# Pumpkin wine



## e-wine

I'm new to wine making and wanted to try making some Country wines. I just started a batch of pumpkin wine and wanted to see if anybody had any input they wanted to share. I plan to make both dry and sweet and had thought about sweetening some with brown sugar. 

I made some fig wine earlier this year and will try a bottle over the Christmas Holidays.

e-wine


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## Sacalait

Fig wine, you must be from the south. Please edit your profile (where you're from) to help those who'll be trying to help with your wine making.

Careful with the brown sugar you don't want to overpower the pumpkin flavor.


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## Wade E

Havent made pumpkin yet but plan on making a pumpkin port soon, I just have to sit down and think for a few and make up my own recipe.


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## Sacalait

Pumpkin wine (coushaw pumpkin...stripped crooked neck) was one of my first wines and turned out very well despite my ignorance for wine making at the time. I haven't any records dating back that far so you may have to consult J. Keller's site for a recipe.


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## e-wine

Yes, I'm in the south. Profile edited.

Thanks for the warning on the brown sugar, I'll sweeten with caution. It's a necessary evil to appease my spouse. I perfer dry.

e-wine


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## arcticsid

E, I remeber a while back, I want to say it was Allie, but I may be wrong, was talking about pumpkin wine, and I remeber saying it turned out pretty darn good. I sure don't remeber who or when. Post your recipe for us, we'd be curious to see what your doing.

Troy


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## Tom

I have not made Pumpkin wine. One of my wine club members want to make it.
Check out our recipies here for '"country" / fruit wines
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2


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## e-wine

I used Jack Keller's recipe aimed towards dry. I am interested in an easier way to extract the meat from the rind. I saw where they bake the pumpkin and scoop out the flesh for making pumpkin pies. I hand grated 5 pound off of the rind and gave up a bit of myself in the effort. I am changing it up a bit for the second batch but I wish I had a better "control". I'm starting the second batch Wednesday once the primary is free. Thanks for the link. I'm still getting use to navigating this site and I missed these posts. Take care. 

e-wine


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## xanxer82

I'm also planning on a pumpkin wine, would the canned stuff work?


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## arcticsid

X, I'm not at home right now so I don't have access to my comp. I have a link in there for canned pumpkin wine, I'll get it to the forum as soon as I can. Up here by my buddy helping him(no doing it), helping him get through this library research class. But I will get it to you, when I get back down off the hill.

I'm not sure where our buddy LUC has been, but he is quite proud of a wine he made from jam. Just shows wine can be made darn near out of anything.
Troy


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## arcticsid

This isn't want I wanted to give you, but I googled this check it out.
http://www.winepress.us/forums/index.php?showtopic=22398
Take a look, it may give you an idea for now, might be a few hours for I get home.
Troy


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## e-wine

You can make wine from canned pumpkin. Beside the recipe arcticsid referenced, there is one at 

*****************************?searchmod=Submitter_name&Submitter_name=MedPretzel

about six recipes down. (I don't have the number of post necessary to post a link)

My wife and I took a trip to some of the East Texas wineries. We went to one that makes a lot of County Wines. We asked about their vineyard and they told us: "We make wine. We don't have time to be farmers." I like the farming. Using the canned pumpkin would definately solve my flesh extraction issue but I am still looking for input on how to do so using naturally packaged pumpkin.

e-wine


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## e-wine

What I need is one more post and edit the post above.

e-wine


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## Korzy

I started a pumpkin spice wine about 3 weeks ago. I added cinnamon and ginger. Aiming for pumpkin pie in a bottle  It doesn't look pretty right now, but it smells great.


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## e-wine

I got the first batch in the secondary and the second batch in the primary. The acid is low on the first batch so I need to adjust it. The recipe was for one gallon but the yield was 1.5. When I was grating the pumpkin, I thought the amount was a bit much. The extra yield could be why the acid is off. I plan to adjust the sugar level as well. The aroma from the first batch is different than the second. Must be inconsistent feed stock.

e-wine


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## Midwest Vintner

Korzy said:


> It doesn't look pretty right now, but it smells great.



the smell is a good indicator. it'll clear and get all purdy! just needs some beauty rest.


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## Korzy

Midwest Vintner said:


> the smell is a good indicator. it'll clear and get all purdy! just needs some beauty rest.



Yeah, that's the hard part!


