Pumpkin Ale Grainfather brew

[@ShortCircuitedBrewers]

David Heath, historian, beer brewer, and teacher!! That was a nice looking kit. It was interesting to see the dehydrated pumpkin. I'm used to seeing either canned pumpkin or fresh pumpkin here in the states so that was an interesting change of pace. I really like the color on that look nice. One thing different from the mass produced pumpkin beers here is that I didn't see any spices. IMO that's a good thing. LOL RDWHAHB

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

Hahah thanks Brian. Yes , a nice quality kit for sure with a very nice colour in the brew. I was semi tempted to try spices also but from what people have been saying I am very glad that I didnt! :)

[@exedus666]

Hi David, thanks so much for your videos and sharing your knowledge, I really appreciate it. I have a question about the recipe. The hops specified here are Marco Polo. Such a hop is not known to me. Do you know what is best to substitute it with? Another question concerns the pumpkin. Can you replace this in the amount 1 to 1 with fresh, roasted in the oven or must the amount be increased here? Thanks a lot!

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

Hi Peter, Marco Polo is derived from Columbus, so this is the ideal sub. I would use the same amount of pumpkin on that basis. Enjoy 🍻🍻🍻

[@gatortalk6]

Great video David! Love that there are no pumpkin pie spice in it! Beautiful color too!

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

+gatortalk6 Thank you :) Cool, many seem to agree that spices ruin it.

[@joaopedrosoares4972]

Hi David, Warm regards from Brazil. I love your videos! Keep up with the good work. Just a small suggestion. Why don't you post the results? It should be very pleasant for us to see the finished art. Have a nice week!

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

+João Pedro Soares Hi and thank you. A couple of things here :) Firstly I am not sharing anything that is not tried and tested. Brew with that in mind :) I also post tasting results from previously brewed beers on my channel. The next tasting session with the local bjcp is tonight, so look out for that in videos coming next week or perhaps over the weekend :)

[@tomford6880]

Great vid as usual. What an awesome colour. I really hope we get to see the final product or a review of it.

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

+Tom Ford Yes! I am hoping to set up another beer tasting session soon to review and show previous brews.

[@bull23jarhead6]

Great video as usual David, would love to see some of the finished beers in a glass with a follow up taste test and review. keep up the good work

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

+Bull23 jarhead I have a series just for this. There are 3 tasting videos on the channel right now, the forth will be made soon, I had a tasting evening last night :)

[@bull23jarhead6]

Thanks David found them will watch today while I'm brewing :)

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

+Bull23 jarhead Cool :)

[@ianryan3458]

Great video and great channel David. I'm new to all grain brewing and have only been following the recipes of others so far. Any advice on building my own recipes? Any literature you can recommend to help me with this?

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

+Ian Ryan Hi Ryan. This is a very lengthy topic and one that I plan on making a video series on. To get started I would suggest making a «smash» beer. From there you can add one more grain to the previous recipe to see the effect. beersmith.com/blog/2012/10/24/smash-brewing-single-malt-and-single-hop-beers/

[@ianryan3458]

David Heath Thanks David. I look forward to seeing those videos once you make them!

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

+Ian Ryan The first part was uploaded last night :)

[@TFS6750]

Again a fantastic video David, congratulations :) To avoid clogging both recirculation and sparge, have you thought about the possibility of using a pumpkin hopbag? Perhaps it would be interesting to make a mash before with only the rehydrated pumpkin and then remove the solid part, then merge? TY

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

+Fernando López Angulo Glad you liked the video :) Pumpkin is new to me :) I think next time I would add more rice hulls. This would fix it and give a better result than bagging it.

[@TFS6750]

@@DavidHeathHomebrew Hello , after almost one year haha. I'm going to do this recipe next week and there comes an idea: Why do you add the pumpkin in the mash? it is not necessary to be at 65ºC for one hour and we almost certainly generate a stuck. Having rye and wheat in the recipe is already quite a risk of it, even with rice hulls (it has happened to me before even with the ground grain not very fine) . Do not you think it would be better to boil the pumpkin with the sparge water in another container and add this water later in the sparge? In this case, would not it also be valid to use fresh pumpkin? I am very interested about what do you think about ;) Regards!

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

Haha, this was not my recipe as I mentioned in the video. It did work though by adding rice hulls. If I did it again then I would add these straight away. Many that brewed this after my video found this worked well.

[@TFS6750]

Good to know it Dave, now I will look if it is possible to extract the pumpkin flavour and aroma in a separate process, not in the mash. TY again ;)

[@peterscandlyn]

Food for thought there. A big like, thanks David.

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

+Peter Scandlyn Great to hear Peter, thanks for the feedback :)

[@brentb9823]

Thank you for this video David. I always freak out when I see the wort going past the recirc pipe. I always use the screen on top but always wondered what effect an overflow would have. As well how would you recommend using fresh pumpkin as opposed to dehydrated and in what amounts? Thank you again.

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

+Store 2347 Relax :) Pumpkin ale is new to me so it is really hard to be sure of giving you the best advice here but it would seem to me that if you have access to fresh pumpkin then that would be better.

[@brentb9823]

David Heath it’s almost overdone around here as per all the micros that do it and do it well. However it’d be nice to try it out. I think I’ll use your base recipe and add in roasted pumpkin. Question is to put in the mash or at late boil.?

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

The mash for sure. You could also add it during fermentation. The boil would be the last place to put it, you wont get much from it that way at all.

[@brentb9823]

David Heath Now you’ve created other questions:). Ok for example. My friend and I collaborated on a Peach Saison. The peach purée when into the boil at 15m. Following that we were going to put into fermenter 5days in (didn’t have enough peaches) Anyhow I guess what I’m trying to ask is: What adjuncts are appropriate for the boil and which ones are better for when mashing?

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

+Brent B Generally speaking most are better in the fermenter but it depends on what you are looking for. With my chilli ales I do both because I like the vegatable taste that a little boiling provides. The real flavour though is added in tje fermenter. Usually the boil will kill the flavours you are looking for in fruit. It is unusual to mash them also.

[@SeBastad666]

that's a pretty cool kit. i recently bought one as well and added stuff so it still feels a bit of my own. But i've got no clue if its going to be anything good, lol

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

Yes, I was very happy with it :)

[@Kberrysal]

Will you try more kits now

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

+Kendal Saulsberry I can see the convenience, though most of my brewing doesn’t get a video because its me experimenting with new recipe ideas of my own.

[@saintmoz]

You said it’s unfair to call it a stuck sparge, I don’t think it’s unfair at all, it was a stuck sparge. It is certainly no fault of the Brewer or the equipment, but a small flaw in the recipe design. While this isn’t a big deal it should be addressed(which you did) and rice hulls added to the kit or at the very least recommended when ordering. I think it’s important to be just as critical of recipe kits as you would be of your own design, so that every user gets a good experience.

[@DavidHeathHomebrew]

+saintmoz It was still flowing, though probably because of the rice hulls already added. It was running pretty sliw though. I would totally agree that rice hulls would be a smart addition to a grain bill of this nature and thus the kit. It was nice to get the chance of a sticking sparge on camera :)