Pumpkin FrankenWine

After a lot of reading recipe's and threads around the internet I decided to try making a 'fermented Pumpkin drink' and I did not know the appropriate name because it could be a Mead, Cider, Wine or anything between. Also, I really like to read threads that people have posted that show the timeline of their wine making so if you will have me I am going to document my experiment here. I by no means am an expert so if you want to shoot holes in my recipe or methods, please do and I will keep learning. Since it is October I thought it would be fitting to call my creation 'Pumpkin FrankenWine'.

 

Recipe so Far:
4 Pie Pumpkins
6 Gallons Cider
6 lbs Honey
6 lbs light brown sugar
1/2 cup lime juice
3/3 tsp yeast nutrient
1/1 tsp yeast energizer
1 tbsp Pectic enzyme
6 tsp Acid blend
1 tsp tannin
Old Reliable Lalvin EC-1118

 

Method:
Preheated the Oven at 350
I got 4 pumpkin pie pumpkins at the store (2 for $5 sale) Cut the top and bottoms off of them and cleaned them out. I sprinkled the inside with pumpkin pie spice (if anything it smelled good) I put them in glass baking dishes and let them cook for an hour.
While I was doing that i emptied the honey and sugar into the biggest pot I had and filled it up with cider to melt in. I added 1/2 cup of lime juice (did not have lemon) to make an invert sugar. Learned this making Skeeter Pee.
After the pumpkins were done and cooled I pulled them apart and scraped the meat out of them into a bowl and mixed them up a bit to incorporate the pumpkin pie spice.
Into the primary ferment-er bucket I poured in the cider/sugar/honey awesome pot I then added more cider until it got to the 6 gallon mark. I then added to that the pumpkin mash. Don't forget to shake out the pumpkin oils extracted in the baking dishes into the must!
I found when making fruit wines it is better to start with 6 gallons of liquid because by the time i rack off the gross lee's it is just about right to fit into my 5 gallon carboy without topping up.
To this amazingly smelling mess I added:
3 tsp yeast nutrient
1 tsp yeast energizer
1 tbsp Pectic
6 tsp Acid
5 crushed campden tablets
I gave this a good stir and sealed the lid SG 1.120
Little higher than I expected

 

I let this sit for 24 hours and then filled a pint jar half full of the must and the other half with distilled water and sprinkled some old reliable Lalvin EC-1118 gently on top and screwed on the lid with a little room for gas escape. Going to name my next dog Lalvin.
Anyhow this starter has worked for me before if I know the must might be difficult and the yeast needed a running start. I let the starter hydrate the yeast over night then in the morning shook it all together and let it party for a couple hours before I pitched it in this tasty beautiful mess in the bucket.
Since a lot of accounts say that their pumpkins get rotten and funky and this has a high SG I am going to also use the Skeeter Pee degassing daily method hoping to burn the must down under SG 1.000 as fast as possible and then strain out all the pumpkin and rack into a carboy. That is why I used the 3/3 nutrient 1/1 energizer in my recipe. So when it reaches SG 1.050 I will add those powders and hopefully keep this juice rolling. Also, I have read that the pumpkin does not add a lot of flavor anyhow, more body and mouth feel.
After racking into a carboy I am thinking about making a pumpkin spice tea bag and hanging it by a string into the carboy to add true pumpkin spice. I have not decided what spices and how much yet. But I think i have a week or two to think about it. Suggestions are welcome.
This must smells good and tastes good so I hope it works out. I hope to have this bottled by October 2019.
If not, failure teaches us lessons.

 

Every time I open my bucket it looks like pumpkin pie. Just want to put some whip cream on top. Been degassing it every day since 10/4/18 and the SG is now 1.055. maybe tomorrow I will add the nutrients and energizer. This has my airlock bubbling like nothing I have ever seen. It's like I put a little kid in the bucket and he is blowing bubbles in his chocolate milk. Except I put vodka in the airlock. Milk would be a bad choice and buckets have a warning about putting kids in them.

 

Finished bottling some things and checked on the Pumpkin.... SG 1.030 Big jump for a day. So I fed it 3 tsp nutrient and 1 tsp energizer and degassed it again. Might make it under SG 1.000 in under a week. Must still smells pumpkin yeasty and not funky yet... Cross my fingers hope it works out. Cut my ankle on a cheap carboy the neighbor sold me, never use that brand again. My wife asked if I wanted to quit making wine after this. I told her that I am no quitter. Too much fun anyhow. Happy Columbus Day!

