Pumpkin ale and no rice hulls - will I get a stuck sparge?

[kh54s10]

I procrastinated and the Wine (and beer) shop I went to today had no rice hulls. The other LHBS wasn't open yet and I did not want to hang around for more than 2 hours.

I am going to brew a pumpkin ale using the pulp from a 12 pound pumpkin added to the mash. I use a Rubbermaid cooler with a water heater supply line mesh as the filter braid.

I am wondering how likely I will have a problem draining the mash due to the pumpkin.

I have never had a stuck sparge but am looking for advice.

1) Just go for it??
2) Put the pumpkin in a 5 gallon paint strainer bag as loose as I can?
3) Something else?

 

[Mb2658]

I did a Pumpkin Spice Ale last year with a can of Libby pumpkin in a 5 gallon batch and didn't use any rice hulls. The beer turned out great and a friend of mine said that she preferred it to Southern Tier's Pumking. That was far less than 12 lbs though. You might want to cut back on the pumpkin if you dont have any rice hulls or have a lot of patience.

 

[kh54s10]

I did a Pumpkin Spice Ale last year with a can of Libby pumpkin in a 5 gallon batch and didn't use any rice hulls. The beer turned out great and a friend of mine said that she preferred it to Southern Tier's Pumking. That was far less than 12 lbs though. You might want to cut back on the pumpkin if you dont have any rice hulls or have a lot of patience.

w

It is a 12 pound pumpkin. I looked at a recipe that called for 8-10 pounds. I don't know how much I will end up with after removing the seeds, the stem, baking and scooping out the flesh.

I'm leaning toward putting it in the paint strainer bag.

 

[RonPopeil]

can you use a paint strainer or some kind of muslin?

 

[doc5md]

I used rice hulls and still had the slowest sparge I've ever had. had to stop, stir and vorlauf a bunch of times! ugh.

 

[kh54s10]

I used rice hulls and still had the slowest sparge I've ever had. had to stop, stir and vorlauf a bunch of times! ugh.

This is what I feared. I guess I will put the pumpkin into the 5 gallon paint strainer bag and submerge it into the grainbed. I might start the mash a touch high and stir several times.

 

[ooglassoo]

I just made a pumpkin porter Saturday, four small pumpkins and two cans. I didn't use rice hulls and had no problems using my cooler with turbo screen. I say go for it.

 

[kh54s10]

Well, I put the pumpkin in a 5 gallon paint strainer bag and tied it shut loosely. We will see how this comes out in a few weeks.

 

[Richard-SSV]

I used canned pumpkin, but instead of adding it to the mash tun I put it in a mesh bag and then steeped it in my HLT while heating my strike water.

This still imparted a nice orange color and pumpkin flavor without having to deal with pumpkin meat clogging up my runnings.

The beer turned out fantastic!

 

[GrogNerd]

I used canned pumpkin, but instead of adding it to the mash tun I put it in a mesh bag and then steeped it in my HLT while heating my strike water.

This still imparted a nice orange color and pumpkin flavor without having to deal with pumpkin meat clogging up my runnings.

The beer turned out fantastic!

this is interesting. I was going to add my pumpkin to the boil, but this might be the way to go

if you don't mind answering a few questions, I would appreciate it

how much pumpkin? how big was the strike? & how big was the batch?

oh! and was that nylon paint strainer bag? or muslin bag?

thanks.

 

[Richard-SSV]

I used two large cans of Libby, I think 4 lbs total. It was a 5 gallon recipe, don't remember the volume of the strike water, but I used the same bags full of pumpkin for my spathe water too.

Pumpkin has very little sugar in it, so I really didn't see the need to mash it. I asked around and most people add it to the mash instead of the boil to limit the trub.

I figured steeping it in a nylon bag solves both problems of stuck sparges and trub. You get the color and the flavor without the mess.

 

[kh54s10]

Mine is based on Northern Brewer's Smashing Pumpkin. It is a 5 gallon brew. I bought a 12 pound pumpkin, cut it in pieces and roasted it in the oven last night at 300 degrees until it was soft and had a little browning on the edges. I collected 7 pounds of pulp.

7.50 Crisp Pale Ale
7.0 Pumpkin
2.5 Munich Malt
.75 C-75
.25 C-40
1 teaspoon total Cinnamon, Nutmeg and a tiny amount of Allspice.
.75 Galena hops 60 minutes
Wyeast 1056 stepped starter from 5 ml frozen vial of second generation collected on 1/27/12


The estimated preboil was 1.052. I got 1.046 Estimated OG was 1.058 I got 1.053 Maybe due to 1lb less pumpkin A little off but OK by me.
And I used a 5 gallon nylon paint strainer bag. You get 2 for about $5 at Home Depot.

