I finally got my supplies for this Pumpkin Ale and got it brewing. I have never brewed a pumpkin ale before and this one used a lot of real pumpkin. I ended up buying three pie pumpkins, cooking them, then pureeing them and then finally adding 9 lbs of this pumpkin puree to the brewpot.
It has been happily fermenting for 6 days and it was time to transfer it to the secondary fermenter. All of that pumpkin that was added produced a pretty thick layer of solids on the bottom of the fermenter and for clarity it was a good idea to transfer it.
Before I go into the actual transfer of the beer I wanted to sing the praises of this little whosamawhatsit.
No, its not anything used in S & M bondage or horse training, its the "Brew Hauler". For anyone who has tried to lift and carry a full 5 - 6 gallons of beer in a glass carboy, you know how heavy and uncooperative it can be. Plus if you're old man river like me with back trouble, it can be down right dangerous, I could lose my grip, fall and break my hip. Then where would I be, I don't have one of those "Help, I've fallen and can't get up" thingys, so I would have to lay on the floor and survive off of floor beer until someone found me.
But anyway I digress, so this Brew Hauler slides over the carboy and clips to provide an easy way to carry the beer.
You can see the two handles, that make life so much easier.
Now with my strapping all in place, I could finally transfer the beer and get it back to happily fermenting in the corner.
Even after the initial transfer, you can still see a pretty huge layer of sediment on the bottom, so I may be transferring again, but we'll see.
So bring on the Pumpkiny Goodness!!
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