Vegetable wine from pumpkin is an original drink and not familiar to everyone. Growing pumpkin, vegetable growers plan to use it in casseroles, cereals, soups, pastries. But they may not remember about an alcoholic drink. Not every housewife knows the recipe for making pumpkin wine at home.
What is remembered pumpkin strong drink 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 vitamins and nutrients of ripe pumpkin.
Consider the options for making homemade wine from a healthy vegetable at home, because it is impossible to find such a drink in stores.
Getting started
For winemakers, any variety of pumpkin is 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 pure fruits. If the area of rotting or damage is small, it can simply be cut out.
All tools and containers for making wine must be sterilized. This will protect the wine from mold and spoilage. Wash your hands thoroughly too.
To prepare a delicious strong vegetable drink, we need to take:
- 3 kg of pumpkin;
- 3 liters of clean water;
- 300 g of granulated sugar, and 5 g of citric acid per 1 liter of liquid;
- 50 g raisins (unwashed) or wine yeast per 5 liters of must.
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.
If there was no wine yeast at hand, then we prepare the sourdough in advance from unwashed raisins. It will take 3-4 days to prepare it, so we will prepare the drink after.
Pour raisins into a jar, add sugar (20 g) and water (150 ml). We mix everything, cover with gauze and transfer to a dark room with room temperature. The readiness of the starter is determined by the appearance of foam on the surface, the hiss of the composition and the smell of fermentation. If this does not happen, then you have come across processed raisins, and it will have to be replaced. Some housewives immediately prepare a starter for pumpkin wine from currants, plums or cherries.
Homemade pumpkin wine can be made in a variety of ways. Consider the most popular.
Vegetable hard drink options
For a tutorial on how to make pumpkin wine, try making each recipe with a small amount of vegetables. Then choose the best one.
Main recipe
Ready sourdough.
Wash the pumpkin, remove the peel and seeds, grind the pulp. A kitchen grater, meat grinder or food processor will do. We need to get pumpkin puree.
In a bucket or saucepan, dilute the resulting pumpkin puree with water in a ratio of 1: 1 and add the starter.
Add citric acid and granulated sugar (half).
Stir until smooth.
We cover the container with gauze, transfer to a dark place, leave for 4 days.
Stir the pulp regularly.
We filter the pumpkin mixture through gauze folded in 3 layers and squeeze the cake.
Add sugar 100 g per 1 liter of water, with which we diluted pumpkin puree.
Pour into a container prepared for the fermentation of pumpkin wine. We fill no more than ¾ of the volume.
We install a water seal from a glove or a plastic tube.
We clean in a dark room, if not possible, cover and keep at a temperature of 18 ° C -26 ° C.
After a week, add the rest of granulated sugar to the wine, 100 g per 1 liter of water. To do this, you need to drain some juice (350 ml), dilute sugar in it and pour it back into the bottle.
We put on a water seal and wait for the end of fermentation.
Then we try the young wine for sweetness, add sugar and a little alcohol if necessary (up to 15% of the volume). Alcohol optional. When adding sugar, keep the water seal for a few more days so that possible repeated fermentation does not harm the bottles.
We remove the wine in the cellar for six months. If sediment appears, filter the pumpkin wine. When there is no sediment, the drink is ready.
Quick way
We speed up the fermentation process of pumpkin drink by heating the wine base.
Wash pumpkin, remove seeds and peel.
Cut into pieces and put in a bowl.
Add water so that the level of water and pumpkin is equal.
Simmer over low heat until the pumpkin is soft.
We shift 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. Put sugar to taste and pour hot water.
Let the mixture cool, close the lid, put a water seal.
We leave the wine for a month to ferment in warmth, but without sunlight.
As soon as the fermentation process is over, bottle the wine and put it in a cool place. You can try again in a couple of weeks.
Hanging way
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 upper part of the fruit.
We take out the seeds and some pulp.
Pour 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.
We cover with a natural lid – a cut crown.
We isolate all the cracks, you can use adhesive tape.
We place the pumpkin in a plastic bag, completely isolating air access. To do this, we bandage the package as tightly as possible.
We hang it in a warm place, having prepared a reliable hook.
The package should be at a height of 50-70 cm from the floor, we substitute the basin below.
We leave for fermentation 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 let the wine drain into the basin.
After draining, pour a strong drink into a bottle and set to ripen.
After a complete stop of fermentation, pumpkin wine is filtered with high quality and carefully poured into small bottles. Wine can be tasted.
Conclusion
The original drink is sure to please. Try different ways of making wine to find your signature wine.