Despite the worst storm in Great Lakes history (based on air pressure) we decided to forge ahead and continue with our scheduled brewing night.
The brewing of the October batch was attended by Jon, Ryan, Jeff and Kevin.
On Monday afternoon I did a starter and pitched our yeast (WhiteLabs English Ale Yeast WLP002) and had some good bubbling by Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon I roasted a couple of pumpkins for 2 1/2 hours at 275°. I then scooped out the meat. I figure we had about 4 lbs of pumpkin to work with.
Time line:
7:20 2 gal water started
7:40 Water at 155, started steeping grains (4 lb Crystal 10°L) and pumpkin (in a grain bag)
8:10 Grains sparged with 1/2 gal hot water
8:20 9.3 lbs light LME added
8:50 Rolling boil. Pumpkin removed and 1 oz Magnum hops added
9:20 1/2 lb lactose added
9:35 1 oz Sterling hops, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 vanilla bean (sliced and cut into eighths), 2 tsp irish moss and 1 tsp yeast nutrient added
9:50 Flameout
10:00 Chilling wort
10:35 Yeast pitched @ 77°
The gravity was 1.070. We were hoping for around 1.080. This should end up at around 7% ABV.
This is the first batch of beer that we've ever added lactose. Those of you who remember your high school science no doubt remember that lactose is a type of sugar, commonly found in milk. The difference between lactose and other sugars is that lactose will not ferment. Any other sugars, whether is is regular old table sugar or the sugars we get from the malted barley will ferment when yeast is added. The lactose stays as lactose, which means that once the beer is finished, it will provide sweetness, rather than alcohol.
As usual, there were some tasty beverages consumed.
Some of us also consumed some not so tasty foods, such as pumpkin that has been simmering for an hour.
Next up is November's brew, Breakfast stout. We will be brewing in a few weeks. More details later.
Quick update: The bubbling in the airlock of the Imperial Pumpkin has stopped. I took a gravity reading and the beer is already at 1.025. This means than less than 48 hours after pitching yeast it's already at 6% ABV!
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