pumpkin spice cyser

[beckett]

my first attempt at cyser.

3 gal. apple cider
12 lb. wildflower honey
6" in diameter pumkin (cut to 1/2" chunks)
3 lb. bag red del. apples (cut to 1/2" chunks)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup rasins
1 cup walnuts
1 Tablespoon cardmon seeds
3 Tablespoon ground nutmeg
3 Tablespoon ground cinamon
1/2 teaspoon sulfites
1 pack lalvin ec-1118

starting this in a five gal. (pail) primary. mixed the must up two nights ago. added yeast this morning. i expect this will take awhile to finish. i hope it turns out well.

 

[Talon]

During my research for a pumpkin beer recipe, I was told that I would have to carmelize the pumpkin very well to really get the sugars out of the fruit. Just wondering if you did this as well or if you're just throwing the fruit into the carboy in chunks?

 

[Oskaar]

Cooking the pumpkin is an essential part of the flavor extraction process. I just bottled five gallons of pumpkin ale and can attest to that.

When you roast the pumpkin (I use the cooking pumpkins because they have more flavor and are sweeter) you may also spice the pumpkin before roasting it as this really helps to blend the flavors.

Cheers,

Oskaar

 

[PanzerBjorn]

Oskaar,
How do you go about roasting pumpkins and where do you get cooking pumpkins from? The only I have ever seen are the usual halloween carvin pumpkins. Also, how much pumpkin per gallon do you use? Thanks.

 

[Caerwyn]

would canned and pureed pumpkin (any major store should have that, for pie filling) suffice, as long as it was 'natural' and didn't have any bad stuff like sulfates in it? I mean... its good in pie!

Caerwyn

 

[ScottS]

Ain't nothin' like the real thing. ;D Even in pie.

 

[David Baldwin]

You can often find baking pumpkins at farmers markets and grocery stores in the produce section.

To bake/roast, you work with it just like an acorn squash. Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, spice as desired and place on a cookie sheet in middle rack of oven at 350 or 375 for an hour maybe 1 1/4 hours. (Bake with shell down and cut side up.)

Now I'm hungry... ;D

 

[beckett]

i was unaware that coooking released the flavor of pumpkins. when i first came up with the idea of pumpkin cyser it was as impulse to use the ball jar of homemade pumpkin butter. then when i did research concerning pumpkin wine the recipes i found made use of raw pumpkin.

http://www.gotmead.com/mead-recipes/bees-lees-ii-3.shtml#pumpkin

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques53.asp

http://honeycreek.us/wine36.html

http://scorpius.spaceports.com/~goodwine/pumpkinwine.htm

http://www.weekendbrewer.com/Wine recipe-file/pumpkinwine.htm

anyway the stuff is bubbling away so i will wait and see how it turns out.

 

[ronjohn55]

This may qualify as blasphemy, but it's possible to make a 'pumpkin' beverage without the pumpkin. The spice blend (nutmeg, clove, cinamon, ginger) is what helps convey most of the flavor profile of a pumpkin pie.

Fermented pumpkin doesn't contribute a whole lot of flavor, although it does have some, and helps with mouthfeel and body a bit.

I would use it though, just because. And it definitely helps to cook/carmelize it (less important if mashing an all grain beer, but in mead - definitely!).

John

 

[beckett]

i racked this off on last saturday (after about six weeks in the primary) since it had slowed to one bubble in the airlock about every minute or so. when i racked it i grabed a sample that tested a sg of about 1.25. i tasted the sample which seemed a little sweet for my taste. it had a nice flavor save for the aftertaste which had a strong bite like it needed more time for the spices to mellow. i racked it into a 5 gallon carboy and left behind a large quantity of solid waste in the primary. i topped the carboy off with a little for than half a gallon of spring water. i hope that will slightly lower the sg or even the alcohol content (to allow fermentation to restart). so after about five days it is clearifying nicely with a rare bubble in the airlock. now to wait some more, good thing i have some blueberry melomel to keep me company.

 

[Jmattioli]

I noticed you used 3 T (9t) of nutmeg. That seems like a lot of nutmeg. People usually use ginger and clove with the cinnamon and pumpkin. Hope it mellows for you. Good thing it is a bit sweet. Let us know how it turns out after a few months.
Joe

 

[Oskaar]

Hey Beckett,

Sorry for not getting back to you on the pumpkin.

Like David said the baking pumpkins can be found at any farmers market, and at most regular markets. They come in a number of shapes and sizes and they trend toward being fuller flavoured than the regular carving pumpkins. I also sneak in a couple of sweet potatoes and I bake everything together.

I cut the stuff up into chunks about two to three inches square. I sprinkle them with dark brown raw cane sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger and some sweet paprika (bet you weren't expecting that!!!) Last time on the batch of Halloween Pumpkin ale I also brushed some Grand Marnier onto the pumpkin and sweet potatoes before I sprinkled on the rest of the ingredients.

The reason I bake is to convert the flavors of the raw squashes and sweet potatoes to the carmelized and sweetened tastes that are so evocative of the smells of pumpkin pie, baked sweet potatoes and sweet squashes during the holidays. The baking also helps to carmelize the sugar and combine it with the other spices, and the orange flavor from the Grand Marnier really helps to bind those together.

Once the baking is done I separate the flesh from the skin and place it in a steeping bag, and into the fermentor it goes.

The rest as they say, is in the waiting.

Cheers,

Oskaar

 

[beckett]

joe: yeah i went a little crazy with the spices. i do enjoy well spiced cider. when i mixed the must i spiced the cider before i added the solids. i started with 2 T but by the time i had add the solids and cut the fruit i was convinced it needed more spice. anyway i am sure it will mellow. ill be sure to post how this tastes after some time passes.

oskaar: not a problem. yeah i got that pumpkin at the farmers market here in town. though i am not an educated pumpking consumer so i am unaware if it was a baking pumpkin or not. your procedure sounds good (esp. the paprika) and i will definitely give it a try next time i ferment some pumpkin.

thanks guys.