Pumpkin Ale recipe in Sept/Oct Zymurgy, seeking guidance/elaboration

Brewing Processes
1

I am hoping to do the Pocahontas Pumpkin Ale all-grain recipe on page 27 in latest Zymurgy.  I’ve done 4 all-grain beers using two modified Rubbermaid coolers for mash and lauter tuns. I’ve only ever done basic mash, so I need some guidance on something:

For the recipe I have to do a protein rest at 120 for 10 minutes and a sacch rest at 168 for 60 minutes. Do I get the water in the mash tun up 48 degrees by adding water as one would at the end of a single-step mash? If so, how much water is needed to raise the temp by that much?  Also, do I still increase the temp for 5-10 minutes to 178 at the end of the mash before mashing out?

Thanks!

2

do you have any software? beersmith should be able to calculate those additions for you pretty well.

There are also on line calculators that will get you close but for 20$ I would grab a copy of beersmith.

Just out of curiosity why two coolers? I have the 72 qt with a SS braid and that works as a mash and lauter tun. (You could sell one and get beersmith!)

3

I think you misread the recipe. Sacc rest is at 154 and mash out at 168. A sacc rest at 168 probably won’t work so well for making a tasty brew.

4

Thanks to you both.  You are correct, I did misread the recipe.  I also wasn’t clear on my all-grain kit, in that I have one cooler that is used to hold and distribute the hot liquor for lautering.  Thanks for the thoughts on beersmith, will check it out.

5

I brewed this last weekend. For the most part, it went well. I was worried about getting a stuck sparge with all that pumpkin, but not a problem with the rice hulls.

I assume you are cutting this recipe back to a 5 gallon batch. If not, I suggest you do since you mash in a cooler (unless your cooler is a LOT bigger than my 10 gallon).

I started my 120 protein rest at a water/grain ratio of 1 (which is pretty darn thick). The 154 sacch rest was hit correctly, but I was only able to get the targeted 168 mash out to 162… because my cooler was unable to accommodate the additional HLT water necessary to raise all the way to 168.

Also, check out the Green Bay Rackers website… they have a great calculator to help you hit your mash temps.

Let me know if you have any questions about this post.

Cheers,
Drew

6

Could you pull a decoction with pumpkin in the mash? That may be one way to hit mash-out temps without violating your tun’s capacity…

7

Yeah, I think so. I have avoided decoction because it just seems like a pain. Also, it seems like only half of homebrewers mash out anyway, so I’m not going to stress about missing by a couple degrees on the mash out. Good thought though, thanks!

8

[quote]Could you pull a decoction with pumpkin in the mash? That may be one way to hit mash-out temps without violating your tun’s capacity…Report
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That would actually help burst some of the starch molecules in the pumpkin and make the mash less sticky when added back in. A decoction of this type (I call it “poor man’s decoction”) which is basically pull out 1/3 or so of the mash (for a few degress increase) to another pot, bring it to a boil fairly quickly, then add it back to the main mash.

The mash out on the pumpkin beer recipe also the stickiness of the mash (viscosity) to make the sparge easier.