Pumpkin FrankenWine

[Yeasty Boy]

Ginger is one of those spices that can overtake a dish or drink, so if it was my wine I would taste every day and pull that ginger out early when it starts becoming prevalent in the flavors. I’m sure you’re going to want to leave the dry spices in longer. Keep us posted thanks for sharing.
I put together an Apple/Cranberry last night, thinking about some spices. Not sure yet.

Thanks Erin, that is one reason I did separate the ginger but I am glad you reaffirmed my thought process. You are right ginger can be powerful or I thought it could start to rot if i left it too long.
As for the Apple/Cranberry, my wife said I should try to make a cranberry wine for thanksgiving 2019. Most cranberry wines I have tried have been too sweet or too tart. Then I thought of balancing it out with some orange zest or apple juice. But I didn't even think about spice, so let me know what you are thinking. Ginger and clove come to mind here. I just started a Beet Root wine with those two and it smells amazing.
I appreciate your input.

 

[Erin Tipton]

Your a smart cookie on that ginger! I love ginger ail but ginger can sure get spicy on its own! I know it sounds crazy but my best friend makes the most delicious candied beets I’ve ever had and her special spice to make it so wonderful is pepper corns! Just throwing that at you!! I just got that Apple cranberry mash going and I tossed in a pound of black grapes, the mash was super tart going to measure SG tonight and see what it needs before pitching the yeast. I made an Apple Raspberry from juices and it turned out nice.

 

[Yeasty Boy]

Your a smart cookie on that ginger! I love ginger ail but ginger can sure get spicy on its own! I know it sounds crazy but my best friend makes the most delicious candied beets I’ve ever had and her special spice to make it so wonderful is pepper corns! Just throwing that at you!! I just got that Apple cranberry mash going and I tossed in a pound of black grapes, the mash was super tart going to measure SG tonight and see what it needs before pitching the yeast. I made an Apple Raspberry from juices and it turned out nice.

Peppercorns sound interesting. I just read an article on substituting 'Chinese Five Spice' for Pumpkin Pie spice in Pie. I was wondering what effect that would have on a fruit wine, cider, or even if i try this pumpkin spice wine again. The beets sound good but I may try a spicy apple wine to test it. I may have to plant more beets this spring.
Do you use fresh or frozen Cranberry's?
Good Ideas Erin

 

[Erin Tipton]

I used fresh cranberries.
I did 10 pounds native green apples they looked like small Granny Smiths
2 pounds cranberries
1 pound black seedless grapes
I decored the apples and sliced and froze them and the cranberries. Thawed and ground in food processor. Looked like applesauce. Put all in a mesh bag with about 6 cups wand and 4 cups sugar and all the other must haves! Peptic enzyme, acid blend, yeast energy and one campden tab. I’m going to use champagne yeast so it should have a good mild flavor with a little sweetness. I didn’t want the yeast to suck the life out of the fruit.
All spice is sometimes call for in pies. I wonder if it’s the same as the Chinese five spice. I’ll have to research that. I’m hoping the mash let loose of some flavors today so I can get a feel of what to expect before I pitch the yeast.
The pepper corns in her candied beets makes it have the savory but addictive flavor I don’t know how to explain it. It a little spicy on the backside without the heat! It’s sooo good. You have me wanting to make beet wine!!! If I could get it to taste like her beet juice I would in a heart beat!! Lol

 

[Hokapsig]

would like a recipe using canned pumpkin pie filling that I can pick up on sale after Thanksgiving. This thread's recipe is way too labor intensive for me. Looking for a 6 gallon recipe that we could scale up in the future.

 

[Erin Tipton]

would like a recipe using canned pumpkin pie filling that I can pick up on sale after Thanksgiving. This thread's recipe is way too labor intensive for me. Looking for a 6 gallon recipe that we could scale up in the future.

Here's the recipe:

I found this in another thread!!

Canned Pumpkin Wine
• 18 lb canned (unspiced) pumpkin
• 30 drops pectic enzyme
• 3 Tbsp Acid blend
• 13 lb white granulated sugar
• 1 lb dark raisins
• 3 oz cinnamon
• 1 ½ oz ginger
• ¾ oz cloves
• 10 Lipton black tea bags
• 6 campden tablets (crushed)

Boiled sugar into two gallons water, poured over rest of ingredients. Mixed well. Topped up with boiled water. Sit 24 hours, pitched Red Star Champagne yeast.

Racked the mush after about a month. It's been another month, and it's sort of separated into two layers -- one a mushy, almost colloidal goop, and the top is a very clear, winey liquid.

It has fermented dry (to a taste test -- we never got a hydrometer reading because it was so thick). We threw in SuperKleer today to hopefully speed along the clearing process.

So my questions are this:

If SuperKleer doesn't speed things along, do we just wait and wait for it to separate?

And if so, will leaving all that sediment in there give it off flavors?

PS. The spices in this recipe were adapted from my girlfriend's pumpkin pie recipe.

 

[Yeasty Boy]

I bet using canned would be just as good as me cooking pumpkins and digging the meat out. Less work. I did see one recipe where they simmered the canned pumpkin with sugar and spice to sort of caramelize it and get the flavors cooked in with the spices.
I am always scared of sediment because i have read what it can do to the flavor. But, I am very green at this thing. I know my pumpkin sediment settled and compacted after a week. You could then backfill/sweeten with some clear apple juice or concentrate depending on if you yeast is still active. If it is you can go for pumpkin sparkling! That may be kind of weird not that I think of it.

