Attn Experienced Pumpkin Ale Brewers - Stuck Sparge Question

[NMG318]

This past weekend I brewed my first pumpkin ale, an all-grain job based on the "Pumpkin Spice Ale" recipe in Jamil Zainasheff's and John Palmer's book "Brewing Classic Styles".

I used 5 15oz cans (4.69 lbs) of pumpkin pie pulp (Libby's), baked for 1 hr at 330F and mashed for 90 minutes. I also used 1/2 lb of rice hulls.

The mash was a disaster. The pumpkin pulp pretty much liquified, only to bond with the grain and create what I believe is the brewing equivalent of freaking concrete. I had an extremely hard time getting any of the liquid out, at one point almost giving up on the whole thing. Eventually I was able to get about 4.5 gallons of wort out and adjusted the procedure using Brewsmith to produce a beer similar to the original in OG.

I did a good bit of research before doing this brew and apparently I missed any warnings and war stories that may be out there about stuck sparges. Nowhere did I find anything about how chaotic it can be. I mean, the 10-gal round cooler mash tun's output tube was totally clogged. I had to take it apart to unclog it.

I have some thoughts about the possible issues.

• 75 oz (5 15 oz cans) of pulp is waaaay too much.
• 1/2 lb of rice hulls is not nearly enough for a 19 lb grist (~14 lbs of grain + ~5 lbs of pulp)
• Instead of leaving the rice hulls undisturbed at the bottom of the mash tun, I mixed it in with the grain
• Instead of leaving the pumpkin pulp on top of the grain undisturbed, I mixed it in with the grains

So, OK, how do *you* do it? Clearly there are people out there successfully brewing these recipes. What's the trick?

I am brewing this recipe in the next couple of weeks (just waiting for pumpkin pie pumpkins at the store) and was actually thinking of using some of the suggestions you have listed. I was planning on using a little more rice hulls that is recommended, mix them in with the grain and then stir the pumpkin pulp in the top third of the mash and try not to disturb the layers near the false bottom. What do you think?

I have a Blichmann boil pot with their false bottom that usually works great. I use a pump to recirculate for my mash out at 170 (using a HERMS). Do you think I should skip the mash out?

 

[upperNY01brewer]

I did mine last week with 1 lb rice hulls to 11 lbs of grain and 2 cans of Libby's Pumpkin roasted for an hr. Held it at 154 degrees for a hour and had a slow but efficient sparge with a little stuck but nothing a bit or stirring didnt clear up.

 

[ASantiago]

I am brewing this recipe in the next couple of weeks (just waiting for pumpkin pie pumpkins at the store) and was actually thinking of using some of the suggestions you have listed. I was planning on using a little more rice hulls that is recommended, mix them in with the grain and then stir the pumpkin pulp in the top third of the mash and try not to disturb the layers near the false bottom. What do you think?

I have a Blichmann boil pot with their false bottom that usually works great. I use a pump to recirculate for my mash out at 170 (using a HERMS). Do you think I should skip the mash out?

I haven't read this thread recently (and can't right now), but I do remember some good suggestions being posted. So check those out. Water/grain ratio may be an important one. Definitely use a lot more rice hulls. You may want to consider a mash out. And allocate plenty of time for the whole process.

 

[BainbridgeBrewer]

I do 60oz of Pumpkin, 1lb rice hulls, and a thin mash, like 1.5qt/lb or higher. It makes for a slow but manageable sparge.

I made Yuri Rage's Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale this weekend. After dumbing down the 21 gallon batch to a 5 gallon batch I used 60 oz of Libby's canned pumpkin baked on a cookie sheet at 375* for 30 minutes or so, 1 lbs of rice hulls mixed into my grains, and mashed thin using 1.5 quarts per lbs. I batch sparged and saw only a slight slow down in flow when compared to the ESB I brewed earlier in the morning.

Sorry you had rough time with it. Hopefully it turns out awesome.

 

[Code3Brewing]

Brewing an Imperial pumpkin as I type:

15lbs 2-row
1lbs carapils
10oz. cara-amber
8oz. 40L
90oz. pumpkin puree

started with .5lbs of rice hulls, and figured out very quickly I needed another 1lb at least. I'm guessing I will be sparging for at least 3 hours, wish I would have found this thread before I started, the only good thing is I can boil off some wort on stove top to increase that ABV and par take in a little home-brew

 

[phoenixs4r]

That's a lot of pumpkin.

 

[ASantiago]

As Christopher Walken said in SNL: "I need more rice hulls!"

Or was it cow bell? :-D

 

[Zokfend]

Glad someone else necro'd this great thread!

I'm about to brew one myself

 

[Upstate_Dan]

My solution has been using a no sparge. Even with that it still runs a little slow.

 

[mjcooper42]

toady not only did i do my first all gain, but my first brew day ever! .. and it was a Pumpking clone.. with LOTS of pumpkin ... stuck sparge ...
i ended up having to "stroke" my SS braid with my spoon, to get any liquid out, there were a the wort at when it was cooled down looked like Misso soup.. hope all will work out ???

i'll be making a Manifold for my next brew i'm using a Coleman eXtreme 38qt rectangular cooler.. and i did use #1 rice hulls

 

[jturkish]

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?

 

[savannahbrew]

Are you doing extract or all grain? you have me very confused!

 

[jturkish]

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

 

[FRS]

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.

 

[jturkish]

Thanks

I've got 9 lbs pumpkin now, so ill use 3 lbs 6row

 

[jturkish]

tonight i used the following kit and then added 9 lbs pumpkin that i baked and pureed, 4 lbs 6 row, and 2 pounds rice hulls

ended up overshooting and got 6.2 gallons in the primary

og was 1.051

http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/NutBrown.pdf

 

[PatrickLS83]

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.