pumpkin gin

[rhinoceroceros]

This may not be the best place for this thread but I figured it would be seen by the wine, beer, and mead makers out there and I'm not sure into what category it falls...

I found on reddit a recipe for "pumpkin gin" that calls for cutting a plug out of the top of a pumpkin, removing seeds and guts from the pumpkin, filling the pumpkin with sugar, replacing plug, sealing with paraffin, and fermenting for a month.

This sounds interesting but it sounds like there are all sorts of problems with a project like this and from the replies on the thread it seems like it would be difficult to actually complete fermentation.

Has anyone heard of this? Is it something that could work? I may try it since it seems like very little work, but I can't help but feel as if I'm wasting my time

 

[porcupine73]

Never heard of it specifically, it seems like the CO2 would need some way to escape if it were completely sealed up lest the pumpkin, well explode. It seems like it might make a nice strong 'wine' with a pumpkin flavor perhaps. I don't think it would really by 'gin' though, since that I believe is usually distilled for one, and uses juniper berries secondly (not pumpkin).

 

[rhinoceroceros]

It doesn't explode, the wax cracks and releases co2, but I think most people are using an airlock to solve the problem
And wine is what I was thinking as well, its just called pumpkin gin for some reason, though the name is misleading

 

[unionrdr]

This is something the old timers taught my father who taught my bro & I to make. kinda like skid row scotch. Might be good blended with a spiced pale ale.

 

[redshift76]

Without water & yeast isn't this just a pumpkin full of sugar?

 

[rhinoceroceros]

Without water & yeast isn't this just a pumpkin full of sugar?

Pumpkins are something like 80-90% water and also contain wild yeast, I would assume you still get a thick syrupy liquid at the end but apparently you can still drink it

 

[unionrdr]

From what I remember,it wasn't syrupy at all. Decent orange color too.

 

[rhinoceroceros]

I'd like to try it but I might have to wait until next year, but from what I've read it looks like using the wax to coat the entire pumpkin, instead if just sealing it, is the way to go. But if I do that I'm thinking I should sanitize the outside of the pumpkin? Or maybe it's pointless to sanitize...
Also I think I'll use an airlock with wax around it to avoid any accidents

 

[unionrdr]

We coat the entire pumpkin with the parrafin wax. The pumpkin will get sodter as it ferments,so it needs the wax to kind of support it. & put it on a pie tin or something to move it around. You won't be able to lift it otherwise.