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## Julie

I did a Pumpkin Pie spice wine for Thanksgiving this year, it turned fairly well. I started it last year, it was one of my first wines so it wasn't without mistakes. First mistake was not taking a hydrometer reading. I have no idea what the alcohol content is. I got the recipe from this little red (magenta?) recipe book that I had bought. Here is the recipe:

One Gallon
3 large cans of pumpkin (it called for 4 lbs. of pumpkin but I used the canned pumpkin with spices already added)
7 pts of water
2 1/4 lbs sugar
2 1/2 tsp acid
1/4 tsp tannin
1 tsp nutrient
1 campden tablet
1 pkg wine yeast (I used Lavlin 1118)

The wine came out with a good mouth feel, nice and smooth but the cinnamon over powered the pumpkin taste. That was my 2nd mistake. You first tasted the pumpkin which was great but ended with a strong cinnamon taste which I felt should have been lighter. I wasn't sure if the spices that were in the pumpkin were enough so I decided to add another 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, I should have left it alone.

Anyway I have 2 bottles left and it will sit until next year's Thanksgiving to see if the cinnamon weakens any. I do have a 5 gallon carboy fermenting away right now made from fresh pumpkin.


Julie


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## e-wine

The second batch also yielded 1 1/2 gallons and tested low on acid although not as low as the first batch. So I adjusted it and I now have 3 gallons in the secondaries.

My wife helped me with the second batch and she seemed to really enjoy it. She even commented that she would like to try making a batch of blueberry wine. She is part Italian and an excellent cook so she did struggle with the concept that she was actually assisting me in the kitchen. She was also very interested in the "poison" label on the indicator bottle. I wonder if I should worry. Naah.

e-wine


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## ryankelley

I made Pumpkin wine a month ago. I used Hubbard Squash using Jack Keller's recipe for squash. This weekend I need to rack it over into a clean carboy. It smells good, but I don't know what the end product will be like.


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## arcticsid

Gonna give the canned type a try. It calls for 1 campden tablet, I've never used them. I have always used the powdered and have only made 4 and 5 gallon batches. I use 1/4 teaspoon per. So, for 1 gallon, I should use 1/16th right?


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## Tom

no.
Campton tabs are weaker then the powder k-meta. Use 1 per gal.
Does the canned Pumpkin have any preservatives? If so may be a "bear" to get started.


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## ryankelley

I didn't use campden because I poured boiling water over the pumpkin. My understanding is nothing lives when the temp is over 120 degrees. We'll see how the end product turns out, but everything seems good so far. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques67.asp


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## e-wine

I poured the boiling water then waited until the temperature cooled to about room temperature before adding the campden tablet. That's how it was given in the recipe.

e-wine


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## ryankelley

Yeah, I read Jack's comment that using campden is just good wine making practice...after making this batch without it. The advice I got afterwards is the boiling water probably took care of any problems campden...if I had a time machine I would go back and add it.

This wine is supposed to require 2 years aging. I'll post a picture if I can figure out how.


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## ryankelley

This is the picture of my pumpkin wine (hubbard Squash).


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## e-wine

I told my wife it had to age at least a year. She seemed disapointed until she helped me strain the second batch. Now, I think it will take at least two years for her to get the memory out of her head. We'll see. We plan on trying the fig wine this month. Depending on how the fig wine taste, it could be even longer on the pumpkin.

e-wine


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## jrock7106

I have a 6 gal batch of pumpkin aging. It looks kind of like the one posted a few up, but it is a little more yellow. However, it smells like beer, or i guess, fermenting pumpkins. Is it supposed to smell this way? Should it start to smell pleasant later on when it starts to clear up?


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## e-wine

You may be further along than I am but mine smells like fermenting pumpkins as you describe. The color will depend on the pumpkins. I would estimate that once the yeast smell is gone and it has aged a bit, it should have more of the pumpkin smell. Is yours still fermenting and when did you start your batch?

e-wine


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## jrock7106

Yes it is still fermenting. I guess aging was a bad word to use. It is in the secondary, and has been reracked once. I guess it will just take a while to clear up and smell better....


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## jrock7106

oh, and the batch was started right around thanksgiving.


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## e-wine

So you are a bit ahead of me. What recipe did you use? Did you go with canned pumpkin or fresh from the vine (or rind as in my case)? I am still looking for an alternative method of getting the flesh from the rind.

e-wine


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## arcticsid

Tom, all I have is KMeta powder. I am not going to buy campden tabs for 1 recipe. How much powder to use for 1 gal. recipe? I have been using 1/4 tsp for my and 5 gallon batches
Troy


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## jrock7106

e-wine, 

The recipe I used is from the purple winemaking book. I used the "flesh" or the meat of the pumpkin. Not the outside, but just the inside. I'm not sure what type of pumpkin though...


