Pumpkin Pie Mead (fermented in a pumpkin)

[Aaron]

Hey. I am totally going to try this! It is such a awesome ide! Just one question. Did you use cambden tablets when you added the must into the pumpkin? Or did you add it to the must 1-2 days earlier then add to the pumpkin.

The inside of the pumpkin is pretty sanitary to begin with. I did not use any sanitation additives.

 

[Eric65]

Wow ! I love the sound of this ! I am going to make this! Cannot wait till pumpkin season now !

 

[Chromebrew]

I did something similar this past season, more like a pumpkin pie wine. I used apple cider, maple syrup, piloncillo, pumpkin pie spice, raisins, pecans etc all in a wax sealed pumpkin with an airlock. Used WLP500. It was oustanding

 

[Tritonal]

Has this been tried without scooping out the insides? Say just poking a hole large enough for a funnel to get in there and filling it up that way? Not sure how much it would hold but should allow the pumpkin to last a bit longer I would think atleast

 

[Leadgolem]

Has this been tried without scooping out the insides? Say just poking a hole large enough for a funnel to get in there and filling it up that way? Not sure how much it would hold but should allow the pumpkin to last a bit longer I would think atleast

That's an interesting idea. I'm not sure if I'd want the flavor from the seeds in it though. Plus, most pumpkins have a lot of guts. So I don't think you'd get much liquid in a pumpkin that way...Hmm. It's worth considering though.

 

[Aaron]

Has this been tried without scooping out the insides? Say just poking a hole large enough for a funnel to get in there and filling it up that way? Not sure how much it would hold but should allow the pumpkin to last a bit longer I would think atleast

This was my post originally, and I have tried this recipe (with some minor differences) three times with great success. The last one was a little too much nutmeg, but has mellowed out a little over the year. This year I am totally going to try your suggestion. There are a lot of guts in there, but a lot of that is void space. I don't remember the seeds providing much of any taste (unless cooked). We shall see how it goes!
:rockin:

 

[Lungus]

You could use a piece of wire with a hook bent into the end to fish out most of the guts through the small hole making more space for liquid.

 

[BeerMeDuffMan]

You could use a piece of wire with a hook bent into the end to fish out most of the guts through the small hole making more space for liquid.

LOL @ pumpkin lobotomy

 

[Lungus]

LOL @ pumpkin lobotomy

I was thinking more pumpkin mummification as in the Egyptians removing the brain through the nose of the deceased and pouring resin and spices back in, hahahaha.

 

[Cyclman]

Kudos! A genuinely original and fantastic idea. I WILL steal it.

 

[Leadgolem]

I was thinking more pumpkin mummification as in the Egyptians removing the brain through the nose of the deceased and pouring resin and spices back in, hahahaha.

Use the one on the far right.

 

[BeerMeDuffMan]

'Is it safe?'

 

[Lungus]

Use the one on the far right.

I'm thinking that one that looks like a little rake would be handy to grab loose seeds, needs a flex handle though.

 

[Leadgolem]

'Is it safe?'

Is it secret?..Oh wait, you mean fermenting in a pumpkin. Probably. If you dig around a bit here you'll find a lot of discussion on the subject, but basically, there isn't really anything that can both hurt a person and survive in a 4%+ alcohol solution. The very few things that can will make your brew both smell and taste like gym socks. So, if it smells like gym socks, don't drink it.

Even if you did start drinking the gym sock brew, you'd have to drink a fair bit of it. In all likelihood, you'd puke before you got enough of it down to do more then give you a night counting the tiles in your bathroom.

 

[BeerMeDuffMan]

Lol I'm sure its safe...that was a line from a horror movie involving a dentist, a drill and no anesthesia.

 

[chicagomead]

What about wax on the cut area with a pressure lock? Btw I'm going to try this next weekend and age it for next Halloween!

 

[Lungus]

What about wax on the cut area with a pressure lock? Btw I'm going to try this next weekend and age it for next Halloween!

Can't see why it wouldn't work but myself I'd stay firmly in the 6th century and just replace the plug and let the gas seep out around the edge of the cut but hey that's just me.

