First pumpkin ale...pics

I brewed my first pumpkin ale yesterday. I used Jamil's recipe from the book "Brewing Classic Styles". I pretty much followed his recipe. I did add 87 ounces of canned pumpkin(baked at 350 for 60 minutes) and 1.5 lbs. of rice hulls to prevent a stuck sparge. Well, I still got a stuck sparge.

It got stuck after my 2nd sparge. Had to use the paint strainer method. I ended up getting 2 gallons from the paint strainer method. I wasn't sure how my efficiency would be, but I ended up getting 71%. Also ended up high on my volume....a bit over 6 gallons.

I also had problems holding my mash temp for 90 minutes. Even though I had some problems I did not panic(been there and have done that and the beer still came out good). This is a far cry from 4 moths ago when I did my first all-grain and worried about my beer. In the end it works out more often then not.

Here are some pics.

Mashing




My setup




Draining mash tun




Boiling




Cooling




Into the carboy




Fermenting 14 hours after pitching yeast.

mmmmmm

I'm looking forward to making a pumpkin ale.

Looks great. I just ordered up the ingredients to do Jamil's pumpkin recipe as well. Did you use the full amount of spice in the boil or hold some back as he suggested to add at kegging?

xerotime said:

Looks great. I just ordered up the ingredients to do Jamil's pumpkin recipe as well. Did you use the full amount of spice in the boil or hold some back as he suggested to add at kegging?

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I did what he suggested. I put in 2/3 of the spice and will add more after fermentation is complete.

That looks really good man, Im thinking of doing something like that soon.:rockin:

Looks really good. I've been really debating doing that recipe as well (all of Jamil's recipes I have attempted turned out great!), and this puts the final nail in it for me. Ordering soon...

Q2XL said:

. Even though I had some problems I did not panic

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Glad to hear others with the "It'll make beer" philosophy!!!

Watch out for blowoff in that carboy!

Looks good man! I was thinking of picking up supplies to make that same recipe this next weekend. Let us know how it turns out

The best beer I've ever made was Jamil's simple American Wheat beer. I'd trust ANY recipe he puts his name on to be spot-on for the style and delicious. Gonna go google his recipe for pumpkin ale now and try to make it with a friend in the next week or so.

i made a pumpkin ale yesterday too. I skipped the baking of the pumpkin to save time. I wish I would have. what does the baking do for you?

I added 105oz of canned pumpkin and 1# of rice hulls into the mash, and did not get a stuck sparge. I have a slotted false bottom from adventures of homebrewing in taylor.

do you use a braid or false bottom?

what about just steeping a little canned pumpkin with the steeping grains? I know it won't convert, but I'm not interested in trying to stove-top mash today, and I don't want to lose that much beer to trub in the carboy. But i love the orange color! would steeping a little of it give me some of that, without the other stuff?

Q2, can you post the recipe? If its copywrited or something, please don't worry about it. I would love to brew this one and can't find the recipe online.

soooo? worth it to get some orange color? or is it all just in my head? want to brew today, and am still on the fence about this....

In the picture you posted of you transfering into your carboy, it really looks like one of the legs of your burner is in a mason jar of water. Whats going on?

Edit: Also, how is that hop bag working for you? I like that you used one bar all the way through instead of four arms sticking out like most you see - that way you can push it aside more easily to stir or plop your IC in 10-15 mins before end of boil. I am deffinetly making that. What is that cross member made of?

The recipe is cited on HBT here.

Quick question.....I've done this style for 2 years now, and have just boiled the pumpkin for tlast 10 minutes or so.....I want to mash it this year.....How do your adjust your strike water temp, with the pumpkin, to hit your mash temperature???

Thinking about this, I think I will have my pumpkin in my mash tun with the water before adding the grain, thus letting the grain be the only temp I am adjusting for... it will be the same as a regular mash in.