Pumpkin ale recipes?

[beerman]

When I serve this brew at our annual pumpkin beer gathering.
Everyone is going to turn into a pumpkin 7lb4oz total

Looking forward to this beer.

[grapeadmin]

Keep us posted and let us know how it turns out.

john

[beerman]

What do you think, did I kill the yeast?

The very thick wort took forever to cool, well I guess s.g. 1.062 is pretty dense.
I could not get this to cool below about 85F, had to pitch my 1pt of slurry from the primary and call it a night.

-I hope I didn't kill the yeast? The wyeast packages say 65-75 I think. I'm 10F over at 85F?

[beerman]

I guess the wort wasn't too hot.
The airlock is bubbling away strong.

[grapeadmin]

I think you have to be over 120 to kill the yeast. Warmer ferment starts may lead to more esters but otherwise you should be fine.

john

[beerman]

Some more esters would be o.k. I think.
The smack pack when 1st opened on the previous rye batch was very swollen (almost thought it was gonna break)
It smelled really good, I would think the esters from 1056 would be tasty.

-None of the wheat beer typical banana or clove/ bubble gum hopefully?
-Can you describe the esters wyeast american 1056 has?

Thanks

[grapeadmin]

1056 is pretty clean so you probably won't have to worry about it.

john

[beerman]

Got this into the secondary. When siphoning the last 3rd was very thick and viscous. If I didn't have the auto siphon to pump things I could not have done it. I used a wirlflock tablet, thinking it would work better than the irish moss I usually use.

-Does the wirlflock have any gelatin in it that might have made things even more thick?

Thanks

[beerman]

I looked it up and wirlflock is "enhanced" irish moss. It does not have gelatin, but has kappa carageenan that is a thickener and has gel qualities.

I'm wondering if just regular irish moss would have made things less thick and easier.

[grapeadmin]

That is a possibility. Hard to say. I think you would have to try both and see what the difference would be. Interesting...

john

[beerman]

It's been in the secondary for about 2 weeks now. Still has a sediment layer on the bottom that's very large. I would say 6".

-Any suggestions on how to deal with this (leave all sediment behind and get 1/3 volume batch, or do a tertiary and somehow press or strain the sediment to get more)

I don't know about the pressing or straining, it was very thick when I as pumping it with the auto siphon.


Thanks

[grapeadmin]

I would say you will just have to siphon off the sediment and end up with less volume. In my experience trying to press or strain the sediment is lots of work for very little return.

john
g and g

[beerman]

That's what I was thinking, It's just a lot less volume than 5 gal.

[grapeadmin]

Yes, but I guess it is the taste that matters most. I would like to know how much pumpkin flavor it has.

john

[beerman]

I have a rye ale that's been in secondary for about 4 weeks that needs to be bottled later today.
The pumpkin will probably get bottled next week (will be about 4 weeks secondary also)

-I hope all the sediment (pumpkin solids, fiber, gel, yeast, etc.) is not breaking down and giving any off flavors?

I'll post how this turns out, but plan on being patient and letting it condition and age for 2 months. This will be a fall brew, primarily for an annual pumpkin beer gathering with friends around halloween.

Thanks