Intoxicating

We started a batch of pumpkin wine.  It is one of the wines people show the most interest in, probably because it is so unusual.  I must admit, I love making wine because it is such a social family time.  My nephews started me on this, and we’re starting our second round of winemaking.  This past weekend, we started another batch of pumpkin wine.  We did this last year, and the first batch was intoxicatingly perfect–clear, dry, smooth.  The second batch was a bit more interesting–slightly green and just weird tasting.  This year it is imperative we find a way to tell indiscriminate pumpkins apart–which one would be suitable for wine.

We chose the softest skinned one we could.  This translated into, “Can I peel this blasted pumpkin without resorting to swearing and needing bandages because it is so hard?”  Raw pumpkins are not easily peeled.

After a near impaling incident, Brandon was relieved from peeling.  Mom and I took over this job and turned Brandon loose with the grater.

Mom and I also took turns grating the pumpkin.  It is infinitely important to grate carefully, especially when you get down to the little chunks, or you can lose pieces of skin.  Last year, we used my food processor for the first batch and it worked incredibly well.  The second batch destroyed my “indestructible” food processor–just snapped it like a rubber band.  That is how we decided we needed a soft pumpkin.  I was not taking any chances, however, and we did it the old fashioned way.

It took the entire pumpkin to get our five pounds of grated pumpkin.

Once we had our pumpkin in the primary vessel, we measured our water and sugar and waited for it to boil.  Just to prove I do some things other than take pictures of others working on my farm, Brandon decided I had to be in a picture.

It did take a while to watch our pot start to boil, so Mom got bored with stirring and waiting for it to boil.  I intercepted my camera and went back to being the farm photographer.

Once it was boiling, we gave Brandon the task of pouring it over the grated pumpkin in the primary fermentation vessel.  Yes, it is a primary fermentation vessel, not just a five-gallon bucket.

We mixed it up and then let it sit to cool.

This is an intricate recipe, and we were infallible in our execution of the instructions.  You can find the recipe HERE, but it required adding ingredients: campden tablet, pectic enzyme, yeast energizer, yeast nutrient, citric acid and yeast, over the course of a day-and-a-half.

Today, it sits in the kitchen fermenting and I intend to give it my individual attention twice a day, stirring the must to keep it moist, for another three days.  Then, we’ll transfer it into the secondary fermentation vessel.

If you found this interesting, you can visit my previous posts on winemaking ingredients and vocabulary and supplies, starting wine.  While this post is all about an intoxicating beverage, I’m encouraging imbibing in moderation.

This post is my contribution to Jenny Matlock’s Alphabe-Thursday.  Today’s letter is I for intoxicating.