Check up, and pumpkins.

It's been a few days since we bottled the beer.  I checked it yesterday morning -- no sign of carbonation yet.  I know I shouldn't expect it this soon, but I figured since I'm keeping track of the batch like this, I should make a note of it.  Nothing's exploded, so I presume all is going well.

I got to thinking about future batches of beer.  My future sister-in-law has mentioned her love of Harvest Moon lately, and it got me to wondering: what are they using to impart the pumpkin flavor in there?

I suppose you could steep pumpkin in some boiling water and strain the hell out of it, and add the wort to it for primary fermentation.  My other thought was roasting pumpkin seeds and steeping those in a mesh bag during secondary, although that might give more of a nutty flavor than a pumpkin flavor.

Why I'm glad I have a 6.5 gal carboy.

A couple of my friends are brewing an ale, and have it in a five-gallon carboy.

Maybe 12 hours or so after they got the wort in the carboy, that sucker blew up.  I'd never seen an airlock full of krausen before; I suspect they also didn't strain it very well, since it seemed to be extremely green.

Seeing that makes me want to be even more meticulous with future batches.  It's kinda like hearing kids screaming in a restaurant, which becomes a quick-fire method of birth control.

Changing one's mind.

I decided to wait on the bottling, given that the wort still had some bubbles on top.  I checked in again today -- not the gravity, but just the temperature/visuals.  Given that there were still some bubbles, and everything else looked good (it was reading 72 degrees), I'm waiting.  I may end up bottling it tomorrow morning -- if nothing else, I'm going to check the gravity and make a decision then.

If it ain't ready, it ain't ready.  As of tonight it'll be fourteen days of fermentation; I don't have a problem waiting a few more days.  Better safe than sorry.