Attn Experienced Pumpkin Ale Brewers - Stuck Sparge Question

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i'm making an extract brown ale brew and adding about 9 lbs fresh pumpkin to it with 2 lbs of rice hulls

planning on a 90 min mash like BCS suggests

i just don't know how much sparge water to use

with the pumpkin, rice hulls, and steeping grains the kit comes with i'm looking at 12 lbs total so i planned on mashing with 1.5 qt/gallon

no clue on how much to sparge with 4-5 gallons?
 
i bought a brown ale extract kit (has 6lbs MO LME) and adding 9 lbs of pumpkin and 2 lbs or rice hul

i'll be mashing in my new all grain setup (10 gallon cooler), my first all grain setup -- wish i can pop it's cherry with a true all grain brew but it was hard to pass up the northern brewer columbus sale $14.92 for an extract kit
 
If I. I'm not mistaken, pumpkin will contribute a significant amount of starch. Therefore you'll want to mash with some base grain for the enzymatic content. I'd add a few lbs of 6-row to the steeping grains from the kit and make it a true mash. 2-row would also work, but 6 has more conversion enzymes per lb.
 
I'm going to attempt to necro this great thread again. It may be covered elsewhere but I think your mash method has a huge impact on how difficult it is to execute a mash with pumpkin. For example, if you use a cooler and can stabilize temp without disrupting the mash except for a stir here and there, then a very slow or stuck sparge is your worst problem, thin your mash and boil for a little longer. If you're brewing on an all-grain RIMS or HERMS system that requires re-circulation for temp stabilization, you're completely screwed. I tried this on a Brew Magic and couldn't stabilize mash temp to save my life because it simply could not recirculate through the mess of pumpkin puree concrete. Nowadays, I just dump some pumpkin in the boil in a paint strainer bag, easy peasy. You don't get the starch conversion you need but I think you still get some sugars and a little flavor.
 
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