After 2 mediocre pumpkin ale's last year i decided this year I would shoot for the moon and try to get as much flavor in this one as possible. I formulated a basic recipe with 1056, 2 oz. of hops, and a 10lb grain bill with 2 row, special B, and caramel 60. This time around i took a huge chance and instead of the usual canned pumpkin which i would cook for 1.5 hrs and add to the mash, i decided to bake 2 pumpkin pies and put them directly in the mash. Here is the pie recipe: (i had a small corner it was really good)
-1 can libbys
-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
-1 can sweetened condensed milk
-2 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 unbaked graham pie crust
I spent time doing research on the condensed milk and eggs in the pie and its possible effects on the wort and yeast, but did not find anything helpful. I was really worried about this. All the other ingredients i saw to be fine. I figured the 1.5 hrs. of baking time at 375 and then at 425 deg.f would kill any bacteria that could be harmful. Anyways the mash was delightful. You would not believe the aroma of pumpkin pie and fresh grain, it was heavenly! Mash out sucked but was expected, had a very stuck sparge and had to constantly clear my screen.
A lot of small pieces of husk and what im assuming was pie crust made it through, but seemed ok. Boil went nice, 60 mins, and also smelt wonderful too. I started chilling and soon after strained out the hops. This is where things got funky. My strained wort had these huge bubbles that where green and white and would grow and burst. Never seen anything like this. Figured i came this far so i re-strained, aerated, and pitched the yeast. Gravity was 1.070. Fermentation did not start for 12 hrs, but when it did, wow. Very violent. went for 2 more days then stalled at 1.020. I opened up to rack to secondary and it was funky in there, mainly the smell. Smelled like when you open up a fresh package of medical supplies like gloves or something. I took a tiny sip of my gravity sample and i did not taste like pumpkin ale at all, more like pure alcohol like vodka. Uggghhh. 2 days later i checked on beer in secondary and all of these little green and white bubbly things were floating around kinda like the sour bacteria in a weiss but more nasty. Well, in conclusion, this one is going down the drain. Not safe to drink. I dont know what the hell i made but its not good. Hope others can learn from this experience. Hope someone will read this and explain their take on how things were doomed from the start! Sorry for the novel
-1 can libbys
-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
-1 can sweetened condensed milk
-2 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 unbaked graham pie crust
I spent time doing research on the condensed milk and eggs in the pie and its possible effects on the wort and yeast, but did not find anything helpful. I was really worried about this. All the other ingredients i saw to be fine. I figured the 1.5 hrs. of baking time at 375 and then at 425 deg.f would kill any bacteria that could be harmful. Anyways the mash was delightful. You would not believe the aroma of pumpkin pie and fresh grain, it was heavenly! Mash out sucked but was expected, had a very stuck sparge and had to constantly clear my screen.
A lot of small pieces of husk and what im assuming was pie crust made it through, but seemed ok. Boil went nice, 60 mins, and also smelt wonderful too. I started chilling and soon after strained out the hops. This is where things got funky. My strained wort had these huge bubbles that where green and white and would grow and burst. Never seen anything like this. Figured i came this far so i re-strained, aerated, and pitched the yeast. Gravity was 1.070. Fermentation did not start for 12 hrs, but when it did, wow. Very violent. went for 2 more days then stalled at 1.020. I opened up to rack to secondary and it was funky in there, mainly the smell. Smelled like when you open up a fresh package of medical supplies like gloves or something. I took a tiny sip of my gravity sample and i did not taste like pumpkin ale at all, more like pure alcohol like vodka. Uggghhh. 2 days later i checked on beer in secondary and all of these little green and white bubbly things were floating around kinda like the sour bacteria in a weiss but more nasty. Well, in conclusion, this one is going down the drain. Not safe to drink. I dont know what the hell i made but its not good. Hope others can learn from this experience. Hope someone will read this and explain their take on how things were doomed from the start! Sorry for the novel
