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Last night, with the aid of my friend Stephanie, I started a pumpkin ale. This entry is mostly for my reference, but published in hopes that somebody else may find it useful.

For a 5-gallon batch:

2 cans light Light Malt Extract
1/2 lb German Crystal dark malt
1/4 lb Chocolate Malt
1 lb flaked barley (looks like oatmeal)
1 can pumpkin
2 oz hallertau hops
Approx 2 tsp pumpkin pie spices
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 phial White Labs California Ale Yeast
5 gallons Poland Spring water (I use Poland Spring because it is neither chlorinated nor fluoridated, the publish extensive water quality data online, and the data show the water to be of very good quality)
Fermax yeast nutrient (I think it was 1 tsp/gallon)

In a three-gallon pot:

*Realize that grains should have been crushed in the homebrew shop; bash them a bit with one of the LME cans.

* Put grains in a muslin grain bag, tie shut, and steep in 2 gallons water between 150-170 degrees Fahrenheit, 30 minutes

* Remove bag, drain water out, and discard grains

* Add Liquid Malt Extract and hops to grain-tea, boil for 30 minutes

* Add pumpkin, boil another 15 minutes

* Add Irish Moss and spices, boil for another 15 minutes

* Watch in awe as the wort that boiled over combusts, foams, and mushrooms on the burner

* Remove from heat, add remaining three gallons of water to a food-grade plastic brewer’s bucket, then add hot wort. Chill with copper immersion chiller to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

* Decant chilled wort into glass, 6.5 gal carboy, straining out hop leaves. Pitch yeast and add fermax.

* Affix airlock, move down to the shelf where it will ferment.

* OG not measured due to broken hydrometer; recipe indicates 1.042.

* Get up next morning, check carboy. No activity is apparent. Go to Local Homebrew Store and buy more yeast. They advise that I give it a vigorous shake, which may be all it needs. They say if I see some foam after I do that, it means the yeast is working and I do not need to repitch. I thank them for the advise, shake the thing up, and repitch anyway. I’m fairly certain I would see *some* foam even if I were just shaking water. I’d rather waste the $3.00 I spent on extra yeast than the $55 that I spent on ingredients!

Update Monday and Tuesday saw high Kräusen, vigorous roiling activity in the carboy, and a six-degree spike above ambient temperature (73F in the room, 79F in the carboy).  Wednesday, the Kräusen activity is lessened, and the solid matter is mostly settled at the bottom of the tank.  Will take hydrometer reading and possibly rack this weekend.

Update: Racked the beer on Wednesday night, September 24, and kegged it in 5L mini kegs on Thursday, September 25.  Served some up at the training graduation party on Friday 26.  It was still mostly flat, but scrumptious none the less–I even got a “better than most homebrew” review from a colleague!

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