Hows my little Pumpkin Brewer?

Another autumn another pumpkin beer. Last year, it was such a success we decided we ought to repeat our attempt, with a few modifications. Also I was so excited about it that I decided to make a double batch of the good stuff.



We ran into several great opportunities to learn from because of our modifications. Last year we decided we wanted an even stronger pumpkin flavor and to go a little easier on the spices. It was a good balance before, but we decided there was room for improvement. This year to create a stronger pumpkin flavor we opted for a pumpkin puree which worked great! Sort of. I imagined baking/grilling the pumpkins then a quick hop into the food processor and we would be set. Not so. Our food processor quickly turned it to mush but nothing circulated so it was still quite chunky and sticky, so we ended up mushing the pumpkins by hand.



Next up we steeped the puree and had a much better result than last year.



Ryan gratefully lent his wort chiller for the project and boy that works so much better than my lame method. Although it was a bit creative in construction the fact that it worked was great was all that mattered.



Sadly with this batch I learned the hard way that one needs to be quick with their wort after it has been chilled in two ways. Number one get the yest into the primary quick. Letting it hang out in open air after its been chilled is bad news. Number two, try and control the temperature in the house a bit better to get the beer ferment quicker. Since we made this in the fall we didn't really have the heat on and the house was never that warm. Also a yest starter may have helped. These things led to a very sad morning about 4 days after the initial boil.



Those spots aren't bubbles, its mold.


Thankfully the other batch began to bubble the day the first batch molded and we were able bottle without incident. It's not quite as good as last year and at this point I'm not sure how I will be to improve it, but I have a few ideas. Also for some reason this beer in incredibly foamy, pouring it without a 5 inch head is next time impossible to accomplish. It makes me think it may not have fermented long enough so I'll have to look that one up sometime.

In the meantime, here is a shot of 2010's Pumpkin Beer: