First Mead -Pumpkin Pie, go big or go home.

[rowan57]

So this will be my first mead, I am also going to do a cyser but that will follow. I am following the recipe from the recipe section where you primary in a pumpkin - now is the perfect time of year to do that and a local farm grows 100's of tons of pumpkins a year and sells them at the farm gate.

What's the saying, go big or go home? This is on a slightly different scale to the original recipe but I couldn't resist.



It measures in at a slim Jim 52lbs and should hopefully take a full 6 gallons of liquid. I have ordered 21lbs of blossom honey which is a mixed honey, it's high quality as I understand but more economical than a super special honey. I figure as the spices and pumpkin will contribute a lot of flavour no point in blowing my brains out on the cost of the honey.

Plan is 18lbs of honey and water to 6 gallons, boiled as per recipe with a whole bunch of cinnamon and the other spices. Primary in the Pumpkin until it starts to fail then secondary in a 6 gal carboy. Honey should arrive Tuesday or Wednesday then the small matter of scraping the pumpkin out and boiling 2 separate batches of must (can't boil 6 gals at the same time). Yeast will be K1V-116 and I expect this to ferment out dry to about 14% abv and need a lot of ageing and some back sweetening.




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[AllyMelmac]

Sounds really good. Love the idea of fermenting in the pumpkin.

 

[rowan57]

You will see Pumpkin V2 tomorrow, as it turns out this one has a 1cm dia hole through the base all the way into the pumpkin. I'm sure my neighbours kids will enjoy carving it.


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[rowan57]

Hmmm pumpkin 2 not quite as big. Think I will go back for Pumpkin 3 on Wednesday. Slight change of plan, now thinking to make a full 7 gallons (6+1 for topping up after racking).


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[rowan57]

Part one complete - 2 giant pumpkins opened and cleaned out. 21lbs of honey turned into approx 25 Litres of must - my house smells like cinnamon! Now waiting for the must to cool so I can fill the pumpkins and pitch the K1V (1 sachet per pumpkin) which is likely to be late tonight.

Pictures to follow when pumpkins are filled, that's the interesting bit after all!

 

[rowan57]

So I have ended up with approx 8 gallons of 1.090 must, which if my understanding is correct will give me around 12% abv if fermented dry which I plan to do. That is 2 giant pumpkins virtually full to the top. My iPad doesn't seem to like my new internet so I can't post pictures

When I originally measured the must it came in at 1.120 which I thought would kill the yeast (K1V), so I added more water. Im hopeful the yeast will take off, knowing that K1V tends to be fairly sympathetic. I did add nutrient to both pumpkins and will add more each day for the next 2 days if I feel it is needed.

Heck of a complicated first mead so fully anticipate it may go wrong, but its fun to try.

 

[normonster]

Cool man. Never heard of anything like this before.

 

[loveofrose]

Be sure to have another container to transfer all the mead into. After a while, the pumpkins become squishy and unreliable to hold liquid.


Better brewing through science!

 

[On-target]

I did this last year. Make sure you have another fermenter ready to go because once the pumpkins start to get soft they don't last long(5 to7 days). Mine is quite tasty but didn't end up with a very pronounced pumpkin flavor. I did another batch this year and cubed and baked the pumpkin then fermented in a bucket. Good luck on your first mead, it probably won't be your last.

 

[rowan57]

Thanks guys and girls! All looking happy so far, pumpkins still nice and solid. It had taken 3 days to develop a noticeable krausen in both pumpkins. I have a new carboy on order and am prepared to rack off when the pumpkins get soft. I finally got my iPad to work on the wifi so pictures below. I added 1 tsp of nutrient at pitch per pumpkin and one more on day 1. No off smells or sulphur evident, I love K1V, very sympathetic to idiots like me










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[fuelish]

What's with the color of the fermenting must???

 

[rowan57]

Lots and lots of ground cinnamon / nutmeg / allspice. I think the krausen is pulling the spices to the top and the light inside the pumpkins isn't too bright

 

[rowan57]

I racked this today, pumpkins still very solid but just starting to mould at the top and the fruit flies were being a pain. Gravity taken today of 1.000, I expect the K1V will take it a bit further yet.

Colour a lot lighter, but cloudy as all heck, the spices had largely stuck to the pumpkins. 1 gal collected for topping up after racking.






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[rowan57]

So this is what it looks like a few days later. I am just waiting for my wine thief to arrive so I can take a reading, it still seems to be actively fermenting. Apfelwein in the background. Ignore the carpet, my entire house needs re carpeting, these are 12 yrs old at least.




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