Pumpkin Wine

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tommyboy937

tommyboy937

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I have a 5 gal batch started. I only ended up using about 12 lbs of fresh pumpkin and 1 lb of fresh peach. I used a food processor to" mash" the pumpkin, it ended up a similar consistency to crushed grapes. I grated the peaches. I did add about 9 lbs of sugar for an OG of about 15-16% ABV estimated. I have been testing this as I punch it down and the taste is fantastic. 1 tbs of pumpkin pie spice and it seems to be the perfect hint.

Do I transfer to carboy at 1.05 sg? Or wait till closer to 1.0?
 
tommyboy937 said:
I have a 5 gal batch started. I only ended up using about 12 lbs of fresh pumpkin and 1 lb of fresh peach. I used a food processor to" mash" the pumpkin, it ended up a similar consistency to crushed grapes. I grated the peaches. I did add about 9 lbs of sugar for an OG of about 15-16% ABV estimated. I have been testing this as I punch it down and the taste is fantastic. 1 tbs of pumpkin pie spice and it seems to be the perfect hint.

Do I transfer to carboy at 1.05 sg? Or wait till closer to 1.0?
Click to expand...

Really, racking to the carboy any time after the most active fermentation has died down is fine. 1.010 to 1.020 is a pretty good range, but even if you go down to 1.000 or lower it's no big deal. Usually this happens within the first week, give or take a few days.

Also, a wee bit of nit picking. Keep in mind that OG (original gravity) is a measure of the specific gravity. One thing they drilled into us in engineering school were units if measure. Specific gravity, being a ratio, has no units.

I'm assuming the 15-16% ABV number is from the potential alcohol scale on the hydrometer?
 
TexasWine said:
Really, racking to the carboy any time after the most active fermentation has died down is fine. 1.010 to 1.020 is a pretty good range, but even if you go down to 1.000 or lower it's no big deal. Usually this happens within the first week, give or take a few days.

Also, a wee bit of nit picking. Keep in mind that OG (original gravity) is a measure of the specific gravity. One thing they drilled into us in engineering school were units if measure. Specific gravity, being a ratio, has no units.

I'm assuming the 15-16% ABV number is from the potential alcohol scale on the hydrometer?
Click to expand...

Yes, the 15-16% is the estimated potential alcohol on the scale. I am at 1.100 SG now as of this morning, I think I might go into a carboy tonight! That went quick, only 3 days...

 
tommyboy937 said:
Yes, the 15-16% is the estimated potential alcohol on the scale. I am at 1.100 SG now as of this morning, I think I might go into a carboy tonight! That went quick, only 3 days...

http://s1291.photobucket.com/user/Tommy_Smolik/media/WP_20131007_003_zpsbccfc553.jpg.html
Click to expand...

Hold your horses there cowboy. You started at 1.115 and now you're down to 1.100. I wouldn't rack quite yet as it's still got a whole lot of fermenting to do. I would be surprised if the fermentation has calmed down enough as to not overflow a properly topped up carboy.

Wait until you're closer to 1.020 or 1.010.
 
Shoot, I'll check it when I get home from work, I think I meant 1.010 not 1.10 ! If it's 1.010 or less I'll rack and share a picture. Speaking of, a guy I work with mentioned he tries to make sure all the Lee's are excluded when he racks, I thought for the first rack you strain only the big stuff and transfer the settled stuff at the bottom....
 
Got home from work, was just a hair over 1.00, so I xfered...

my home made strainer bucket top :)

in action

it worked out pretty well, it looks like the pumpkin stuff left in it ended up floating on top... I am hoping it all settles down over the next few weeks...
 
tommyboy937 said:
Shoot, I'll check it when I get home from work, I think I meant 1.010 not 1.10 ! If it's 1.010 or less I'll rack and share a picture. Speaking of, a guy I work with mentioned he tries to make sure all the Lee's are excluded when he racks, I thought for the first rack you strain only the big stuff and transfer the settled stuff at the bottom....
Click to expand...

Your friend at work is correct. Leave everything behind that you can because as it sits in secondary even more will drop out. Plus, you don't want your wine sitting on old dead yeast for an extended time. I've heard it compared to a forest with a nice layer of musty dead leaves decomposing on the floor.
 
Handsome dog by the way.

Judging by those floating chunks, looks like you're gonna have a nice big layer of stuff in the bottom of your carboy before too long!
 
Looks great I will have to try soon! I know this sounds stupid, but u have to use cooking/pie pumpkins right
 
Yup you want to use the more dense "sugar" or cooking pumpkins

Yeah, my auto siphon arrives at the end of the week, i figure ill let it blow off a bit more then do a low air xfer the best i can to get it out of the dead yeast bath...
 


Oh man this tastes awesome. I killed the yeast and added 4 lbs more sugar. And it is awesome! Needed a bit of an earthy tone so I used some toasted oak in the secondary. This is going to have a great taste.

One problem. I'm not sure if I tried to much or if it was because I had tried some of the stuff from right off the lees, but I was "sick" all night. Might have been unrelated but I am curious how that works.... lol the taste was good hopefully long term that side effect wont happen again!
 
I hate to necro an old thread, but this stuff is about ready to drink I think! :) Will update with bottled pictures and a review of the flavor shortly!
 

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