Batch #11: It's a Great Pumpkin Ale Charlie Brown!

OK! Time for my second attempt at an Autumn seasonal. Last year, in celebration of the harvest, I attempted a pumpkin stout.  This year, I am going for a less aggressive and more traditional Ale style.  Secondly, since my last attempt I have upgraded to an all grain system.

Technique: All Grain Brew in a Bag

Recipe:
10 lbs 2 row American pale malt
.5 lb chocolate malt

hops: Magnum
.25oz @60 mins
.25oz @ 30min

60 oz pumpkin in a can. Baked for 1.5 hrs @ 350F

Spices: McCormick Pumpkin Pie Spice. 3 tsp at 5 min.

1 cup of molasses after mash but before boil (flame OUT to avoid charring at the bottom)
1 cup of brown sugar after mash but before boil (flame OUT to avoid charring at the bottom)

Yeast: Mad River House yeast

fermented at 68F in keezer in Ale Pail bucket.

Boiled in both turkey fryer and 3 gal. stock pot on stove.  Produced around 6-6.5 gallons.

Forgot to take a gravity reading but I predict it will be around 6%

Batch #10: Round 2 APA

Brew Day 6/29/2012

Recipe:
10 lb 2 Row Pale Ale
4oz Willamette

Used a new technique more suited for my gear setup. I prepared two separate mashes to begin simultaneously. One in the turkey fryer 30 L and the other in the 3 gal. stovetop setup.

Mash 1: 5 Gal. @ 7 lbs grain
Mash 2: 2 Gal @ 3 lbs grain
Hop Additions:
60 min: 2oz Willamette
30 min: 1oz Willamette
5 min: 1 oz Willamette

Mash start 9:42 am

Topped off both mashes w/ 160 ish F. of water shortly after Mash start.(1.25 Gal split among both vessels.) Recommended to top off before mash temps are attained next time to avoid having to heat extra water in separate pots.

After mash I topped the 30 L kettle off with the stove contents.  This brought the big kettle up to 6 gal. (maybe a bit much for my capacity but it worked)

Started boil w/ 6 gal + 1.25 gal extra on stove.  This extra was boiled separately along with the main batch.

OG using refractometer @ room temp = 1.044


Gravity Check 7/2/2012 1.011  Added yeast nutrient 5 tsp (1tsp per gal)

Batch #9: American Pale Ale

6/27/2012

Recipe:
10 lbs 2 Row Pale Ale
Summit and Chinook Hops

Steeped @ 5 Gal
Had another 2.5 gals on hand (steep temp)

2:15 - turned propane cooker onto highest settings. Waited for 150 F
2:35 hit 175
Began steep of 10 lbs grain

Once done: Poured 2 gals of hot water over grains to extract more sugars.


4:00 Began boil with 6 gal:
Hops - 4 oz Summit, 2oz Chinook



60 min 2oz Summit
30 min 2oz Summit
5  min  2oz Chinook


5:00 Flame out @ 5.25 gal
Original Gravity: (hydrometer) 1.034 with a pot abv of 4.9


This batch was steeped at 200 F for almost half the mash.  There was some difficulty maintaining the 150-175 range with the flame on.  Next time will cut the flame, cover the pot, and let sit while stirring and watching the temp. This may have released some undesirable flavors.

Batch #8 Blueberry Jalepeno Mead

3/17/12 - Michael and I set off to make our very first mead.  Two gallons in total were made split between the two of us.  I decided to boil up some jalepenos to add to primary to give it that capsaicin kick on the back taste.

We brought two distilled gallons of water to a near boil (not entirely boil). On hindsight I don't believe we will boil again as I have read not to do this.
Then we added about 3-3.5 lbs of honey per gallon.  Continual stirring ensured the honey would not char on the bottom of the pot.  Once entire honey mixture was dissolved we introduced 24oz of lightly crushed fresh blueberries using a colander to keep separate from the must.  They were kept in until the must had a pleasant purplish hue.  After clearing out the blueberries we placed the pot into an ice bath. After room temperature was achieved we took a gravity reading (1.082 or a pot. abv of apprx 11%).  We racked onto a split bag of frozen blueberries, pitched our starter yeast (grocery store active yeast) and used a balloon as an airlock.

3/23/12 - A couple more ounces of honey in both mead batches to increase the abv.  Introducing the honey gradually increases the chance of not killing off the yeast.

*note:  Today I shopped at the Cake and Hobby store for some supplies. I picked up a 1 gallon jug for secondary and some pectic enzyme.  The enzyme will help in clarification.

For a still mead you will need to add potassium sorbate to stabilize.