I am planning to brew a pumpkin ale later today (my first one), and in
preparation I have gone over all the pumpkin recipes on the Cat's Meow
as well as those on BeerTools.com. I have also read every post that I
can find in an assortment of brewing forums. Some say to add the
pumpkin during the boil, while others say to add it to the mash; the
mash seems more logical to me in order to achieve conversion of starches
(I presume pumpkin has some), so that's what I'm planning to do. Some
also say to use only fresh pumpkins, while others say it is okay to used
canned pumpkin -- even in the mash -- and some even say that canned
pumpkin pie filling is okay; others caution not to use the canned stuff
in the mash because of the mess and possible stuck runoffs/sparges. I
have a monster bazooka (10 feet long) and have never had a stuck runoff
yet, including when I've used high quantities of oatmeal and even a
wheat beer made with regular flour, so I'm willing to take my chances.
My question pertains to preservatives. I'm going to the store in the
morning to buy the pumpkin, so I'm not sure whether I can find any cans
that don't have preservatives; however, assuming the cans do contain
something, is it reasonable to expect that the ma****ng and subsequent 90
minute boil will remove them or dilute them enough that they won't hurt
the yeast? I'm planning to mash about 5 pounds of canned pumpkin in 10
pounds of grist to make a 5 gallon batch. There were some comments
somewhere during the course of my research that suggested that
preservatives are not a problem, but I'd like to confirm that if
possible before buying it. For instance, if anyone were to definitively
re****t that they used canned pumpkin containing preservatives and just
couldn't get the yeast to ferment, and there are no contrary experiences
by brewers who definitely used preservatives without problems, then I'd
feel compelled to switch over to fresh pumpkin. The only reason I'm
avoiding fresh is that it just seems to entail a lot of extra work that
I'd like to avoid if possible.
Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.
Bill Velek
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