3 Q's - One step sanitizer, rubber stopper, and recipe

[GoHawks]

Hey I have a couple questions if anyone out there knows the answer(s) it would be great!

1) How long does the "one step sanitizer" last after added to warm water? I brewed tonight and I threw the sanitizer in the primary right when I started the process. I was concerned after 3 hrs (first all grain tonight) if it was still effective or not.

2) Anyone have any advice on getting rubber stoppers to stay on a glass carboy? I could not get the thing to sit with a seal. It just kept popping back out. I dried it the best I could with microwaved paper towels (for sanitation purposes) and that helped but I have a feeling that as soon as CO2 starts to bubble up it might fly off as its just barely "stuck" on there. Do I just have a bad stopper? I've always just done my primary in a plastic fermenter.

3) Alright... so hear me out on this one. I wanted to brew a pumpkin ale today. I went and picked up a grain bill then went to the grocery store to get some pumpkin (wanted fresh, if no fresh I would have taken canned). They didnt have any pumpkin whatsoever. Went to another grocery store... nothing. So I bought a 2lb pumpkin pie, baked it and threw it in the mash. I was desperate. My main concern the whole time was whether or not the preservatives in the pie could effect my final outcome?

I am aware that many people do not use pumpkin in pumpkin ales but I just do not feel right brewing a pumpkin ale w/ out pumpkin in it.

I did use 2 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice in addition to the pie.

edit
4) When we were done with our first all grain brew we tasted the last few drops of wort in the kettle. It tasted somewhat astringent (we mashed at 155*, batch sparged at 165*). Is this normal? It did have spices in it that may have caused that taste... I hear they tend to settle in after some time.


Thanks in advance for all replies!

 

[scrambledegg81]

1) 3 hours is fine for sanitizing purposes. If it was more than a day or 2 old, I'd probably throw it out, but one-step, iodine & other chemical based sanitizers (excluding bleach...neeeever use bleach) hold their cleaning power for quite a while. I've had a tub of Iodophor sitting out for over 7 hours when I did back-to-back batches with a buddy of mine & both turned out fine.

2) I gulped a little bit reading this...you do have an airlock on the rubber bung, don't you?? If so, your stopper might be oversized or the carboy might be undersized (leaning towards the stopper since they come in multiple diameters & carboys tend to have 1 standard size in the US).

3) I gulped a lot more reading this...you tossed an entire pie into a mash??? First off, I would love to see how you actually pulled it off!! Second, I would toss it as soon as possible. There's way too many variables laying inside a baked pie that could potentially turn any type of beer into some kind of walking blob that eats children...but seriously, there's hardly anything in a standard pumpkin pie that would be fermentable (aside from standard sugars that have undergone chemical changes during baking), so I'd be amazed if it turned out drinkable. Most people are content with using pumpkin spices on their own, and we have loads of pumpkin ale recipes on the site--warm up that search function!

4) As far as pre-fermented flavors go, there's a minimal amount of info you can get. Fermentation changes (literally) everything about how a beer will be in the end, so it's better to wait it out & take a taster when you go to test your FG.

 

[GoHawks]

1) 3 hours is fine for sanitizing purposes. If it was more than a day or 2 old, I'd probably throw it out, but one-step, iodine & other chemical based sanitizers (excluding bleach...neeeever use bleach) hold their cleaning power for quite a while. I've had a tub of Iodophor sitting out for over 7 hours when I did back-to-back batches with a buddy of mine & both turned out fine.

2) I gulped a little bit reading this...you do have an airlock on the rubber bung, don't you?? If so, your stopper might be oversized or the carboy might be undersized (leaning towards the stopper since they come in multiple diameters & carboys tend to have 1 standard size in the US).

3) I gulped a lot more reading this...you tossed an entire pie into a mash??? First off, I would love to see how you actually pulled it off!! Second, I would toss it as soon as possible. There's way too many variables laying inside a baked pie that could potentially turn any type of beer into some kind of walking blob that eats children...but seriously, there's hardly anything in a standard pumpkin pie that would be fermentable (aside from standard sugars that have undergone chemical changes during baking), so I'd be amazed if it turned out drinkable. Most people are content with using pumpkin spices on their own, and we have loads of pumpkin ale recipes on the site--warm up that search function!

4) As far as pre-fermented flavors go, there's a minimal amount of info you can get. Fermentation changes (literally) everything about how a beer will be in the end, so it's better to wait it out & take a taster when you go to test your FG.

