[Ravensfort] The first report on the pumpkin ale

[Charley Atchley]

Ok! twas quite the brewing weekend!
I made a pumpkin ale. It is going to be a robust high octane beer if it
ferments right. Here is the recipe if anyone is interested.

ingredients
2   lb	20º German Crystal
1/2 lb	Rye
1/2 lb	Oats
16  lb	2 row American malt
6   lb 	pumpkin meat
2   oz	Kent Goldings 6 AAU plug hops
2   oz 	Special Gold 9.1 AAU plug hops
1 bottle 	Molasses
1   lb	Brown sugar

Step one: PREP THE PUMPKIN
Take a large pumpkin and chop it into chunks using a Roman Gladius. Boil the
chunks and roast the seeds. (The seeds are not for the beer, but I think
that is the best part of the pumpkin.) Peel the boiled chunks after they
cool. The peel should just slide right off the chunks. Save the boil water.
Squish the pumpkin chunks into goo.

Step two: STRIKE
I added the pumpkin water to the ice chest, and enough hot and cold water to
make 18 qts of water at 105. I added the pumpkin goo and all of the grain
into the water and then stirred until all of the grain was wet. The temp
ended up at 100. I closed the ice chest and let it sit for 20 minutes.

Step three: PROTEIN REST
I added 10 quarts of water at 150 to the ice chest. This brought the temp to
122.

Step four: THE FIRST DECOCTION
I removed eleven quarts of the thick part of the mash and heated it to 160
in 23 minutes. (Stir often or it will scorch.) I rested at this temp for 35
minutes. Then I raised it to boil in 18 minutes. I boiled at a hard roll for
thirty minutes. I added some of the liquid from the main batch in to the
boil in order to keep the volume up. I added this back into the ice chest
and the temp came up to 152. I closed the chest and let it rest for 35
minutes.

Step five: THE SECOND DECOCTION
I removed eleven quarts of the thick part of the mash and then I raised it
to boil in 20 minutes. I boiled at a hard roll for thirty-five minutes. I
added some of the liquid from the main batch in to the boil in order to keep
the volume up. I added this back into the ice chest and the temp came up to
165. I closed the chest and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Step six: THE SPARGING FIASCO
I sparged the beer. Some of my pumpkin goo caused a big problem. Lets not go
into the mechanics of the process, because it got ugly. We had to do some
improvising at this point and I splashed the wort way too much, but it seems
to have survived.

Step seven: THE BOIL DOWN FROM HELL
After the sparging fiasco was over I had about 14 gallons of wort. I let
this boil till it reached six gallons, then I added the Kent goldings hops.
Forty minutes later I added a bottle of molasses a pound of brown sugar and
the special gold hops. I let it boil for fifteen more minutes and then
cooled it off and sparged it off the hops.

The initial gravity is a whopping .1128 !!! This could have 17% alcohol !!!

I am using an English dry ale yeast to start with and I will see how much
sugar these little guys can go through.

Now I am pitching the yeast and I will wait to see what I have wrought. More
later...

Athaulf Sweinbrothar
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May your life amuse the gods.
-- Dave Duncan