Pumpkin Ale Brewday

**fishkid** · 08-07-2009, 10:23 PM

Brewed up a Spiced Pumpkin Ale on Wednesday afternoon and thought I shared a couple of the pictures. This was the first batch I made a yeast starter for. Prior to this batch I've only used dry yeast. For this one, I made a starter for my WLP002 consisting of a 16oz of water and 1/2 cup of DME. Yesterday I had some pretty good airlock activity

On with the pics!

Loading the pumpkin into the kettle

Still piling it in, 3.3lbs of it!

Good boil going

Boiling

And here's a short video of the airlock activity. I think my yeast starter was a success!

(Don't mind the sound in the background, I think SWMBO was fighting with some dishes

)
Airlock

Curt

SavageSteve · 08-08-2009, 02:44 AM

That must have been one viscous boil!

For some reason, vigorous airlock activity from my brews always makes me feel proud.

-Steve

Chello · 08-08-2009, 03:40 AM

Next time you do a pumpkin brew you may want to try adding the pumpkin to the mash, that way (as you will see) you don't loose so much beer to the trub.

Either way it makes for a fantastic holiday beer!

**fishkid** · 08-08-2009, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chello

Next time you do a pumpkin brew you may want to try adding the pumpkin to the mash, that way (as you will see) you don't loose so much beer to the trub.

Either way it makes for a fantastic holiday beer!

I can see what you mean, there's already a solid 2-3" cake forming on the bottom of the fermenter.

Curt

**fishkid** · 08-08-2009, 12:24 PM

Well I just ran downstairs to check the beer and the trub has grown larger! It must be about 4" thick now! I'm beginning to hope that I'll be able to rack off at least a 12 pack from this "5 gallon" batch

thedigitale · 08-08-2009, 01:03 PM

My pumpkin ale exploded.... it was my first beer on ceiling brew. The trub was insane, but it was possibly my best beer ever.

On a plus note, if you have a cat that's in the room when the airlock blows off and the three pieces go flying.... well... it's a pretty funny sight!

Joey Ramone · 08-08-2009, 02:22 PM

What recipe did you use for the pumpkin ale?

**fishkid** · 08-08-2009, 02:41 PM

I basically used the Richard's Pumpkin Ale recipe in the recipe database but made a few changes. I bumped the 2-row to 10lbs, dropped the maple syrup added 4oz of flaked wheat (hoping to help the head retention, but not sure if such a small amount will do anything), used U.S. Goldings rather than E.K Goldings, used WLP002 yeast rather than US-56 and did a 60 min. boil.

I had an O.G of 1.056

Code:

BeerSmith Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Ale
Brewer: Curt
Asst Brewer: 
Style: Spice, Herb, or Vegetable Beer
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0) 

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal      
Boil Size: 7.08 gal
Estimated OG: 1.058 SG
Estimated Color: 9.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 24.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU      

10.00 lb      Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)            Grain        78.43 %       
2.00 lb       Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)              Grain        15.69 %       
0.50 lb       Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)     Grain        3.92 %        
0.25 lb       Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)                   Grain        1.96 %        
0.50 oz       Northern Brewer [8.50 %]  (60 min)        Hops         13.4 IBU      
1.00 oz       Goldings, U.S. [4.50 %]  (30 min)         Hops         10.9 IBU      
0.25 tsp      Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min)                Misc                       
1.50 tsp      Allspice (Boil 5.0 min)                   Misc                       
1.50 tsp      Nutmeg Spice (Boil 5.0 min)               Misc                       
2.50 tsp      Cinnamon Spice (Boil 5.0 min)             Misc                       
3.39 lb       Pumpkin (Boil 60.0 min)                   Misc                       
1 Pkgs        English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) [Starter Yeast-A

Curt

svengoat · 08-09-2009, 03:10 PM

last pumpkin ale I made never stopped fermenting.. After 2 months I kegged it and called it done, but it never cleared

Hunlock · 08-09-2009, 05:08 PM

Nice Pics!

That brew looks mighty tasty. Thanks for sharing!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chello

Next time you do a pumpkin brew you may want to try adding the pumpkin to the mash, that way (as you will see) you don't loose so much beer to the trub.

Either way it makes for a fantastic holiday beer!

Would I add the pumpkin at the beginning of my mash?