Pumpkin ale recipes?

[grapeadmin]

I have steeped pumpkin before with specialty grains and I did not have a clarity issue. I never boiled it so I cannot say from experience. It was just a guess.

Sounds like a good plan you have. You will have to post your results and let us know how it comes out...

john

[beerman]

I only meant that if you steep or mash it with grains it's going to the boil next , so it's boiled either way, and you would set pectins both by steep/mashing or directly boiling.

[grapeadmin]

Your point sounds reasonably correct but I cannot say for sure since I have not done it. The amount of 'pulp' material in the boil would be greatly increased by boiling it than you would get by steeping it.

john

[beerman]

Do you think the link recipe (at the bottom of the page) or you octoberfest would be a better base recipe to let the pumpkin come through? Your octoberfest has a lot more munich and crystal malts. I think either way I'm using the hops from the octoberfest recipe. The spices at the end also in about the portion you recommended earlier in this thread.

Thanks

[grapeadmin]

I think either one would be good. It would come down to a matter of personal taste.

thanks
john

[beerman]

The recipe I'm trying is sort of a combo of your G&G octoberfest and the posted link.

3.3 lb Briess Munich LME
3 lb Briesss gold DME
2 lb Briess Vienna malt
8 oz Weyerman carafoam
4 oz Briess crystal 40L
4 oz Briess crystal 80L
1 oz Perle hop pellet (7.5%AA), bitter 60 min.
.25 oz Liberty hop pellet (4.3%AA), flavor 15 min.
1056 Wyeast American ale yeast

With this recipe I was able to double up the amount of munich and vienna malt from the posted link. Getting the munich from the LME (50% of the LME is munich) allowing twice the vienna grain malt etc. The math works out that this is the equivalent of approximately 2 lb munich grain malt and 2 lb vienna grain malt.

-I'm considering not just steeping, but mashing the 3 lb of grain and also trying a batch sparge with bottling bucket setup?


John you use this spice mix for your pumpkin beer. I'm going with your idea, instead the link's use of spices added throughout for there bittering qualities.

Here is my spice list. Added the last few minutes of the boil:

1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon

For 5 gallons of beer. This works really well for me.

john

-What if I wanted to not use cloves or all spice, keep the total the same, increase the cinnamon and nutmeg and the ginger remains the same?

2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger

I wanted to check the ratios of spices I used for a pumpkin bread I made once that turned out well, but I can't find the recipe (along with many other attempted recipes on various pieces of paper tucked into a recipe book...were did I put them)

[grapeadmin]

Yes, I suppose if you are taking a few spices out, make up the difference with some of the other ones. You really won't know until you try it.

john

[beerman]

-What about the batch sparge idea?

-I'm considering not just steeping, but mashing the 3 lb of grain and also trying a batch sparge with bottling bucket setup?

[grapeadmin]

Sure batch sparging is fine. Put the pumpkin in with the mash if you want but if you do make sure to use some rice hulls for the sparge.

john

[beerman]

The batch sparge was just to try out the technique and get more from the 3 lb of grain.
To see how it compares to the fly sparge I just tried, that took very long etc.

The pumpkin is a whole other story. I'm going more with the "link's" angle here and the pumpkin won't be mashed. It's added to the boil after oven baking. They do a full boil. I"m not sure how long I'll boil, since I don't know how long the caramelized/browned oven baked pumpkin will need to get into a decent solution. This also made me think secondary addition would not be a good idea. Although, I guess you could boil the water for, I don't know how long to get the o2 out, then dissolve the baked pumpkin in the water, and cool. All before secondary addition?

-Do you think that baking/oven browning the pumpkin is already setting the pectins (350F for an hour)?
-If so, then boil time is not a pectin issue, since the baking would already have set them?

Thanks

[grapeadmin]

I have baked a pumpkin at 350 or so for half an hour and added it to my 60 min mash. There was no haze problem.

john
g and g

[beerman]

The baked pumpkin 350F for aprox. 60 min (4x29oz cans, or 7lb 4oz) I'll have to see how after being browned, it breaks up in hot water.
I'm going to try their no mash idea, and am just unsure of the boil time. They boil for entire time.

-I was wondering if just long enough to combine and blend would be better? (For example at 30 min., or last 20 min after the late DME malt addition)?
-Unless you think secondary addition would yield more flavor (bake it, then have pre boil water to get o2 out, and mix it up, cool it to temp, etc. added at secondary transfer)?


The spices being added the last few min. of the boil (3.5 tsp total)
Using 1 oz perle hop pellet for boil/bitter at 60 min.
and .25 oz liberty hop pellet for flavor at 15 min.
(amounts taken from the recipe you e-mailed me, with a substitution)

-This hop schedule will be o.k. with the spices?

-Just one mash question, if I'm trying the batch sparge out, should I still add the phosphoric acid to the sparge water?
-I thought I read PH was less of an issue with batch sparge/grains buffering power/dilution etc., so is the phosphoric not needed or reduced?
(it was 1-2cc for 2.5 gal water you recomended) I used 1cc for about 3 -3.25 gal the last time I brewed, so I'd adjust to .5cc for 1.6 gal in this 3lb grain situation)


Thanks

[beerman]

As an aside question, what temp do you think pectins set?
I saw that in making jams etc. they mention 219F.
If they can set in a boil, I would have thought they might set in a 350F oven bake?

[grapeadmin]

I think I would just try it the way they suggest and see what happens.

I think the hop additions with the spices would be fine

I would keep the phosphoric acid addition the same as the previous batch. Even though you are not fly sparging, you are still using the same amount of water, just running it through faster.

I am afraid I do not know what temp pectins set. Maybe it depends on fruit. I have always read not to boil fruit as it will set the pectins which would be like 212 F.

john

[beerman]

Overall everything went o.k.
The different additions (LME, pumpkin, DME), mixing, and bringing back to boil took a long time.
The oven baked pumpkin went in the boil at 45min. due to brew pot size restrictions etc. it had to be this way.

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?