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    Home » Recipes » Wine & Beer Brewing

    Pumpkin Mead

    Published: Sep 25, 2020

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    Pumpkin mead is a fun, flavourful seasonal beverage... and it's easy to make at home! Learn How to make Pumpkin Mead, with our recipe!

    Close up photo of a tall wine glass with dark amber mead in it.

    If you've ever stopped off at roadside gift shops along the highway at certain times of the year, you've likely come across bottles of pumpkin mead at some point. Sure, it's a fun touristy purchase... but it's also something you can make at home, for a fun fall project this year. (And a fun fall beverage, NEXT year!).

    Pumpkin mead is relatively easy to make, and doesn't really require anything weird in terms of technique, ingredients, or equipment... just a bit of patience!

    Mead, A Primer

    One of the very first home brewing recipes we shared on the blog was our Clementines Mead, and we’ve since posted a couple more, pretty recently - Homemade Blueberry Mead And Homemade Wildflower Mead ... so you may already know about mead 😉

    Close up photo of a tall wine glass with dark amber pumpkin mead in it.

    Mead is basically a wine, but instead of being made from fruit, it’s made from honey. Technically, this recipe is a melomel - a mead that’s been fermented with the addition of fruit - but “mead” is a much better-known term.

    (There's also maple syrup - so it's technically also an acerglyn (Mead made with honey and maple syrup), but basically NO one uses that term, so "mead" it is!)

    Learn The Basics of Making Pumpkin Mead

    If you haven't attempted making mead or wine before, don't be intimidated!

    - Wine Making At Home, Part 1: Why?

    - Wine Making at Home, Part 2: Equipment to Get Started

    - Wine Making at Home, Part 3: The Brewing Process.

    - Wine Making at Home, Part 4: How to Stabilize and Back Sweeten Wine

    Just a small handful of entries, and you'll be good to go!

    Pumpkin Mead Ingredients

    Now that you have a basic idea of what’s involved with making mead, let’s look at the ingredients you’ll be using

    Close up photo of a tall wine glass with dark amber pumpkin mead in it.

    Spring Water

    While using tap water can be an option, we opt to use jugs of spring water, for a couple of reasons..

    First of all, life in Minneapolis opened our eyes to the fact that tap water doesn’t always taste good. While our water here in Hamilton always tastes fresh and clean (without a filter even!), we know that’s not the case for everyone. Bottled spring water won’t introduce any weird, undesirable flavours to your pumpkin mead.

    Additionally, there’s the convenience factor. Not only is it clean tasting, it’s pre-measured, sterile, and handy.

    However, if your tap water is consistently tasty and safe, feel free to use that instead of bottled.

    The Honey

    Unlike more basic varieties of mead, Pumpkin Mead involves a lot of flavours being added, so your choice of honey isn’t going to have AS much of an effect on the final taste, as it would on some other mead recipes.

    A lighter tasting, mild honey will basically just bring the sweetness / base to the mead. A more robust one - like a buckwheat honey - may add a little flavour... but it’s still likely to mostly be covered up by the pumpkin, brown sugar, and spices.

    Close up photo of a tall wine glass with dark amber pumpkin mead in it.

    Brown Sugar and Maple Syrup

    Brown sugar and maple syrup are unusual ingredients when it comes to mead making, but it adds a certain something to this one.

    IMHO, a Pumpkin Spice mead should be a bit more complex, and I like what the additional forms of sweetener bring to it - the molasses from the brown sugar, and the maple flavour from the syrup. It all just works really well together, between these, the honey, and the flavourings.

    ... probably not the most traditional mead - and I’m sure people will argue about it even being considered a mead - but when it comes down to it, you’re making a tasty fall wine-type beverage to enjoy. That’s it - so... pinkies up, and pedantry down? 🙂

    Pumpkin Puree

    As is, with the minimum 2 cans of pumpkin puree, this makes a nice mead that doesn’t smack you in your face with pumpkin flavour.

    As with all wine recipes, this is HIGHLY customizable. Feel free to add another can or two to the recipe, for more pumpkin flavour.

    ... just keep in mind that more pumpkin = more fermentable sugars. You can tweak the sugar amounts listed ahead of time, or you can just accept that you’ll end up with a higher ABV pumpkin mead in the end. Totally up to you!

    Quick note: Pumpkin Puree is not the same as “Pumpkin Pie Filling”, though they’re usually sold in the same spot. Get the puree, not the pie filling!

    Close up photo of a tall wine glass with dark amber mead in it.

    More Pumpkin Recipes

    When fall is here, is there anything better than indulging in some pumpkin goodies? Here are our favourite ways to use the gourd!

    How to Carve a Pumpkin Like a Pro
    Maple Pumpkin Spiced Muffins
    Maple Walnut Spiced Pumpkin Buns
    Pumpkin Pancakes
    Pumpkin Spice Nanaimo Bars

    Additional Flavours

    Just as the pumpkin puree is customizable, so too are the flavours added. Feel free to add any flavours you’d like in addition to those listed, leave out those you’re less interested in, or change the proportions to suit your tastes.

    The amounts of fresh ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, orange, and vanilla bean listed produce a mildly flavoured - and well balanced - basic pumpkin mead.

    If you’re looking for something with more spice, you can definitely add more of any - or all - of the spices involved.