 

Yikes! Glad it wasn't worse than it was!

 

Exactly one week after I pitched the yeast starter it is now just under SG 1.000. It is still rolling and bubbling but no funky pumpkin smells. Tonight I will pour the must through a collander/cheesecloth or pantyhose or whatever i can rig up to get all the pumkin pulp out of the juice. I will then rack it into a 6 gallon carboy and affix an airlock. It has a beautiful rusty orange color that I will take a picture of as soon as i get it into glass. Still need to make up my spice bag to hang into the carboy. This went quicker than I thought it would. The sugar was consumed way faster than even the Skeeter Pee I made. I don't know what I did but like Dr. Frankenstein said,"It's Alive!" There is constant bubbling and motion in this stuff. I feel like i should stir it in a black cauldron or something. Just hope I don't spill any tonight.
"Double Double Toil and Trouble."

 

Just under SG 1.000 and I racked it into a glass 6 gallon carboy. I tried to strain out most of the pumpkin with a colander and pouring through a fruit bag but it plugged up like cement. Should have used the fruit bag to start with but i don't know if that would have made a difference. Had to top it up a bit with more Apple Cider. I feel I should keep it fermenting and let the ABV increase as more alcohol content might preserve the leftover pumpkin that is settling at the bottom from rotting and getting funky. Also, it looks like there will be a lot of lee's at the bottom and if I am going to rack into a 5 gallon carboy next I may have to top up with more apple cider which will lower the ABV. But it also may equal out since the sugar in the cider will feed the yeast or it could add to the flavor or both. Either way I thought the cider filler would be better than water or wine.
I do like the color and hope when it clears it keeps the orange.
Since it is orange and has a lot of sediment i call this picture the 'General Lee's'
Bad joke I know.

 

Just my opinion, but I'd rack off of the gross lees you have there.

 

I thought I would wait a week for them to compact a bit. Unless you think I need to do it immediately?

 

My experience is that they don't compact that much, so I wouldn't leave them a week.

 

Good to know... It is a snowy day here in Nebraska so now I have something to do... Thank you!

 

Thanks to Stressbaby's advice (love to know the story behind that name) I racked the Franken Wine from a 6 to a 5 gallon carboy. Did not need much topping up but I did put in some more Apple cider to get it to the top. SG 0.995 even after adding the extra juice to top up so not bad. Need to find a tea bag or somthing to hang my spices in next.
The sludge at the bottom was like joint compound you put on drywall. When I first racked into the 6 gal from the bucket it looked like the carboy was half full of lee's, but after a while it did settle down to about 2-3 inches at the bottom. I was a bit scared for a couple days but it came out alright. When i was siphoning it to the smaller carboy, as soon as it hit the sludge the siphon almost came to a complete stop.

 

So where are you at in Nebr.?? I am in Kenesaw, middle of the state. Arne.

 

I live in Holdrege. I just drove through Kenesaw on Sunday during the blizzard.

 

We will have to get together one of these days and crack a bottle and tell some lies. Have to go to Arapahoe next week but it will be on a weekday and during the day. Arne.

 

Thanks for sharing! I will definitely try your recipe. Let us know about the spices. It looks great!!! ET

 

The fermenting has pretty much stopped itself. You can see the SG reading below so it must have gone through all the sugar. I found some cold brew coffee bags for the spices. They are pretty much like big tea bags with a draw string. The wife likes cold brew coffee so she was excited that I got them too. I found some spices at a supermarket in 1/2 ounce bags so I thought that was about the right amount to go with. I got cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and some ginger root. I peeled the ginger and cut it into big chunks. The dry spices gave a little love tap with my meat tenderizer hammer to break up just a bit to expose it to the wine. I placed them all in to 2 cold brew bags, ginger in one, dry spice in another. Then i tied a piece of twine to the two bags and tossed it into the carboy like a big tea bag in a sun tea jar and I tucked the twine along the bunghole and closed it up. I hope it works. The spices did not smell like pumpkin pie but I know that it the pumpkin pie spice blend.
How am I doing so far? I feel like I am missing a spice or should be doing something else.
The big question is how long to I let the spices steep?

 

Ginger is one of those spices that can overtake a dish or drink, so if it was my wine I would taste every day and pull that ginger out early when it starts becoming prevalent in the flavors. I’m sure you’re going to want to leave the dry spices in longer. Keep us posted thanks for sharing.
I put together an Apple/Cranberry last night, thinking about some spices. Not sure yet.