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Vegetable wine made from pumpkin is an original drink and not familiar to everyone. When growing pumpkin, vegetable growers plan to use it in casseroles, porridges, soups, and baked goods. But they may not even remember about an alcoholic drink. Not every housewife knows the recipe for making pumpkin wine at home.
What makes pumpkin strong drink memorable for lovers of homemade wines? Of course, the aroma of fruits and a slightly tart taste. There is nothing to compare it with, so pumpkin wine can be called unique. The most important quality of the drink is that it retains all the properties of the juice of a healthy vegetable. It contains the vitamins and nutrients of ripe pumpkin.
Let's consider options for making homemade wine from a healthy vegetable at home, because it is impossible to find such a drink in stores.
Let's start preparations
For winemakers, any variety of pumpkin will be useful.
The main thing is that the fruits are ripe and without spoilage. The shade of the wine depends on the color of the pumpkin pulp, but otherwise the difference is insignificant. We choose clean fruits. If the area of rot or damage is small, you can simply cut it out.
We must sterilize all instruments and containers for preparing wine. This will protect the wine from mold and spoilage. I also wash my hands thoroughly.
To prepare a delicious strong vegetable drink we need to take:
- 3 kg pumpkin;
- 3 liters of clean water;
- 300 g of granulated sugar and 5 g of citric acid per 1 liter of liquid;
- 50 g of raisins (unwashed) or wine yeast per 5 liters of wort.
Citric acid in pumpkin wine acts as a preservative and acidity stabilizer. Its presence reduces the risk of contamination of wine with pathogenic microflora and improves the fermentation process.
The sugar content of pumpkin wine should not be higher than 20%, so we add sugar to it in parts, preferably equal ones.
If you don’t have wine yeast on hand, then prepare the starter in advance from unwashed raisins. It will take 3-4 days to prepare it, so we will prepare the drink afterwards.
Place raisins in a jar, add sugar (20 g) and water (150 ml). Mix everything, cover with gauze and transfer to a dark room at room temperature. The readiness of the starter is determined by the appearance of foam on the surface, the hissing of the composition and the smell of fermentation. If this does not happen, then you have received processed raisins and will have to replace them. Some housewives immediately prepare a starter for pumpkin wine from currants, plums or cherries.
Homemade pumpkin wine can be made in different ways. Let's look at the most popular ones.
Vegetable spirit options
To familiarize yourself with the techniques for making pumpkin wine, try making each recipe using a small amount of vegetables. Then choose the most successful one.
Basic recipe
Preparing sourdough.
Wash the pumpkin, remove the peel and seeds, and chop the pulp. A kitchen grater, meat grinder or food processor will do. We need to get some pumpkin puree.
In a bucket or pan, dilute the resulting pumpkin puree with water in a 1:1 ratio and add the starter.
Add citric acid and granulated sugar (half).
Stir until smooth.
Cover the container with gauze, transfer to a dark place, and leave for 4 days.
Stir the floating pulp regularly.
Strain the pumpkin mixture through cheesecloth folded in 3 layers and squeeze out the cake.
Add sugar 100 g per 1 liter of water with which we diluted the pumpkin puree.
Pour into a container prepared for fermenting pumpkin wine. Fill no more than ¾ of the volume.
We install a water seal using a glove or a plastic tube.
We put it in a dark room, if this is not possible, cover it and keep it at a temperature of 18°C -26°C.
After a week, add the rest of the granulated sugar to the wine, 100 g per 1 liter of water. To do this, you will need to drain a little juice (350 ml), dilute sugar in it and pour it back into the bottle.
We put on the water seal and wait for the end of fermentation.
Then we taste the young wine for sweetness, add sugar and a little alcohol (up to 15% volume) if necessary. Alcohol optional. When adding sugar, we will keep the water seal for several days so that possible re-fermentation does not cause harm to the bottles.
We put the wine in the basement for six months. If sediment appears, filter the pumpkin wine. When there is no sediment, the drink is ready.
Fast way
We speed up the fermentation process of the pumpkin drink by heating the wine base.
Wash the pumpkin, remove seeds and peel.
Cut into pieces and place in a saucepan.
Add water so that the level of water and pumpkin is equal.
Simmer over low heat until the pumpkin is soft.
We transfer the finished mass into a container for wine - a bottle, a barrel.
Add barley malt. The norm is 2 tbsp. spoons per 5 liters of mass.Add sugar to taste and add hot water.
Let the mixture cool, close the lid, and install a water seal.
We leave the wine for a month to ferment in a warm place, but without sunlight.
As soon as the fermentation process is over, pour the wine into bottles and put it in a cool place. In a couple of weeks you can try.
Hanging method
For this version of pumpkin wine, you need to choose a round vegetable with a large weight - 10 kg or more.
We cut off only the top part of the fruit.
Take out the seeds and some pulp.
Pour granulated sugar into the hole at the rate of 5 kg per 10 kg of pumpkin weight, then 2 tbsp. spoons of yeast (dry) and pour water to the top.
Cover with a natural lid - the cut top.
We isolate all the cracks, you can use tape.
Place the pumpkin in a plastic bag, completely sealing off air access. To do this, tie the bag as tightly as possible.
We hang it in a warm place, having prepared a reliable hook.
The bag should be at a height of 50-70 cm from the floor, place a basin below.
Leave to ferment for 2 weeks; as a result of the process, the pumpkin should become soft.
After the required time has passed, we pierce the pumpkin through the bag and allow the wine to drain into a basin.
After draining, pour the strong drink into a bottle and set it to ripen.
After fermentation has completely stopped, we filter the pumpkin wine thoroughly and carefully pour it into small bottles. You can taste the wine.
Conclusion
You will definitely like this original drink. Try different ways of making wine to find your signature.
