Batch #2-23: Pumpkin Ale
| Style | Pumpkin Ale |
| Ingredients | click here for recipe (Hearts Home Brew.com) |
| Brewing Date: | Saturday, September 30, 2023 |
| Primary Fermentation: | Saturday, September 30, 2023 |
| Original Gravity: | 1.058 |
| Secondary Fermentation: | Saturday, October 7, 2023 |
| Interim Gravity: | 1.018 (5.25% ABV) |
| Bottling Date: | Friday, October 14, 2023 |
| Final Gravity: | Unknown (broke the hygrometer) |
| Release Date: | Thursday, November 23, 2023 |
| Alcohol by volume: | 8.2% (Original Target), 6.00-6.69% (Potential)
5.25% + some (best guess) = 5.76% after conditioning, 5.26% in keg. Math: (1058-1018) /7.6 + 0.5 (0.5 for natural conditioning occurring in bottles). |
| Brand: | The Barrels of Loxley |
| Release Name: | Carriage Recycling |
Release scheduled for Thanksgiving week. This will be the same recipe as all previous batches of Pumpkin Ale: it is Hearts Home Brew’s implementation of United States President Thomas Jefferson’s original recipe in the 18th century.
I am hoping not to delay the start of this batch (Saturday September 9), but it depends on the availability of pie pumpkins at that time. I also want the batch to have at least six weeks of bottle conditioning by the time Thanksgiving rolls around.
Summary:
Saturday, Sep 23rd
I had to delay the start since pumpkins in the nearby stores in Florida did not become available until September 22. And, this attempt to make a yeast starter failed. I can only assume that the yeast packet I had was no good, or that the wort temperature was too high when I pitched the yeast. I rescheduled the batch start one week from now to try again.
Saturday, Sep 30th
I created a yeast starter which worked as expected this time. As of 12:00PM today, it has a healthy cadence of five second bubbling cycles in the S-airlock. I will be starting the brewing at 5:00PM today, when the starter is close to the 36 hour point. Side note: because of the delay of one week, I had to buy replacement pumpkins because the pumpkin meat began to turn into pulp. Lesson learned: buy your perishable ingredients after confirming the yeast starter is good.
One other thing: I decided to get a magnetic stirrer for the yeast. Disclaimer: this is the link to the specific product on Amazon, and I have no economic benefit from the link. I just provide it for info on the specific one I got, and maybe for a trip down memory lane if you ever liked working in a lab ( Magnetic Stirrer ). I can’t be sure of the specific impact it had, but it was fun to play with, and saves me from shaking a fragile Pyrex lab container to encourage the yeast. ‘Nuff said.
The brew cycle was pretty familiar from previous years, and the first batch I made this year really helped to revive my muscle memory of the process. The timing of this batch was as follows:
Friday
- 12:00PM: yeast booster ready and yeast pitched.
Saturday
- 6:50PM: pumpkin caramelize in the oven.
- 8:20PM: Begin warming the mash water.
- 8:35PM: Begin mash with grain and caramelized pumpkin meat.
- 9:40PM: Sparging
- 10:10PM: Boil
- 10:15PM: Add hops
- 10:45PM: Irish moss
- 11:05PM: Final hops and spices
- 11:10PM: Wort cooling
- 11:35PM: Transfer to fermentation bucket, and pitch yeast (pitch temp was 65F).
The yeast starter ended up being pitched very close to the 36-hour point in the starter. I normally try to pitch around 24 hours, but decided I wanted to give the yeast more time in the started before pitching.
The initial gravity, 1.058, is higher than any previous batch of Pumpkin ale. I used a kitchen scale to ensure I used a full five pounds of pumpkin meat: previously, I would “guesstimate”.
There was one lesson learned from this brewing session: I should have read my own notes from previous batches before starting the brew cycle. The caramelizing ended with the pumpkin skin being harder to remove from the pumpkin. Previously, I had punched a lot of holes in the skin before putting it in the oven, which allowed the moisture to flow outwards on the skin and soften it.
If you have taken a break from brewing for a while and are restarting, don’t forget to re-read your own brew logs. I post mine online to share my notes with others who want to brew, and I forgot to include myself in that list of viewers.
Overall, a good brewing session. I did forget to use a strainer when pitching the yeast into the fermentation bucket, and I heard a light “thud” in the bucket when I did. I realized this was the capsule for the magnetic stirrer in the flask, so I have a sticky note now on the bucket to remember that it is still there when I go to secondary next Saturday.
Sunday, October 1st
Checked the fermentation bucket around 10 AM, and the bubble cadence in the airlock is a very healthy 1-2 seconds already. This is a very positive sign so soon after brewing, and I think giving the yeast starter 36 hours instead of 24 probably contributed to that. This beer has the potential to be the first batch with 6% over alcohol content by volume (ABV). Fingers crossed.
Monday, October 2nd
As of 1 PM, the bubble cadence is 1-2 second long bursts at 5 second intervals (yeast is very active).
Saturday, October 7th
The yeast appeared to have completed around Thursday afternoon. Transferred to secondary today.
The process went smoothly, and the interim gravity shows 5.25 ABV as of the time of the transfer.
Secondary is in a 5 gallon plastic carboy (essentially, a reused water cooler reservoir) with a grommet and an S-airlock. One thing I did forget after transferring the wort to the car boy, was to use a strainer and recover the pill for the magnetic stirrer which I did not recover earlier. All is well though, even thought it was the garbage disposal sound which reminded me of this. Replacements are easy to get online and my next batch is not until early next year.
I put the carboy into the same 18 gallon plastic tub with 1 inch of water at the bottom, and wrapped in a towel around it with end dropped into the water for wick cooling. I also put a cut corner of a black plastic bag very loosely over the top of the S-airlock. It is mostly to keep light out of the container, but the plastic bag also stops the air escaping from the air lock from going into free flight. With some batches, the yeast odor can be a little strong.
I also do this with the fermentation bucket, since I do not have dedicated cooling equipment. It has worked well over the years.
Sunday, October 15th
Bottling went very smoothly. I broke my hydrometer, which means I was not able to get a measurement for exact ABV. During the secondary fermentation week, there was not a lack of bubble pressure in the airlock which could have been a concern (i.e. dead yeast). The night prior, I gave the carboy a swirl, and saw the pressure in the air lock increase dramatically, with some bubbling shortly after that. This was a good sign.
This batch is a debut of kegging for me, on a small, trial basis. I bought a 128oz mini keg from Amazon (as before, I have no economic benefit from the link) and loaded about 120 oz of brew into it with only a cap on the container (no spear, etc.). I plan on carbonating with a CO2 cartridge a few days before Thanksgiving, when I release it.
The yield of this batch is 40x 12oz bottles (with appropriate orange bottle caps) for natural conditioning over 4 weeks, and the one gallon mini keg for future CO2 injection.
The taste of this uncarbonated beer is very good. I am really looking forward to release day.