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## e-wine

arcticsid,

I did find this discussion:

http://www.winepress.us/forums/lofiversion/index.php?t25819.html

Which brought up an interesting point. How do you measure the difference between 1/12, 1/16 and 1/20 of a tsp? I would have to convert to grams and I don't know the weight of a 1/4 tsp. I know I'm not helping you and I apologize but the campden table starts looking like a better option for a one gallon batch. I guess you could cut it 20:1 (if you determine it's 1/20) with sugar and still go with 1/4 tsp.

e-wine


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## Tom

arcticsid said:


> Tom, all I have is KMeta powder. I am not going to buy campden tabs for 1 recipe. How much powder to use for 1 gal. recipe? I have been using 1/4 tsp for my and 5 gallon batches
> Troy


WEll I measure 1/4 tsp of k-meta is 1.8grams. So, for 1 is .3 grams. I hope you have a gram scale


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## e-wine

I racked the first batch today. The S.G. was a bit less than 1.000 which I kinda expected due to the increase in the size of the batch (1.5 gallon instead of one with sugar for one gallon.) By taste, it was definately dry. I still had some fermentation activity so I sweetened the batch when I topped the secondary. I also increase the acid by approximately a quarter tsp since the acid content was still low. I plan to rack the second batch on Friday.

e-wine


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## mainecr

We just pull the cork on the first bottle of 2008 pumpkin. Jack Keller's recipe. Pumpkin grated by hand. Starting SG was 1.090. Stiil got a slight bite and it's 12 months old. Overall a light white wine....that in no way tasted like pumpkin. It was a lot of work for an OK wine.


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## upper

Well I am sure Peter will like it.............Upper


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## e-wine

Having hand grated the pumpkin as well, and considering the work involved, I understand your statement mainecr. I'll let you know . . . in a year or so.

e-wine


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## ryankelley

e-wine said:


> Having hand grated the pumpkin as well, and considering the work involved, I understand your statement mainecr. I'll let you know . . . in a year or so.
> 
> e-wine



I used a heavy Ice Cream Scoup/Spade to get mine out. It came out thin, so I thought I was in good shape. I used Hubbard Squash, so I follow Jack Keller's recipe on that which called for cutting it into chunks and using pectin enzyme. 

I'll let you know in 1-2 years if this was a good way to do it.


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## e-wine

I racked the pumpkin wine. It has also cleared up very nicely. I'll try to post a picture since the colors of the two wine contrast each other well. The s.g. was 1.004 and the wine smells great. It's a little harsh at the end and I hope aging will mellow it some but still quite nice for a young wine. I'll report my wife's assessment once it's available. Thank you.

e-wine


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## ryankelley

e-wine said:


> I racked the pumpkin wine. It has also cleared up very nicely. I'll try to post a picture since the colors of the two wine contrast each other well. The s.g. was 1.004 and the wine smells great. It's a little harsh at the end and I hope aging will mellow it some but still quite nice for a young wine. I'll report my wife's assessment once it's available. Thank you.
> 
> e-wine




I just racked mine over the weekend also. It hasn't cleared yet, so I degassed, sorbated, K-meta, and sparkeloided it. We'll see what happens. I'm ready to get my carboy back, so hopefully I can bottle it in 57 days.


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## jrock7106

I have a little less than 5 gallons in my 5 gallon carboy. What should I top off with? I topped my apple off with apple juice.... but I don't think there is pumpkin juice, and I can't find pumpkin wine ANYWHERE! Would a white wine work?


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## ryankelley

jrock7106 said:


> I have a little less than 5 gallons in my 5 gallon carboy. What should I top off with? I topped my apple off with apple juice.... but I don't think there is pumpkin juice, and I can't find pumpkin wine ANYWHERE! Would a white wine work?



I originally bought some welches white grape juice concentrate to top mine up after racking. The members in here told me it was a neutral flavor that won't get in the way of pumpkin.

But instead I went to the hobby store and bought about 10 pounds of clear glass marbles. I rinsed them off well and submerged them in an oxygen sanitizer. Then dropped them into the carboy. I added as many as I need to bring the level 2 fingers from the stopper.


