Lazy man's turbid mash with pumpkin?

[eulipion2]

Hello,
I accidentally posted this in a different sub-forum earlier, so hopefully that one will get deleted. It hasn't been moved, so I'll post here. Here's my question:

I got the idea to do a pumpkin lambic, but I'm not at all inclined to do a turbid mash, which "they" say makes for better lambic/wild brews. The lazy man's workaround is, if I understand correctly, to add some form of starch to the boil. Has anyone tried adding pumpkin to the boil to fit that purpose? Is there enough starch in the unmashed pumpkin to be sufficient, or would I still need to add maltodextrin, whole wheat flour, etc.?

Thanks in advance!

 

[DarkBrood]

Adding starches to your boil without pre-cooking or mashing is not generally a good idea - you'll add next to nothing for fermentables and greatly increase your risk of hazes in your brews. Some people add some pumpkin to the boil for FLAVOR or AROMA - but those that do so accept that their beers may end up very cloudy.

 

[pohldogg]

I don't think you'll get as much starch as you want from the pumpkin. I just looked up a label and for a half lb there are only 5g of starch (20g carb - 8g sugar - 7g fiber). To miminc a turbid mash I think you'd want to use something like corn starch or raw flour in the boil and save the pumpkin for the fermenter.

Dark, the point if a turbid mash is to leave starch in the wort, but it's a pain to do so he's looking to miminc the process with a standard mash and a starch addition.

 

[twigboy2000]

Adding starches to your boil without pre-cooking or mashing is not generally a good idea - you'll add next to nothing for fermentables and greatly increase your risk of hazes in your brews.

Not such a big deal for a lambic since the bugs will munch on many of the complex chains in the starches as well as the fermentable sugars. The turbid mash technique leaves starches in the wort for that very reason. It makes for a more complex flavor profile when there are a variety of complex sugars/starches.

-chuck

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

That fiber might also be digestible to brett. Dietary fiber is typically some form of dextrin (check a bottle of fiber supplement -- it is wheat dextrin).

I don't know of anybody who has used pumpkin in a lambic who could give you a good answer. My guess is that you won't get as much out of the pumpkin to completely replace the turbid mash but I think you could produce an interesting beer.

 

[eulipion2]

Thanks for all the feedback. It seems my best bet would probably be to mash the pumpkin and add starch to the boil, but I think I might have to try pumpkin in the boil for the sake of science! Might do a combo pumpkin/starch.