Pumpkin Pie Mead?

[socalamcor]

taking the time to find a local apiary is well worth it. i went from paying between 35-40 per gallon plus shipping down to 25 per gallon for either wildflower orange blossem or clover

 

[CBBaron]

BK's Pumpkin Pie Mead recipe intrigued me enough to want to try my own. Ofcourse I had to make a few changes, just to experiment.

Pumpkin Pie Mead (2gal)
1 Fresh Pie Pumpkin (peeled, cleaned and shredded)
2 whole cloves (crushed)
1 tsp whole allspice (lightly crushed)
1 tsp ground nutmeg
3 sticks cinnamon
6# clover honey (SueBee)
water to 2 gal
5 g D-47 yeast (rehydrated with Goferm)

2 Campden tablets
1 tsp Pectic enzyme
1/2 tsp Fermaid-K
1/2 tsp DAP

Mixed the honey, water and dry ingredients
Put shredded pumpkin in a coarse strain bag and placed in fermenter.
Let sit 24 hours then pitch rehydrated yeast

Aerate daily and add additional 1/2tsp of Fermaid-K and DAP 1 day after active fermentation is observed.

Smells strongly of spices when yeast was pitched.

Craig

 

[claphamsa]

Mine smells kinda funky! ill give it some time... but im not thrilled!

 

[BBBF]

What does it smell like?

I started a pumpkin pie mead a month ago. Monday night, I racked it into another bucket and added the remaining pumpkin, sweet potatoes and spices. It smelled fantastic, but tasted like rocket fuel. Although, so did the prickly pear and reisling pyment I also racked.

 

[claphamsa]

it smelled kinda sour... I might have left it on the pumpkin too long, Im gonna go to secondary tonight, and Ill get a better idea, when im not sniffing the top.

 

[BigKahuna]

it smelled kinda sour... I might have left it on the pumpkin too long,

I hope that it will be like my Strawberry mead that was on the berry for too long and developed a funk....it's going away nicely, and I think i'll be bottling it soon.

 

[claphamsa]

Hmm, well im hoping! how long is too long? its probably been over a month.

 

[Matrix4b]

For a good source of honey, inexpensive, find your local honey maker and contact them to see if you can get wholesale prices. I did here in colorado, found Madahava in Lyons, CO and got 42 pound buckets for about $1.80 a pound. I have found that the quality of honey matters a lot too. If you get it strait from the people that make it so much the better, it is also less filtered and with more flavor. Now they did ask for some samples of my works but I personally think that this was not just to verify that I was using for personal uses and not reselling it, I think it was just that everyone loves mead and wants it, free when they can get it. Heh.

 

[Matrix4b]

On a further note, I do have a pumpkin spice mead going, The first racking after removal of the pumpkin pie, it doesn't taste too good. A bit of a tang that is not related to the hotness of the alcohol taste. I used 2 small pumpkin pie pumpkins, not toasted, in it, 1/2 a whole nutmeg, roughly crushed, 1 vanilla bean, and 4 inches of cinamon stick. The pumpkin and spices were in the must for about 3 weeks and about 1/4 to 1/2 of the pumpkin disintegrated in the must. Anybody have an idea on how to get it tasting better?

I was thinking on sweetening it with brown sugar after a few rackings.

 

[BigKahuna]

Anybody have an idea on how to get it tasting better?

Time Brother Time.

I have found a few meads that just have a funk to them when they come off of the fruit. That funny flavor will go away in a few months...I'm almost certain.

 

[Matrix4b]

well true it is only 1 1/2 months from pitching the yeast. I let the primary go without the spices and pumpkin. I would expect that this would be bottleable in about 6-7 months and should be aged at leads 5 months, if not a full year. I tell you, if you hear anyone making pumpkin pie from the raw pumpkins, be impressed. It takes a lot of work to peal and chop up due to the density of both the rind and the meat.

 

[CBBaron]

I tell you, if you hear anyone making pumpkin pie from the raw pumpkins, be impressed. It takes a lot of work to peal and chop up due to the density of both the rind and the meat.

This was not that hard at all. I used a pie pumpkin that I quartered and cleaned. Then I just used a good vegetable peeler to take the rind off. (I do the same with butternut squash.) Then i shredded the pumpkin in a food processor. I don't think I spent 30 min preparing 3#. I probably could have done 3 pumpkins in about a hour for a 5gal batch.

Craig

 

[Matrix4b]

I lack a food processer and I think that my peeler was a bit dull. I tried to put it in the blender but it wouldn't blend well, with out adding more water than what I wanted so I just cubed it and put it in a mesh bag. It was a bit of work but hopefully worth it. It may have been easier if I had toasted the pumpkin. Ah, well, live and learn.

 

[CBBaron]

I lack a food processer and I think that my peeler was a bit dull. I tried to put it in the blender but it wouldn't blend well, with out adding more water than what I wanted so I just cubed it and put it in a mesh bag. It was a bit of work but hopefully worth it. It may have been easier if I had toasted the pumpkin. Ah, well, live and learn.

Given your situation, bake and mash sounds easier. Once baked and cooled the rind peels off easy and it is soft so you can mash. Good equipment does make a task much easier sometimes.

Craig

 

[brew502]

Hey Big K

How did this finally turn out because I am looking to try a pumpkin styled mead in the next few weeks or so, that away it will be ready for this coming fall....

 

[Korben]

Hey Big K

How did this finally turn out because I am looking to try a pumpkin styled mead in the next few weeks or so, that away it will be ready for this coming fall....

Yeah.. I would also like to start one if this turned out ok.

Also, on these 1 gallon meads what fermentor are you using a 1 gal carboy or what?

 

[dinich]

Just cracked open a bottle of pumpkin Pie mead last night. I started mine in Nov 08, bottled in July 09.
Overall a pleasent experience. Taste is good, color is great.

I'll do another batch on a larger scale.
My recipe follows for those interested.
(this was one of my first batches and i didn't own a hydrometer yet so don't have gravity readings)

D

Recipe
3 lbs Honey Clover Walmart
1/3 lbs Corn Sugar
5 gr package Lavins D-47
½ tsp bentonite
½ tsp Wine Tannin
1 tsp Yeast nutrient
1 tsp Acid Blend
Water to one Gallon
Process
Heat1/2 gallon water to 160˚ F
Remove from Heat add honey, make sure honey is completely disolved
ADD Tannin, Nutrient, Acid Blend, bentonite
Water bath with ice, to 78˚ to 80˚ F
Add yeast
Pour into fermenter
Shake vigorously to aerate
Add water to one gallon
Put on lid and airlock w/vodka

(Note:about two weeks later)
Racked to secondary, Must has settle out clear
Racked into one gallon jugs using the following flavors:
#1 Pumpkins Pie mix 30 oz Libbeys Brand

Taste test: Extremely sweet not a lot of alcohol taste, maybe the D-47 leaves more sugar

Did not add any fermenter stop – OK if secondary fermentation starts. Will rack to tertiary in 2 to 3 weeks