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## e-wine

According to what Ive read, most recipes provide for water additions to make up for racking loses.

e-wine


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## e-wine

I bottled the wine yesteday and we will allow the wine to age until Thanksgiving. We did drink some of the "left over" wine and, as my wife observed, it has a bit of a grapefruit taste. Also, it is strong although not unpleasent. I'm will plant some of the seeds soon and I'll start another batch later.

e-wine


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## ryankelley

*Amylase Enzyme*

I just added Amylase to my pumpkin wine this week. I had a haze that I thought might be starch. It has cleared some and I see a later of sediment on the bottom that wasn't there before. It still has a long way to go.


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## mainecr

I talked to my Mom in Florida today. She and Dad liked my Pumpkin from Jack Kellers recipe. 15 months old. Semi-sweet, it's what I call a good popcorm wine. Just right for popcorn and a glass of wine playing board games with my 8yo grandaughter.


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## e-wine

My first attempt at posting pictures to this site. The wine in the middle is the Sweet Potato and the pumpkin wine is on either side. The green tint is due to the lawn. The pumpkin wine is actually yellow.

e-wine


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## Tom

Looks nice and clear. How long is it aging


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## Runningwolf

Awesome looking wine! I liked the green tint. It makes it look like a nice refreshing lime drink. Nice and clear. Thanks for sharing.


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## e-wine

Tom,

I've already bottled both and the pumpkin will age two years. The Sweet Potato will age as long as long as my wife chooses to wait. Most likely, she will start on it in late June. The "new" s.p. batches should cover the holidays. 

e-wine


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## Tom

If it comes out as good as you think you need to make SIX gallons next. ::


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## e-wine

For the s.p., I have six gallons in a secondary and two, one gallon batches. Peeling and cutting the potatoes takes some time otherwise, I'd start another 6 gallon batch. If you remember, I still have 8 open 5 gallon carboys and one 14 gallon demijohn. Don't worry, I'm working on them.

e-wine


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## tjbreitmeier

I'm currently making pumpkin wine. transferred from primary to a carboy yesterday. there is a lot of starch in pumpkins and as a side effect of my ignorance there is a lot of starch floating at the top of the carboy from where i did not add pectic enzyme before adding yeast. the liquid that is separated from the starch looks wonderful and I'm hoping to come up with a solution for removing the separated starch soon. 
as for a recipe: I used one 10lb pumpkin, scooped out the insides as you would a jack-o-lantern, pulled out all the seeds (baked them with Cayenne powder), pureed the innards, chopped up the remainder of the pumpkin and removed the meat from the rind, then followed through as i would for any other wine i have made.
starch was present in the primary Fermenter, but it was harder to tell how much was there as compared to the carboy. In hind sight, I should have attempted to remove the starch from the wine in the primary. I am thinking about attempting to slip the racking tube past the starch and siphon the liquid into another carboy, then strain the starch through cheese cloth into the primary and filter that into the carboy with the rest of the liquid. would be nice to have a simpler solution. I will post my results.


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## djrockinsteve

Hey I resurrected this post from earlier this year for those (and myself) wanting to make a pumpkin wine. Here is Julie's recipe/post;

"I did a Pumpkin Pie spice wine for Thanksgiving this year, it turned fairly well. I started it last year, it was one of my first wines so it wasn't without mistakes. First mistake was not taking a hydrometer reading. I have no idea what the alcohol content is. I got the recipe from this little red (magenta?) recipe book that I had bought. Here is the recipe:

One Gallon
3 large cans of pumpkin (it called for 4 lbs. of pumpkin but I used the canned pumpkin with spices already added)
7 pts of water
2 1/4 lbs sugar
2 1/2 tsp acid
1/4 tsp tannin
1 tsp nutrient
1 campden tablet
1 pkg wine yeast (I used Lavlin 1118)

The wine came out with a good mouth feel, nice and smooth but the cinnamon over powered the pumpkin taste. That was my 2nd mistake. You first tasted the pumpkin which was great but ended with a strong cinnamon taste which I felt should have been lighter. I wasn't sure if the spices that were in the pumpkin were enough so I decided to add another 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, I should have left it alone.

Anyway I have 2 bottles left and it will sit until next year's Thanksgiving to see if the cinnamon weakens any. I do have a 5 gallon carboy fermenting away right now made from fresh pumpkin.


