Partial Mash Question

[Terminum]

I've only done extract brewing until now, and this afternoon I'm planning the brew the Smashing Pumpkin Ale from NB which appears to have a partial mash option:

"Mash the peeled, cooked pumpkin flesh with up to 3 gallons of hot water, the 6-row and the included grains at 152°F for 1 hour. Then strain the liquid off and add it to the water in the boil kettle, topping up to achieve 3 gallons."

I just read the easy partial mash thread, and was planning to use the tea bag method. However, I just have a single 5 gal brew pot (no valve or built-in thermometer) and I don't even have a large grain bag, just a regular small muslin mesh grain bag. I'm using a total of 2.5 lbs of grain for the mash so the muslin bag will be really stuffed (if it even fits) and I'm curious if those bags are made to hold of for a full hour of steeping. Edit: Just found that I have an extra muslin bag in case it doesn't fit into one. That will probably make it a lot easier.

I do have a stainless steel strainer, so if the muslin bag sounds like a bad idea I can just try to strain the mash but I imagine plenty of grain will get through it. I'm going to have to temporarily transfer the mash to a secondary pot anyway so I can rinse out the sludge since I only have one pot big enough for boiling. Maybe two passes through the strainer will be able to get most of it.

Which sounds like a better approach?



I also have an unrelated question.. I'm expecting the OG to be just over 1.060. If this is the case should I pitch two packs of dry yeast, or will 1 pack of Safale US-05 be enough? All of my batches have been under the expected final gravity, sometimes by nearly a full percent. I'm worried two packs might be overpitching though since this OG is borderline, based on what I've read. Would it be too unorthodox to use 1.5 packs?


Thanks

 

[aiptasia]

Go to lowes or home depot and head for the paint supplies. Purchase a nylon paint strainer bag or two for around $2.00 each. Bag problem solved.

You'll be fine with one packet of Safale S-05 if it's relatively fresh. If not, pitch two. Just remember to rehydrate them per instructions about a half hour before pitching. Oxygenating your wort and adding a small amount of yeast nutes to it will also help immensely.

For future reference, really good professional "pumpkin" beers have no pumpkin in them whatsoever, just pumpkin pie spices used against a malty sweet backbone. Pumpkin itself adds very little flavor and a whole lot of unfermentable starches and proteins to your beer. It's the pumpkin pie spices that add the real flavor to those beers. I would use a whirlfloc tablet or some irish moss in the last 10 minutes of the boil to coagulate a lot of that out of the wort.

 

[szap]

Good advice on the paint strainer bags, but if you are not close to a place to buy them, you might try putting the grains in your grain bag and adding the pumpkin directly to your water for mashing. When done you can remove the grain bag and strain the pumpkin with your strainer.

 

[Dmlsys23]

Just made this identical beer the same way. Used 1 pack of US-05 with an OG of 1.062. Took a gravity reading after 10 days and got an FG of 1.012.

 

[Terminum]

Thanks for the tips. I used a 5 gal paint strainer, it worked perfectly and fit snug around my brew kettle just like deathbrewer's pictures. Holds up well and cleans easily enough to be reused. Great advice.