2) The stopper and carboy came in a kit together. So they should work. There is an airlock on it with a bit of cheap liquor in it. Ill get another stopper tomorrow. Im currently trying to rig something up to hold it down with a better seal.

3) Yeah I tossed an entire pie into the mash. It didnt clog the wort flow at all. I had no problems with the mash today. Maybe this is why the flavor was slightly astringent. I'm not dumping it though. Im in it for the long run... lets just see what happens.
(I've also read about some bacon beer recipies on here that I dont see being much more far fetched than throwing a pie in the mash)

 

[Insomniac]

I just dont see what can push off a rubber bored rubber bung once its pushed in properly... do you have a pic of it in?

 

[GoHawks]

I just dont see what can push off a rubber bored rubber bung once its pushed in properly... do you have a pic of it in?

I think its a slightly too large bung. It just slips right back out when pushed in. Its down and slightly "in" but I need to hit up the LHBS and get a different one. They must have gave me a faulty one.

No pic. Its late and I gotta get to bed. Ill post a pic tomorrow if I cant get it figured out.

Thanks for the replies so far everyone. Should be an interesting beer for good or bad.

 

[Scruffy1207]

Lol! A whole pie! Should be an interesting experiment. I'm considering growing my own pumpkin for this very reason.

 

[Revvy]

Plenty of folks add entire pies to the mash when making pumpkin pies. I did a ginger snap brown ale with 2 boxes of cookies in there. Anyone following Iron Brewer competitions wouldn't be surprised by this.

 

[Sober]

I wish I had video of you pacing about with this pie in your hands, unsure of whether to PITCH A ****ING PIE. And you did it. You sir, have a bright future in brewing. Run the rest of your batch as normal, and please post your results. I think you'll be fine.

Also, I want to see pics of pie crust at the bottom of your fermenter.

 

[GoHawks]

Ill keep everyone updated

 

[GoHawks]

Its an incredibly violent fermentation.. Much more than I have ever seen with an extract brew. Crap was bubbling up and out of the airlock all over the table. I had admiral nelsons rum in the airlock because I like to use it more than water but it was almost gone when I got home from work today. I hope it didnt get contaminated.

The bung seems sealed nicely now.

 

[Mikethepoolguy]

That's funny I was looking for a pumpkin pie at the store the other day for exactly that reason but they had none. Not in season yet. I think canned is always available though.

 

[GoHawks]

That's funny I was looking for a pumpkin pie at the store the other day for exactly that reason but they had none. Not in season yet. I think canned is always available though.

Did you check the freezer isle? Mine was a frozen pie which I then baked obviously.

 

[Mikethepoolguy]

Yeah, but it was just one store. It's not like I was looking for pie, I was buying groceries and started thinking of things to brew. If I go to a pet store I think ' what do they sell here that I can use to brew with?'

 

[GoHawks]

Yeah, but it was just one store. It's not like I was looking for pie, I was buying groceries and started thinking of things to brew. If I go to a pet store I think ' what do they sell here that I can use to brew with?'

Not so sure about animal brews!

I guess 21st amendment in san francisco has a oyster shell beer on tap. They used oyster shells somewhere in the process. I wasnt a big fan of the taste.

 

[Scruffy1207]

Not so sure about animal brews!

I guess 21st amendment in san francisco has a oyster shell beer on tap. They used oyster shells somewhere in the process. I wasnt a big fan of the taste.

I had one in annapolis at a brewpub that wasn't half bad. It's interesting and got me thinking of the wide range of ingredients available.

 

[Revvy]

Yeah, but it was just one store. It's not like I was looking for pie, I was buying groceries and started thinking of things to brew. If I go to a pet store I think ' what do they sell here that I can use to brew with?'

"Vittle Vault" pet food storage containers for fermenters and birdseed to see if you can malt it yourself and brew with it.

 

[scrambledegg81]

Plenty of folks add entire pies to the mash when making pumpkin pies. I did a ginger snap brown ale with 2 boxes of cookies in there. Anyone following Iron Brewer competitions wouldn't be surprised by this.

O_O

My mind hath been blown.

 

[joeldp144]

I think the pumpkin pie idea is a great one, so don't start kicking yourself. In fact, I would guess that it would impart some pretty cool flavors. You may be on to something here. I can't wait to hear how it turns out.