Julie"


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## Isaiah

So the brown sugar over powers the pumpkin flavor? and how so? hope my doesnt turn out bad i used brown sugar!


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## djrockinsteve

don't use a lot. I believe it can give a molasses flavor???


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## Isaiah

well i didnt realize i didnt have enough white sugar at the beginning so I used brown and probably a couple of cups of it ive got about 2 and 3/4 gallons of it most the sugar though is white


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## djrockinsteve

Here's an update on my 6 gallons of pumpkin wine. Again thanks to Julie for the recipe.

After adding all 18 cans of Libby's Pumpkin "Mix" to my 6 gallon bucket it consumed 3/4 of the bucket. After adding inverted sugar and water and ingredients it took it to the 6 gallon mark.

This must is so thick it was difficult to stir and there is no way to get a gravity reading. Julie mentioned let the enzymes work 24 hours before pitching yeast and see what happens.

I did and dispite it starting to thin I didn't want to wait any longer and added the yeast. The next day I could see signs of fermentation albeit little. Today I noticed some pumpkin splatter on the inside of the lid. I washed and replaced. Fermentation was definitely going on but the must so thick it was lifting the must up as opposed to escaping.

Two hours later it was running over the sides of the bucket and my wife was due home in 30 minutes. Quick clean up but still got busted.

Shortly later it was lifting the lid and about to overflow like Mt. St. Helens. I quickly poured half into a second bucket and with less weight the CO2 is really going on. Still after 3 days I can't get a reading but I believe real soon I will then I can monitor gravity for a few days the back calculate the beginning gravity.

This is a must thatsmells really good.


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## Wade E

That sounds really good, There is a local winery here that makes a pumpkin honey wine, Its not a mead as they only use the honey to sweeten it but use sugar pumpkins and this stuff is awesome. I think I may have to try a version of this. Its musts like this where the refractometer comes in handy to take an sg.


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## ryankelley

*1 year later*

One year later I'm finally going to bottle the last of my pumpkin wine. It too a long time to clear. I separated it into 5 one gallon carboys which allowed me to try different methods to clear it. In the end, sparkloid and bentonite with a whole lot of time is what it took. 

I bottled 3 gallons already and have two more to do. These were the last ones remaining that I didn't treat with sparkloid and bentonite until it proved to clear the others.

Tasting it, it's kind of harsh. It taste like pumpkins though. The recipe says it needs two years of aging. A year from now I'll let you know how it turned out.


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## Julie

ryankelley said:


> One year later I'm finally going to bottle the last of my pumpkin wine. It too a long time to clear. I separated it into 5 one gallon carboys which allowed me to try different methods to clear it. In the end, sparkloid and bentonite with a whole lot of time is what it took.
> 
> I bottled 3 gallons already and have two more to do. These were the last ones remaining that I didn't treat with sparkloid and bentonite until it proved to clear the others.
> 
> Tasting it, it's kind of harsh. It taste like pumpkins though. The recipe says it needs two years of aging. A year from now I'll let you know how it turned out.




My pumpkin will be two years old this month. I had made a gallon batch. I ended up with 4 bottles. We drank two last year and I agree with you Ryan, it tasted kinda harsh so we decided to leave the other two bottles sit for this Thanksgiving. I am curious to see how this taste this year. Did you add any spices to yours?


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## djrockinsteve

This is soooo creepy. Still thick but it is thinning out. After punching down and stirring the must I could tell there is still a lot of CO2 being held in the pulp. So I stuck my spoon all the way in then moved it briskly back and forth as if I were degasing.

It brought up quite a bit. Replaced the lid then came over to the PC. Suddenly I could hear the pumpkin bubbling from 20 feet away. This is a Halloween must for sure.


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## ryankelley

Julie said:


> My pumpkin will be two years old this month. I had made a gallon batch. I ended up with 4 bottles. We drank two last year and I agree with you Ryan, it tasted kinda harsh so we decided to leave the other two bottles sit for this Thanksgiving. I am curious to see how this taste this year. Did you add any spices to yours?



No spices in mine. I followed Jack Keller's recipe and he said it needs 2 years minimum to become palatable. 

One thing I did notice is it seemed to have a lot of kick. After the first swallow or two I could drink it normally without a lot of squinting. But then by the time the glass was gone I was buzzed pretty good. I'm not a heavy weight, but I normally don't buzz after a single glass.


