pumpkin beer - water/grain ratio and strike temps

[ninkasi2012]

i'm planning on doing a pumpkin beer and adding the pumpkin in the mash. i'm just wondering how this effects my water/grain ratio. normally i mash in 1.25 per pound of grain - should i increase this ratio with the pumpkin, or just treat amount of pumpkin as if it were grain?

Also in calculation my strike temperature - how does this work with pumpkin in the grain. I'll be roasting the pumpkin the night before so it will be at room temperature....again do i tread the pumpkin as if it were grain?

those of you who have done this i'd appreciate any feedback.


thanks!

 

[drewmedic23]

For the strike temp I would just weigh the pumpkin and treat the calculation for strike temp as if it were all grain...as in if you have 10lbs of grain and 2lbs of pumpkin, just calculate your strike temp for 12lbs. It might take an extra min or two to reach your target temp because the pumpkin wont have as much surface area as the grain but that would prob be the best way.
And is your pumpkin going to be very dry? Depending on how long you roasted it for you shouldn't have to add much extra water to your mash.
Search for pumpkin ale and there is like a 100 page thread that could help you out

 

[CidCitrus]

I had some trouble hitting my mash temp on my pumpkin ale, about 6 degrees low. I think it was the combination of the pumpkin and the rice hulls that threw me off. In any case, I would aim high and stir to cool down, or add cold water if you miss.

 

[Tinga]

I'm making a pumpkin beer on Saturday and I think I may add my strike water (higher than strike temp) to my mash tun along with the pumpkin till I hit strike temps and then add my grains.

However, I don't have the water ratio figured out yet either. I'm tempted to just ignore the pumpkin and do the regular water to grain ratio because the pumpkin will be mostly liquid once mixed with my strike water anyway.

 

[SixStrings]

I'm also planning a pumpkin ale and was wondering the same thing. From what I've been reading it seems like most people treat it as a grain with good results. My original plan was to heat the pumpkin with the strike water but I imagine that method would mess with my final mash temp.

 

[Tinga]

I just finished brewing up my pumpkin batch today. I didn't treat the pumpkin as grain. I cooked the pumpkin in the oven at 350 for half hour while I brought my strike water up to temp. Then I added the strike water to my mash tun and then I added the pumpkin to the strike water and finally I added the grain.... sparged super slow so maybe there is a better way.

1000th post

 

[CidCitrus]

I used rice hulls and it was a little slower, but not much. Heard too many stories of people taking several hours to sparge pumpkin beers.

 

[ninkasi2012]

Hey guys, just to follow up on this, when calculating my strike temperature and mash info I forgot to calculate the pounds of pumpkin. However I did mash at a higher ratio 1.60 so it all worked out. I cooked my pumpkin the nite prior so it was room temperature - only 2F warmer than the grain. When mashing I hit my temperature right away.

I also used rice hulls (1%) and I didn't rinse them and all went well.
Good luck folks!