Mother Pumpkin brew day

Yesterday I got to the Pumpkin brew I have been Planing sense spring when I planted two sweet pumpkin vines. From all I read I knew that this was going to be a sticky mash, but i forgot to pick up some rice hulls with my gain bill, thats the first mistake.

Roasting the pumpkin went well, 375 for 45min, scooping out the pulp and mashing it up, I smelled great and tastes vary good.

I use a continuously recirculating mash system, and almost immediately after doughing in I noticed the pump was stuck! Crap, so I clear it out and start again, this time pulling with only the out valve half open, trying to get the grain bed to settle a little. it worked for about ten min, then stuck again...

by this time I'm 45 min in at 148ºF, so I turn off the pump and steep in a gallon of boiling water to get me to 156º, and hold it there till conversion is complete, another 30min.

Then I start to sparge...STUCK...clear it out...Stuck, clear it out...open the valve 1/8th...1hr 30min later...Boil time...

All and all it got done (+3hr), I did a quick cool to get it down to 100, transfered it to the carboy and into the freezer chest set at 68 so it could cool over night.I pitched it this morning, and am just glad that fiasco is over.

next time I do a Pumpkin Ale, I plan on making a Pumpkin Soup, and straining it out before I add it to the mash, and I'm putting in 1lb of rice hulls.

I love WL007! it F'n Rocks! I pitched this Sunday from a washed slurry in the AM and did not have air lock activity till Monday AM. By Tuesday it was flying and today it's down to 1.018 from 1.051! This is a definite contender for my open fermenter project!

PS
Mother pumpkin ale is goooood

YEAH for da pumpkin heads! I just opened mine today, from a different recipe, and it's fabulous. Cheers and beers!

Damn you just might be onto something with the pumpkin soup idea. So would adding the pumpkin to your HLT in say a 5 gallon grain bag while heating up strike water work?...I don't see why not, and you could even hold it around 150 for a bit if you were really worried about starch conversion...which I don't think you have to be with pumpkin.

sidewinder02132 said:

"No man moves without dreams, no man excels without motivation." E. Shakelton

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If that is Earnest Shackleton, of Endurance fame, then you misspelled his name. One of my heros, BTW.

brokenanchor said:

Damn you just might be onto something with the pumpkin soup idea. So would adding the pumpkin to your HLT in say a 5 gallon grain bag while heating up strike water work?...I don't see why not, and you could even hold it around 150 for a bit if you were really worried about starch conversion...which I don't think you have to be with pumpkin.

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It sure was a sticky mess! I think that's a good idea too, isolating the pumpkin in a mesh bag or cheese cloth.

--> Passedpawn: Thanks! Speling can be such a problem for mi. *lol* Ernest was da man! He demonstrates, to me, the definition of the power of will.

I don't know if it helped since this was only my second AG, but when I did the canned pumpkin I put that in the mash water first and stirred until it was all suspended/dissolved. Then I added the grain, I had no problem with a stuck sparge at all. I also batch sparge if that makes a difference.