my very own pumpkin ale

Last Saturday I brewed up a batch of pumpkin ale. It was my very own recipe, loosely based on some I had found online. Here's the notes:

Ingredients:

• 1lb 2 row grains
• 3.3lbs Thomas Cooper Malt Extract, Light
• 3lbs L.D. Carlson Breiss Dried Malt Extract, Golden Light
• 3 cans Libby's canned pumpkin
• 3oz East Kent Golding hops (for brewing), 4.8%
• 1.5oz Hallertau hops (for finishing), 3.9%
• 11g Nottingham brewing yeast
• 1tsp (heaping) pumpkin pie spice

Steps:

1. Steep grains at 160°-170°F for 20 minutes
2. Strain to pail, and then back to brew pot
3. Heat wort to boil while sanitizing other equipment. Put can of malt syrup in hot water
4. When the wort is boiling, turn off the heat, add malt syrup, dried malt, pumpkin, and half of the brewing hops
5. Return to boil. Boil for 30 minutes
6. Add the rest of the brewing hops. Boil for 30 minutes
7. Add spice and finsihing hops. Brew for a couple more minutes
8. Cool it down, strain into fermenter, measure original gravity, and add yeast

Notes:

• Original Gravity: 1.057
• I steeped the grains too hot, about 190°F. Need to be more careful.
• My carbon monoxide detector went off. I had to open some windows and turn on the fan. Should have done this from the start, as the one burner of my stove was going for hours.
• To strain I used a large steamer. It worked really well.
• Getting the wort back to a boil when I added the malt took a while. Also, my brew pot was quite full.
• I used canned pumpkin since the grocery store did not have pumpkins for sale. This was a bit of a pain, as the wort ended up thick, and straining it was time-consuming, and a pain in general. This could really haunt me when it comes time to bottle.
• The wort smelled delicious

We'll see how it turns out.

UPDATES:

• Gravity at 1.020 on November 14
• Gravity at 1.018 on November 16. I was going to rack it today, but it's still going I guess.
• Gravity still at 1.018 on November 24. I bottled it.