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## Flame145

djrockinsteve said:


> Here's an update on my 6 gallons of pumpkin wine. Again thanks to Julie for the recipe.
> 
> After adding all 18 cans of Libby's Pumpkin "Mix" to my 6 gallon bucket it consumed 3/4 of the bucket. After adding inverted sugar and water and ingredients it took it to the 6 gallon mark.
> 
> This must is so thick it was difficult to stir and there is no way to get a gravity reading. Julie mentioned let the enzymes work 24 hours before pitching yeast and see what happens.
> 
> I did and dispite it starting to thin I didn't want to wait any longer and added the yeast. The next day I could see signs of fermentation albeit little. Today I noticed some pumpkin splatter on the inside of the lid. I washed and replaced. Fermentation was definitely going on but the must so thick it was lifting the must up as opposed to escaping.
> 
> Two hours later it was running over the sides of the bucket and my wife was due home in 30 minutes. Quick clean up but still got busted.
> 
> Shortly later it was lifting the lid and about to overflow like Mt. St. Helens. I quickly poured half into a second bucket and with less weight the CO2 is really going on. Still after 3 days I can't get a reading but I believe real soon I will then I can monitor gravity for a few days the back calculate the beginning gravity.
> 
> This is a must thatsmells really good.



I'm gonna try same recipe this weekend, did u use a stcking to put the pumpkin pie filling in ???? Any tips before I start would be appreciated. Thanks


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## djrockinsteve

Flame145 said:


> did u use a stcking to put the pumpkin pie filling in ????



Don't know what a sticking is but I did use a spatula to get the majority of the mix in then I added a tiny amount of water (no more than 2 ounces) to each can, swish around and get the emaining bits of pumpkin out.

As I stated, 18 cans filled the majority of the bucket. After you mix everything I would split it into 2 separate buckets.

Watch out for those CO2 bubbles. They can be big. Mine smells terrific.


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## Flame145

e-wine said:


> I poured the boiling water then waited until the temperature cooled to about room temperature before adding the campden tablet. That's how it was given in the recipe.
> 
> e-wine



did ur pie filling liquify from the bioling sugar water ??? Did it re-thicken back up ??? R you using a nylon to hold pie filling ? Just wondering because I just started mine tonight


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## Flame145

djrockinsteve said:


> Don't know what a sticking is but I did use a spatula to get the majority of the mix in then I added a tiny amount of water (no more than 2 ounces) to each can, swish around and get the emaining bits of pumpkin out.
> 
> As I stated, 18 cans filled the majority of the bucket. After you mix everything I would split it into 2 separate buckets.
> 
> Watch out for those CO2 bubbles. They can be big. Mine smells terrific.



Sorry did u use a nylon stocking to put pie fill in. I mis-spelled it..


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## djrockinsteve

No. I prefer not to use stockings. Professionally and personally.


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## e-wine

Flame145,

I used grated pumpkin and I did not use a nylon bag. I've thought about trying the pie filler but then, I've thought about trying a lot of things. I had some of the pumpkin wine last week and it was good though it was only bottled in March. I plan to keep away from it for another year if I can. It did get me to thinking about starting another batch to add to what I have going right now. After all, I still have open carboys but with six full primaries, they are slowly disappearing.

e-wine


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## Savana123

After looking at all the pictures I would really like to make pumpkin wine as, it feels very good to see all the images here. I am quite anxious for this, but little scared enough too.


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## saintprovogirl

e-wine said:


> Flame145,
> 
> I used grated pumpkin and I did not use a nylon bag. I've thought about trying the pie filler but then, I've thought about trying a lot of things. I had some of the pumpkin wine last week and it was good though it was only bottled in March. I plan to keep away from it for another year if I can. It did get me to thinking about starting another batch to add to what I have going right now. After all, I still have open carboys but with six full primaries, they are slowly disappearing.
> 
> e-wine



I'm guessing the two bottles in front are your pumpkin wine. Mine looks about the same right now and should be going into the secondary in just a few days. You mentioned you bottled it in March...did it clear pretty good and if so can you submit some pictures?


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## djrockinsteve

e-wine, we have the same shelves. Had to get something to organize the carboys. I only use the tops for gallons and bottles. The bottoms are all 5's.

Was your pumpkin more orange in the beginning?


