Water-to-Grain Ratio Question

Gonna do my pumpkin ale this weekend and was doing a final check on my BeerSmith numbers; and I noticed the volume for mash-in seemed a little high for the amount of grain, (the recipe includes 3 Lbs of canned pumpkin for the mash) so I took the weight of the pumpkin from 3 Lbs down to zero and my needed mash water dropped about a gallon.

Seeing as BS sees the pumpkin in the water-to-grain ratio calculation, I zeroed it to ensure I was getting the desired ratio for the grain (the stuff that will actually use the water during the mash) as I am going to be adding the pumpkin to a pan with some water to make it soupy, heat it to mash temp, and pour it in after I mash-in which will dilute the mash even more, albeit only a little.

I'm also throwing a pound of rice hulls into the tun to make for an uneventful sparge, and this, too, increased the water needed for mash-in by a small amount, so I zeroed that too seeing as they're use for filtration and shouldn't absorb much water, if any.

Seems the water-to-grain ratio calculator is tied to "<mass> of whatever goes in the tun". This will be my first all-grain pumpkin ale using canned pumpkin and rice hulls. I'm looking for a ratio of 1.3qt/Lb for the mash, and if I zero the weight of the pumpkin and rice hulls, BS will give me the water needed for the mash to hit that ratio - it looks right to me.

BUT - the tun will also contain a pound of rice hulls and 3 Lbs of canned pumpkin with enough water to make it soupy before tossing it in.

Should I;
A) Add enough water in the mash to account for the pound of rice hulls (about a quart)?
B) Subtract enough water from the mash to account for what I use in the "pumpkin mixture" (about a quart)?
C) Relax, don't worry, have a home-brew?
D) All of the above?
E) A and C?
F) B and C?
G) Let "A" and "B" cancel each other and go with "C"?

If it were something you were going to do regularly I would think about it more but for what you're doing I would just have extra water heated and ready, keep it a little on the dry side and add water till it looks good, then note the total amount used.

Then I would go with C and have a beer.

SharpsRifle said:

...add water till it looks good...

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Sounds like sage advice. Reminiscent of something I read in Gordon Strong's "Making Better Beer" - something about relying more on your senses as opposed to worrying over precise measurements for some of your processes. Makes sense to me (there was a pun in there, wasn't there...)

Water in the mash is for the grits of the grain. Hulls/husk don't take up very much and can be discounted. No additional water for pumpkin is needed.

You can simply back the ratio down to 1.25 q/lb and I'll bet it's pretty close to the zeroed out calculation. My preference is to start tighter (1.1 q/lb) and let the grain soak up some of the vegetable water for conversion.

@ brewfun - I do normally run my mash a little thicker, around 1.2qt/Lb for most brews, but my thinking this time was, because I have 3 Lbs of vegetable  mass in the tun, perhaps I should go a little looser to promote good lautering as pumpkin can get sticky, from what I've heard/read.

If you think I can go tighter, say 1.1 or 1.2, and I won't (shouldn't) have problems lautering seeing that I also bought insurance (rice hulls), then that would be my preference.

If you want to keep your water-to-grain ratio consistent with your other recipes, BS gives you that option.  Since the profiles (equipment, mash, fermentation) are saved individually with each recipe they can be customized.  Figure out the water amount you want to add without the pumpkin addition.  Then, with the pumpkin addition, edit the mash profile within the recipe such that the water amount comes out the same.  This profile will save with the recipe and will not affect your overall profile for your other recipes or new recipes you create in the future.

philm63 said:

If you think I can go tighter, say 1.1 or 1.2, and I won't (shouldn't) have problems lautering seeing that I also bought insurance (rice hulls), then that would be my preference.

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It depends on how you're treating the pumpkin before you brew. Roasted? Boiled? Raw? Each will change how the pumpkin works. Most of the times I've had to make a pumpkin beer, it's been too early to get fresh local sugar (pie) pumpkin. The big Jack o' Lantern types are a stringy mess.

My favorite treatment when I could get fresh, was to chunk and boil the pulp, then puree. Chop and toast the pumpkin shell. The puree mixed pretty well (with generous amounts of rice hulls) and the shells added more depth to the flavor.

Pumpkin is 90% water, but it doesn't always act like it. I mash pretty thick on all of my beers, but then thin it out before recirculating. I might be as much as 2 qt/lb for recirculation. There is nothing sacred about keeping the mash ratio once you have conversion.