I need help, my pumpkin beer is in limbo!!

[Evan!]

So, I brewed a partial-mash punkin ale and an extract choco-espresso stout yesterday. The stout went fine, but the punkin, well...not as fine. I've posted the ProMash recipe report below.

As you can see, I added 4 big cans of preservative-free pumpkin mush to the boil, which was cooked @ 350 for an hour beforehand. The boil went fine, it was just...thicker than normal. Anyway, I went heavyer than I would normally with the sugars and the water, anticipating losing some because of the pumpkin solids. Talk about an understatement!

So, I strained the wort through a wide-holed collander. Then I tried to strain it through the funnel screen. No go! That junk was coming through a drop at a time, it was so thick. So I took the screen out and just let all the wort into the primary carboy. I called a friend, he suggested an icebath to let the solids settle, then racking the non-solids on top into another big primary carboy. I did that, but there was still like 6 or 7 inches of solids left in the first carboy.

I pitched my yeast into the second carboy, and let the first one with the solids sit overnight, hoping to see more settlement.

Nope. There was only about an inch of liquids sitting above the settled solids this morning. I tried racking, that was a joke. The siphon don't like the punkin solids very much.

So, I've resorted to putting the funnel (with the screen) in the second carboy (the one with all the liquid wort and the yeast), and POURING the solids-wort into the funnel. Then, I sit there with a butterknife and run it back and forth over the screen while the stuff trickles out of the bottom. I kid you not, it takes 20 minutes of constant scraping just to filter one funnel-full.

So, I had to go to work this afternoon, and I just left the two carboy sitting there. I capped and airlocked them both, and I am not sure what to do now. I guess I could continue to filter the pumpkin solids, but god, what a pain in the ass! Anyone have any suggestions??

Also, what's your thoughts about adding spices (pumpkin pie spices--cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves) to the wort after it's in the carboy? Bad idea?

 

[Evan!]

Bubs' Amber Punkinpie

A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

10-B American Ale, American Amber Ale

Min OG: 1.045 Max OG: 1.060
Min IBU: 25 Max IBU: 48
Min Clr: 10 Max Clr: 17 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 12.81
Anticipated OG: 1.083 Plato: 19.96
Anticipated SRM: 13.0
Anticipated IBU: 36.8
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------

Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 6.45 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.064 SG 15.71 Plato

Formulas Used
-------------

Brewhouse Efficiency and Predicted Gravity based on Method #1, Potential Used.
Final Gravity Calculation Based on Points.
Hard Value of Sucrose applied. Value for recipe: 46.2100 ppppg
% Yield Type used in Gravity Prediction: Fine Grind Dry Basis.

Color Formula Used: Morey
Hop IBU Formula Used: Rager

Additional Utilization Used For Plug Hops: 2 %
Additional Utilization Used For Pellet Hops: 10 %


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
23.4 3.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
15.6 2.00 lbs. Crystal 10L America 1.035 10
46.8 6.00 lbs. Briess LME- Gold America 1.035 4
7.8 1.00 lbs. Generic DME - Light Generic 1.046 8
5.9 0.75 lbs. Maple Syrup Generic 1.031 35
0.5 0.06 lbs. Black Patent Malt America 1.028 525

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00 oz. Northern Brewer Pellet 6.50 30.2 90 min.
1.00 oz. Tettnanger Pellet 4.00 4.5 15 min.
0.50 oz. Cascade Pellet 5.75 2.0 2 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.25 Oz Canned Pumpkin Fruit 90 Min.(boil)
0.50 Tbsp Cinnamon Spice 90 Min.(boil)
1.00 Tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice Spice 90 Min.(boil)
0.25 Tsp Nutmeg Spice 90 Min.(boil)
0.25 Tbsp Cinnamon Spice 20 Min.(boil)
1.00 Tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice Spice 20 Min.(boil)
0.25 Tbsp Cinnamon Spice 2 Min.(boil)
0.25 Tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice Spice 2 Min.(boil)
0.75 Tbsp Coriander Seed Spice 2 Min.(boil)
2.00 Tsp Irish Moss Fining 15 Min.(boil)


Yeast
-----




Water Profile
-------------

Profile:
Profile known for:

Calcium(Ca): 0.0 ppm
Magnesium(Mg): 0.0 ppm
Sodium(Na): 0.0 ppm
Sulfate(SO4): 0.0 ppm
Chloride(Cl): 0.0 ppm
biCarbonate(HCO3): 0.0 ppm

pH: 0.00


Mash Schedule
-------------

Mash Type: Single Step

Grain Lbs: 5.06
Water Qts: 4.05 - Before Additional Infusions
Water Gal: 1.01 - Before Additional Infusions

Qts Water Per Lbs Grain: 0.80 - Before Additional Infusions

Saccharification Rest Temp : 0 Time: 0
Mash-out Rest Temp : 0 Time: 0
Sparge Temp : 0 Time: 0


Total Mash Volume Gal: 1.42 - Dough-In Infusion Only

All temperature measurements are degrees Fahrenheit.



Notes
-----

Spread canned pumpkin on baking sheet(s), roast in 350° oven for 60 mins du
ring mash

 

[dewey316]

Evan,

I thought about doing what you did, with the funnel screen, and after seeing how thick the wort was, descided against it. I ran it thru normal kitchen strainer, that got some of the pumpkin out, but left a good amount in the wort. I filled a whole 6.5gal carboy with wort, hoping to get 4-5 gallons back out, after it settles. My plan is to let it sit for a week, and hope that the pumpkin settles to the bottom, so I can siphon out 5 gallons of wort.

When you get home from work, you might see how much seperation there is. I know after 24 hours on mine, it was seperating very well, with the pumpkin going to the bottom of the carboy.

Other than that, I am not much help. I can say, I was like you, shocked at just how thick my wort was after boiling.

 

[RichBrewer]

This is what my primary looked like before I pitched the yeast. I made sure I had at least 6 gallons in the carboy and left it in the primary for 13 days. The pumpkin and trub settled out and I was able to get slightly over 5 gallons of beer into the secondary. The beer is pretty clear and after 24 days in the secondary there is a thin layer of yeast sediment in the bottom.

 

[Evan!]

This is what my primary looked like before I pitched the yeast. I made sure I had at least 6 gallons in the carboy and left it in the primary for 13 days. The pumpkin and trub settled out and I was able to get slightly over 5 gallons of beer into the secondary. The beer is pretty clear and after 24 days in the secondary there is a thin layer of yeast sediment in the bottom.

Awesome. So how did you get it thru the funnel screen? Or did you? I ended up dumping the solids into the primary after struggling with straining for hours. It's fermenting right now---but it's not as full as yours was. I'm a little bit afraid of watering it down too much...what do you think about putting together a supplementary boil? Just like a half a pound of DME, boiled for awhile, then added to the primary...so I can increase the final yield without watering it down...