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## e-wine

The pumpkin wine came out perfectly clear. I'll post a picture later. The two in the front are not pumpkin but they will be joined by another one the same color. Unfortunately, the pumpkin was only in two, one gallon carboys. I'll have to work on a 5 gallon batch of pumpkin if I can get decent fruit and the time to do the grating. After the must had cooled, it looked like orange marmalade and was just about as thick. It was more liquid at transfer to secondary but it was difficult to strain with all the grated pumpkin. And the wine does not taste like pumpkin. 

On the shelf above these carboys are about a dozen one gallon carboys. The shelf above that has supplies and the top one is where I store the primaries and secondaries when they are not in use.

e-wine


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## saintprovogirl

I tasted the must last night and I can definitely tell it's going to pack a punch! Tested SG and it's currently at 1.01, so just a bit more to go until I can rack and it's only been about 4 days since I introduced the yeast. I started this batch at a SG of 1.09, so clearly you can see why the kick.  I'm looking forward to seeing how the pumpkin pie filling works out because that's what I want...the pumpkin taste. I doubt mine will have it when all is said and done.


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## Julie

That should give you roughly 13% ABV


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## saintprovogirl

Julie said:


> That should give you roughly 13% ABV



Yeah, a little stronger than anticipated but oh well...I'll take it .


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## e-wine

I looked back at this thread and on 4/15/09 I posted a picture of the wine shortly before I bottled it. Now, the picture was posted on 4/15 but the wine was bottled on 3/23. As you can see, the wine was clear. I can take pictures of a 1.5 litre bottle if you wish, just let me know.

e-wine


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## saintprovogirl

e-wine said:


> I looked back at this thread and on 4/15/09 I posted a picture of the wine shortly before I bottled it. Now, the picture was posted on 4/15 but the wine was bottled on 3/23. As you can see, the wine was clear. I can take pictures of a 1.5 litre bottle if you wish, just let me know.
> 
> e-wine



I can't seem to find it but no worries. I will trust in the wine gods (winemakingtalk guru's?) that my wine will come clear.


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## djrockinsteve

It will clear. Some faster than others. Many factors effect the wine clearing. While it's clearing time to make something else.


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## e-wine

saintprovogirl,

Look on the bottom of page 5 of this thread. The pumpkin is the outer two gallon jugs. Take care.

e-wine


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## slow learner

question!

Why do so many pumpkin wine recipes call for the pumpkin flesh to be removed (usually they say to strain it) so soon after the start of fermentation?

I have a 30 gal barrel of must fermenting as we speak, drawn as close as possible to the pumpkin wine recipe on jack keller's website. It is, according to the recipe, time to strain the pumpkin flesh away, but the mixture is so pulpy and thick that I just know I'll lose a significant amount of sugar in the pressing (assuming i can even figure out how to press pumpkin slush). 

For those of you that made pumpkin wine from fresh squash, when did you first press/strain your must? Am I inviting some kind of disaster if I let fermentation continue in the primary? 

I didn't take sg (again, too pulpy) but the must is still very sweet to taste. 

thanks for any ideas you might have.


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## Julie

slow learner said:


> question!
> 
> Why do so many pumpkin wine recipes call for the pumpkin flesh to be removed (usually they say to strain it) so soon after the start of fermentation?
> 
> I have a 30 gal barrel of must fermenting as we speak, drawn as close as possible to the pumpkin wine recipe on jack keller's website. It is, according to the recipe, time to strain the pumpkin flesh away, but the mixture is so pulpy and thick that I just know I'll lose a significant amount of sugar in the pressing (assuming i can even figure out how to press pumpkin slush).
> 
> For those of you that made pumpkin wine from fresh squash, when did you first press/strain your must? Am I inviting some kind of disaster if I let fermentation continue in the primary?
> 
> I didn't take sg (again, too pulpy) but the must is still very sweet to taste.
> 
> thanks for any ideas you might have.



I left mine sit on the must for about 6 weeks. I had mine in a stainer bag. When we pull it out we left it drip for about 4 hours and then squeezed the pulp that was in the bag.


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## slow learner

was that with pumpkin pie filling or grated/chopped pumpkin?

how'd it turn out?


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## Julie

slow learner said:


> was that with pumpkin pie filling or grated/chopped pumpkin?
> 
> how'd it turn out?



grated/chopped pumpkin


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## slow learner

ok that's reassuring 

thanks, Julie.

Edit: that's not exactly the smiley face I was trying to send...


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## saintprovogirl

e-wine said:


> saintprovogirl,
> 
> Look on the bottom of page 5 of this thread. The pumpkin is the outer two gallon jugs. Take care.
> 
> e-wine



Wow, extremely clear! How long until they got that way? I'm actually amazed that the middle isn't the pumpkin because mine has such an orange hue.