 

[Yeasty Boy]

I tasted the FrankenWine last night and it was very dry and acidic. Then i added a bit of sugar to my sample and WOW it tasted good. Amazing what that does. Getting hints of the spice but nothing huge so far. Will keep steeping the spice bags.

 

[Farmside]

Your a smart cookie on that ginger! I love ginger ail but ginger can sure get spicy on its own! I know it sounds crazy but my best friend makes the most delicious candied beets I’ve ever had and her special spice to make it so wonderful is pepper corns! Just throwing that at you!! I just got that Apple cranberry mash going and I tossed in a pound of black grapes, the mash was super tart going to measure SG tonight and see what it needs before pitching the yeast. I made an Apple Raspberry from juices and it turned out nice.

This is why I love this forum! So many great ideas to try, I love beets from our garden, going to have to make a note on that tip for next years crop. With your cranberry, I just finished with a gallon test and the tartness was almost all lost after fermenting. Wife came home with a 32oz jar of tart cherry and we back blended that with the cranberry. That turned out really good.

 

[Erin Tipton]

I still have the fruit in mine. I’ve been punching down the cap twice a day. Added a 1/2 cup sugar last night and it is delicious! I’m going to pull off the fruit and remeasure the GS and transfer to another carboy. A black cherry k-pac would be delicious. I’m thinking about trying my hand at a sparkling with this batch it’s just so yummy right now with all that carbonation during the ferment! How’s the spices going with pumpkin I really want to try a pumpkin spice wine! I LOVE PUMPKIN!!!

 

[Farmside]

Erin, have you seen the trick using a soda bottle to gauge carbonation? I used a 12oz Dr Pepper bottle, filled it with cider and screwed the cap on. When the bottle is firm it’s time to cold crash the cider in bottles. I saw that hint on another thread and I am trying it with a 12 pack of cider. Kind of makes more sense then opening a bottle to test .......

 

[Erin Tipton]

That’s a fantastic idea!!! I will use that! I love sparkling wine. I love that crisp tartness with the carbonation. And I think this Apple cranberry will be a great candidate for my experiment! Have you ever RE-used the crew cap bottles that sparkling wine comes in? I have a few but am hesitant to use them.

 

[Farmside]

I have seen too many warnings trying to reuse screw cap bottles. I have friends saving beer bottles and I bought a inexpensive hand operated capper, works great and cheaper than those Grolsch type flip cap bottles. Capper cost $16 and a bag of 100 caps is $6 something.

 

[Erin Tipton]

I have several large beer bottles left from bottling a gallon of beer. I’m thinking I’ll go geto and just use them! Lol

 

[Yeasty Boy]

Tried the wine again and it had just a hint of spice. So I will let it steep some more. When I sample I taste it first and then add some sugar and taste again, then let it set 10 minutes and taste again. I get something different each time, but the flavor is not where I want it yet.

 

[Farmside]

I have several large beer bottles left from bottling a gallon of beer. I’m thinking I’ll go geto and just use them! Lol

Well? Work? I just bottled up a test batch of Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry. Using the “almost extinguished” meathod of carbonizing. Tastes pretty darn good for a wine cooler type cocktail.

 

[Yeasty Boy]

In pulled the spice bag last night. I did pull the ginger 2 weeks ago, and forgot to report that. I sampled the wine after letting it breath for an hour and it tasted amazing. Maybe I let the bag sit in there too long or maybe the flavor will fade over time. It tasted pretty good after I put a pinch of sugar in it so now i will cap it again and let it set and clear.
It like a flavor time capsule.

 

[Yeasty Boy]

It has been a year and a month. This wine making teaches patience, right. I waited until this spring to put the campden tablets in it. I let every last molecule of sugar get eaten by the yeast. I tasted the FrankenWine at the beginning of October and thought it was like licking the spice rack with a splash of alcohol. Really bitter and a bit strong. So I added a cup of sugar and waited a week or so and tasted again. I did this four times, so 4 cups of sugar to backsweeten. I thought about 5 but I didn't want to get too sweet and gooey. I thought it was good and the taste I was looking for. So, I bottled one bottle and gave it to one of my wife's friends to try with her girlfriends. She came back and said,"It was great, I usually don't drink wine but I loved it. We finished the whole bottle and got drunk." Which lead me to believe that I had a good product and I should probably bottle in smaller bottles. Still cannot decide if I like it cold or room temp. Room temp brings out more flavors.
Luckily I have a friend that bought a vineyard and winery to convert to a Hop yard. Old Sye had a lot of unused bottles to get rid of so I had 5 boxes of dark colored 350ml. I had not planned this but it seemed to fit, dessert like wine in a small bottle. It is all corked and ready to go. While bottling I had my wife taste it. She said, "Not Bad." This is the best thing she has ever said about my wine making. As we have spent a bunch of money, taken me to get stitches, and taken up her craft room with carboys, she is hard to impress. But she did drink it.
Taste was amazing. I think I have the right amount of sugar without being too sticky. Strong pumpkin spice but not overly bitter and it smells amazing. With the cider as a medium it does not have a strong apple flavor just a hint. You can tell the pumpkin added body and mouth feel. Very comfortable amount of mouth feel. It is very hard to stop drinking this. After i bottled 4 cases of 350ml I sucked the bottom layer with some sediment into a cup and even that tasted good! Reading through my notes I was reminded that I did use Honey and it did not have a bitter Honey Mead aftertaste.
Just in time for thanksgiving! Hope my mom likes it.