Took another gravity reading and did better than I thought. 1.055 Nice orange color

 

[m_stodd]

I used canned pumpkin, but instead of adding it to the mash tun I put it in a mesh bag and then steeped it in my HLT while heating my strike water.

This still imparted a nice orange color and pumpkin flavor without having to deal with pumpkin meat clogging up my runnings.

The beer turned out fantastic!

This is more what I'm in favor of. Most of the pumpkin (> 95% ?) is garbage, and won't end end up in your beer, so to get whatever starches you can in your beer, just boil it by itself for a while to gelatanize whatever starches you can, then just use the water for mashing once it's cooled.

If it's an actual carving type pumpkin, you probably won't get much out of it anyway, it will just complicate your brew.

 

[kh54s10]

If it's an actual carving type pumpkin, you probably won't get much out of it anyway, it will just complicate your brew.

Pumpkin is pumpkin and if I was going to go through the trouble of using it at all I didn't want to used canned with preservatives, additives etc.

Other than cooking the pumpkin and scooping out the pulp it was no more difficult to mash it than any other grains, except I put it in a strainer bag.


Besides, I got a bunch of pumpkin seed that I am going to roast!

 

[GrogNerd]

I used two large cans of Libby, I think 4 lbs total. It was a 5 gallon recipe, don't remember the volume of the strike water, but I used the same bags full of pumpkin for my spathe water too.

Pumpkin has very little sugar in it, so I really didn't see the need to mash it. I asked around and most people add it to the mash instead of the boil to limit the trub.

I figured steeping it in a nylon bag solves both problems of stuck sparges and trub. You get the color and the flavor without the mess.

genius.

pure. effing. genius.

I do not recall ever having heard this or read this anywhere. maybe I did and my self-medicated early adulthood is catching up to me

but really, thank you. I wish I had prizes to give away.

 

[m_stodd]

Pumpkin is pumpkin and if I was going to go through the trouble of using it at all I didn't want to used canned with preservatives, additives etc.

Other than cooking the pumpkin and scooping out the pulp it was no more difficult to mash it than any other grains, except I put it in a strainer bag.


Besides, I got a bunch of pumpkin seed that I am going to roast!

I guess I would ask why you're going through so much trouble when so little of anything will end up in your beer. Why not use a canned pumpkin without preservatives and additives that actually tastes good. Pumpkins are pumpkins, and some taste better than others.

Libby's is the most popular brand, which is made from the dickinson squash
Another popular brand is Farmers Market, not sure what they use

 

[kh54s10]

I guess I would ask why you're going through so much trouble when so little of anything will end up in your beer. Why not use a canned pumpkin without preservatives and additives that actually tastes good. Pumpkins are pumpkins, and some taste better than others.

Libby's is the most popular brand, which is made from the dickinson squash
Another popular brand is Farmers Market, not sure what they use

Where is the fun in just opening a can. It took 10 minutes to cut up the pumpkin, It cooked while I was watching TV and took maybe 15 minutes to get the pulp off the skin.

I just wanted to use fresh ingredients. That is why I brew all grain instead of extract.

And I won't even get into this: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f235/picobrew-zymatic-434787/

Besides I don't believe there are NO preservatives in there.

 

[RachmaelBenApplebaum]

My recent batch (that I'm tipping now) I put my caramelized pumpkin with 1# malted oats and 1# 2-row in a BIAB mini mash. Once conversion was complete alongside the rest of the grist in my tun I just drained the bag while heating the pumpkin-oat wort, slapped the bag on top of the rest of the mash in the tun, and "sparged" with the boiled wort from the BIAB then proceeded to sparge as normal. Turned out great, no stuck sparge

 

[kh54s10]

Update: This has been kegged for about a week. 2 days at 30lbs and serving pressure since.

It has a great orange color and is fantastic. Just a hint of the pumpkin and spices that I added. Exactly what I was looking for. I usually don't prefer spiced beers.

This is easily among the best I have made.

 

[daggers_nz]

I've been wanting to do a pumpkin ale to impress my GF and also I'm up for a challenge and rarely make the same beer twice so want to try something new. The idea of putting the pumpkin in the mash/sparge water is genius, and as we can't get rice hulls in my country, will probably the way I go.

cheers!