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## e-wine

saintprovogirl,

I started the wine around Thanksgiving last year and bottled on March 23rd of this year. Fermentation was no more than 2 months so it took about two months to clear. And it was with grated pumpkin so it could be longer for the canned pumpkin since it has a smaller particle size.

e-wine


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## saintprovogirl

e-wine said:


> saintprovogirl,
> 
> I started the wine around Thanksgiving last year and bottled on March 23rd of this year. Fermentation was no more than 2 months so it took about two months to clear. And it was with grated pumpkin so it could be longer for the canned pumpkin since it has a smaller particle size.
> 
> e-wine



I used grated pumpkin in mine too, and started it on 11/11/10. I was noticing yesterday that it's starting to show signs of clearing and there is a lot more residue on the bottom of the carboy. Seems to be working so I'm excited!


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## blacksheeples

*Pumpkin Wine made simple!*

We developed a variety of pumpkin that makes a "to die for" pumpkin wine. Makes the wine right in the pumpkin shell! Also just needs brown sugar, Champagne yeast, and two heavy duty garbage bags. It's a farm wine - not sophisticated, just good! Check out our web site for more info.


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## slow learner

i found it: 
http://blacksheepenterprises.webs.com/recipes.html

thanks, les


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## WineyTexan

Julie said:


> I left mine sit on the must for about 6 weeks. I had mine in a stainer bag. When we pull it out we left it drip for about 4 hours and then squeezed the pulp that was in the bag.



Julie: Was this in a primary bucket and open fermentation or was in under an air lock? Did you stir it everyday? What was the deciding factor to remove the pulp?


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## Julie

WineyTexan said:


> Julie: Was this in a primary bucket and open fermentation or was in under an air lock? Did you stir it everyday? What was the deciding factor to remove the pulp?



HI WineyTexan,

Yes in a pirmary bucket that I stirred everyday and no airlock. I usually leave the fruit in the primary until the sg reaches 1.020 and remove. I squezze the bag everyday and by this time I have all that I am going to get out of that bag.


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## djrockinsteve

WineyTexan said:


> Julie: Was this in a primary bucket and open fermentation or was in under an air lock? Did you stir it everyday? What was the deciding factor to remove the pulp?



By the time the specific gravity reaches 1.020 and under most of the sugar has been consumed by the yeasts. Your fruit is starting to lose it's ability to stay together and begins to be come more of a pulp.

Many use a bag for an ease of removing the fruit, I put my fruit straight in. Several reasons. There are times I have so much fruit I'd be making a mess trying to pull it out. The loose fruit will allow a better wetting upon punching down. I believe this will allow for an easier time for the enzymes then yeast to get to all the sugar.

When my gravity passes 1.020 I use a sieve with a handle and in just a few minutes remove the fruit. My pineapple I just removed the other day looked like insulation it was all chewed up by the yeasts.

I placed the fruit into another bucket, snapped 3 of the 4 lid snaps on and turned it upside down and let the remaining juice drip back into my primary. After a few minutes it was finished, gave the primary a stir and let it finish.


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## FishNiX

arcticsid said:


> Tom, all I have is KMeta powder. I am not going to buy campden tabs for 1 recipe. How much powder to use for 1 gal. recipe? I have been using 1/4 tsp for my and 5 gallon batches
> Troy



I know this is way back in the thread, but anyways... I use 1/4tsp per 6g, so mix your 1/4tsp with water easily divisible by 6. I usually do 2c of water, then 1/3c per gallon for smaller batches. When I do 3g recipes, I'll do 1/2c water and just add 1/4c per carboy. 

I keep the leftover in a waterbottle with the dosage written on the side.


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## ryankelley

I found I still have several bottles of pumpkin wine left and wasn't sure how long ago I made it. I searched the website and found it was nearly 9 years ago...wow, how time goes by quickly...

Anyway, reporting back about the results. This is a very nice wine, smooth and easy to drink. Is it past it's prime? Is it spectacular and something I must do again and regret not doing every year since...no. But it's solid and maybe I'll do it again someday.


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## Yeasty Boy

I have seen recipe's that call for raisin and cinnamon sticks. Also, grinding the pumpkin versus just chopping up the pumpkin?
Is there a certain type of pumpkin that works better than other or just any old pumpkin?


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