanks for reading, DrHans Out!
Watch the Full Video
I Tried Fermenting Beer Inside a Pumpkin (So You Don’t Have To)
https://youtu.be/qbptV38Wuxk
Related Experiments
-
Check out Angel Yeast and their brewing lineup → https://bit.ly/Brewing-AngelYeast
-
Hopped Sourdough Beer – You Won’t Believe What Happened! → https://youtu.be/LKt0NxhgdwY
-
Dry Hopping Experiment – Before vs After Fermentation → https://youtu.be/KGIh1DtOIng
-
Julmust – The Non-Alcoholic Christmas Beer Alternative → https://youtu.be/wC9_xsQQIzA
Social Media and Contact Information:
Instagram: @drhansbrewery
Facebook: @drhansbrewery
Webpage: https://drhansbrewery.com
Contact Email: drhansbrewery@gmail.com
Support and Merchandise Links:
🔥 Get 20% Off iGulu Gear (Code: DRHAN20) 👉 https://igulu.com/?sca_ref=6679834.Gm6UfWKv2R
- 📚 Learn the art of homebrewing alongside me: https://solo.to/drhansbrewery
- 🛒 Check out the gear that elevates my brewing and video game on Amazon: http://bit.ly/drhanssf
- 📘 Grab your FREE brewing ebook on my website: http://bit.ly/DrHans
- 💰 Loved the blog? Buy me a virtual beer! https://bit.ly/ByMEaBEER 🍻 Cheers!
- Support my content on Patreon from just $2/month: https://bit.ly/2V5Zsgz
- 💼 Become a channel member for access to exclusive content: https://bit.ly/3fVQav7
- 🙏 Donate to DrHans via PayPal: https://bit.ly/DonateDrHans
- 👕 Check out my exclusive merch! Unique items await at my shop: https://bit.ly/DrHans-Merch
Recent Comments