Pumpkin Wine

Rejoice! It is I the elusive Brad finally making a post!

Recipe per 4.5 litres
5 lbs Pumpkin pealed and chopped
1.6 kg dextrose
1 oz. pectic enzyme
1 Campden tablet
1 packet yeast (118)
550 ml lemon juice concentrate

Take whole pumpkin and chop into pieces ~ 2-3 cm cubed, place in pot with 500-750 ml water and heat on low-medium (4-5), stiring ocasionally, until soft.

Fresh pumpkin just on the stove

Boiled Pumpkin ready for mashing!
Mash and turn into primary fermenter and allow cool to room temperature.
Add suger to bring to desired SG. (added 4.8kg dextrose to 13.5 litres must)
Take sample of must for yeast starter.
The small amount of wild bacteria in the starter should be out compeated by the relitivly large amount of the selected yeast being added to the starter.
Treat with 1 campden tablet to sterilize the must, and add pectic enzyme.
Pumpkin is very near neutral in pH and mush be acidified, Ideally this is done with lithmus paper; however it can be done by slowly adding something acidic (lemon juice concentrate, citric acid, etc.) until it tastes like apple juice or has a pH between 3.0-3.4
After 24 hours add yeast starter.

Mead Bottling Day

As you can see, the mead is clear, and has not shed a lees over the last racking period. It is ready for bottling.

Sanitize your corks in a metabisulphite solution for 15 minutes.

While your corks are sitting, add 1/4tsp of metabisulphite to the wine and stir vigourously for 4 minutes to degass it.

Sanitize your bottles with a chlorinated solution and triple rinse with hot water.

Inspect your bottles at the bottom and at the neck to ensure cleanliness.

Use your racking hose to fill the bottles to just below the neck and cork. Leave your bottles upright for 3 days, allowing the corks to seat properly and then turn them on their sides. Store in a cool, dry place.

After the latest round of rackings.

Guess which two batches I used bentonite in?

A note about beer making

If you have all the kit mentioned in my earlier post, then you also are able to make extract based beers. All you have to do is buy a capper, or some plastic bottles with screw tops. This is an especially good thing to do during the summer time. I've been able to make very nice beer for lest than 25 cents per glass. It can also help your wine age by giving you something else to drink. If you're interested, I will post my next recipe with some pictures.

Cheers

Cranberry Wine

My young assistants adding the sugar.

Checking the temperature

I used frozen cranberries, and squished them in the bag after thawing. They don't look very squished here because of the boiling water poured on them; all the skins are broken though.

10 lbs cranberries
10 lbs sugar
2 tbsp pectic enzyme
2 tbsp yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp grape tannin

1 packet wine yeast - I used EC 1118

Pinot Grigio and Mead

While most of my wines are looking the same as when I left, my kit wine and my mead have cleared noticeably in the 2 weeks I have been away. They look wonderful, and I wish it was closer to racking time so I would be able to taste them!

Next Post

My apologies for the two-week delay in posting. I have been on the road. Stay tuned, as next week, you'll get to see pictures of the making of our cranberry wine. Also, hopefully Brad will come out of the woodwork and finally write something for us.

PS I hope you all enjoyed a tasty beverage on Canada Day.