 

[Leadgolem]

What about wax on the cut area with a pressure lock? Btw I'm going to try this next weekend and age it for next Halloween!

Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to stop reading my mind. Failure to comply may result in confiscation of your pumpkin pie mead.

I've got a pumpkin cleaned out. I've got my 1.090 mead base ready. I've got cheese wax heating in a double boiler on my stove. I'll post pictures when I can be away from it for a while.

 

[Leadgolem]

Ok, so mine is a little different. 5lbs of mountain gold madhava honey. That made 2 gallons of 1.090 must. To that, I added 2 tsp yeast energizer, 4 tsp yeast nutrient, 1 tbs ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp ground cloves. The yeast was a 5 gram packet of Pasteur champagne sprinkled over the top.

I figured I'd get about 1 gallon in the pumpkin... No. The whole 2 gallons fit. Though it was pretty tight. I'd be more concerned about a blowoff, but champagne yeast is pretty tame stuff. The entire underside of the lid is coated with cheese wax too. I have an airlock installed, but I doubt it's actually necessary. The lid didn't fit snugly after waxing, and I'm expecting lots of co2 loss around the edge.

 

[jtd_419]

Had to try this. Jacko'lantern pumpkin right out of the garden, must prepared as per original post. Only problem I had was too much honey and the pumpkin barely held a gallon resulting in a ridiculously high gravity of 1.170......I hope this doesn't ferment too dry

 

[Leadgolem]

Had to try this. Jacko'lantern pumpkin right out of the garden, must prepared as per original post. Only problem I had was too much honey and the pumpkin barely held a gallon resulting in a ridiculously high gravity of 1.170......I hope this doesn't ferment too dry

You are kidding about fermenting to dry right? What yeast did you use?

 

[jtd_419]

Yeah I kinda was .... I used a sweet mead yeast and am more worried that it will still be like syrup when it finishes. ... smells wonderful though

 

[Leadgolem]

Yeah I kinda was .... I used a sweet mead yeast and am more worried that it will still be like syrup when it finishes. ... smells wonderful though

What's the alcohol tolerance? If it's to sweet you could pitch another strain if it stalls.

 

[jtd_419]

It was d47. Was thinking maybe 1118 if I does stall but I would like it to finish sweet just not overly so

 

[Leadgolem]

It was d47. Was thinking maybe 1118 if I does stall but I would like it to finish sweet just not overly so

Well, considering the tendency of yeast strains to stall out prior to there actual alcohol tolerance, if you had a potential alcohol of 14% you should finish at about 12%. That should give you pleasantly sweet mead without being overly sweet.

There are to many factors involved to be able to tell for sure, but you should be about right. If you finish dry, you can always back sweeten. Then pasteurize. That's my preferred method most of the time anyway.

 

[jtd_419]

Thanks..... I appreciate the information since the only meads I've made as of yet are variations of jaom with different fruits but I really like the commercial meads that I've tried and have been trying to experiment with some of the recipes here

 

[Leadgolem]

Thanks..... I appreciate the information since the only meads I've made as of yet are variations of jaom with different fruits but I really like the commercial meads that I've tried and have been trying to experiment with some of the recipes here

Honestly, I never use mead yeast. I use whatever yeast is likely to ferment dry. Then I back sweeten the batch, and bottle pasteurize. It's much more predictable then trying to figure out if this batch is going to stall with the sugar content you want. ... Yeah. I'm seeing double from the moonshine I drank, so feel free to ignore me...

 

[jtd_419]

Thats something else I gotta try one of these days

 

[Leadgolem]

Thats something else I gotta try one of these days

Well, it's was blackberry midnight moon. It's a commercial "moonshine". Though it is in something like a mason jar. Honestly, I was fairly impressed. It's a white whiskey, but it's got that smoothness you associate with real moonshine. Not the best maybe, but very good.

 

[jtd_419]

I keep seeing the jars popping up at stores but I haven't tried it yet..... something about labeling it moonshine and selling it at Walmart just seems wrong to me