    If you get through primary fermentation and want more flavour, you can always add more - usually in the form of cinnamon sticks, vanilla beans, whole cloves, orange peel - to the secondary fermenter. Just be sure to use very clean hands - or gloves - when handling the ingredients being added.

    Back Sweetening Your Pumpkin Mead

    Sometimes, you’ll find that the yeast went a bit too far with their smorgasbord, and you end up with a pumpkin mead that’s not as sweet as you’d like it.

    ... and that’s when you back sweeten it! You can read my How to Stabilize and Back Sweeten Wine post for information on how to back sweeten it.

    Close up photo of a tall wine glass with dark amber mead in it.

    More Home Brewing Recipes!

    While you've got your current homebrew fermenting away, why not consider putting a batch of something else on, to occupy your wait time? Here are a few of my other wine, cider, and mead recipes:

    Wine Recipes

    Banana Wine Recipe
    Blackberry Wine Recipe
    Blackcurrant Wine Recipe
    Blueberry Wine Recipe
    Cherry Wine Recipe
    Cranberry Clementine Christmas Wine Recipe
    Cranberry Wine Recipe
    Faux Lingonberry Wine
    Lychee Wine Recipe
    Mango Strawberry Wine Recipe
    Mango Wine Recipe
    Mint Wine Recipe
    Lychee Wine Recipe
    Partridgeberry Wine Recipe
    Passionfruit Wine Recipe
    Peach Wine Recipe
    Stone Fruit Wine Recipe
    Strawberry Wine Recipe
    Ube Wine Recipe
    Watermelon Wine Recipe

    Mead Recipes

    Black Cherry Mead Recipe
    Blueberry-Clementine Mead Recipe
    Blueberry Mead Recipe
    Clementine Mead Recipe
    Wildflower Mead Recipe

    Cider & Miscellaneous Homebrew Recipes

    Hard Apple Cider Recipe
    Home Brew Hard Iced Tea Recipe
    Maple Hard Apple Cider Recipe

    Share the Love!

    Before you drink up, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you Instagram it, be sure to tag me - @CelebrationGenerationCA - or post it to My Facebook Page - so I can cheer you on!

    Also, be sure to subscribe to my free monthly email newsletter, so you never miss out on any of my nonsense.

    Well, the published nonsense, anyway!

    Row of wine bottles filled with deep amber coloured mead.

    Anyway, on to that Pumpkin Mead Recipe!

    Close up photo of a tall wine glass with dark amber pumpkin mead in it.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Saved!
    4.25 from 4 votes

    Pumpkin Mead

    Pumpkin mead is a fun, flavourful seasonal beverage... and it's easy to make at home! Learn How to make Pumpkin Mead, with our recipe!
    Prep Time2 hrs
    Cook Time40 mins
    Resting time365 d
    Total Time365 d 2 hrs 40 mins
    Course: Beverage
    Cuisine: British, Greek
    Servings: 5 Gallons
    Calories: 4248kcal
    Author: Marie Porter

    Equipment

    7.5 gallon pot (or bigger)
    1 6.5 gallon fermenter bucket and lid
    1 air lock and stopper
    Siphon, siphon tubing.
    1 or 2 6.5 gallon glass carboys

    Ingredients

    • 5 gallons spring water
    • 12 lbs Honey
    • 2 lbs brown sugar
    • 1 cup maple syrup
    • 2+ cans Pumpkin puree 29 oz cans
    • 2-3 oz fresh ginger peeled and sliced.
    • 2 teaspoon cinnamon
    • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
    • ½ teaspoon cloves
    • Zest of one orange
    • 2 vanilla beans sliced in half lengthwise
    • 1 teaspoon acid blend
    • 3 teaspoon yeast nutrient
    • 1 packet White Labs “WLP 720 Sweet Mead” yeast

    Instructions

    • Measure out water and honey into a very large pot (We use a 7 gallon turkey fryer), stir well.
    • Add brown sugar, maple syrup, pumpkin, spices, orange zest, and vanilla beans, stir again to mix well.
    • Heat to ALMOST boiling, then simmer gently for 30 minutes.
    • Stir in acid blend and yeast nutrient.
    • Carefully pour mixture into a freshly sanitized fermenting bucket. Cover with sanitized lid and air lock, allow to cool to room temperature (overnight).
    • The next morning, give the mixture a quick stir with a long, sanitized spoon, and – using sanitized equipment – take a gravity reading of the liquid (strain out any flowers in the liquid you're measuring). Keep track of the number! (This is an optional step, but will allow you to calculate your final ABV %)
    • Sprinkle yeast into fermenter, cover with sanitized cover and air lock. Within 48 hours, you should notice fermentation activity – bubbles in the airlock, carbonation and /or swirling in the mead must. This means you’re good to go!
    • After a week or so, use your sanitized siphon setup to rack the must into a freshly sanitized carboy. Put the carboy somewhere cool (not cold!), and leave it alone for a month or so.
    • Using sanitized equipment, rack the mead off the sediment, into a clean, freshly sanitized carboy. Cap with sanitized airlock, leave it alone for another 2-3 months.
    • Rack one more time, leave it for another 3 months or so.
    • When your mead has been racked a few times and shows NO more fermenting activity for a month or so (no bubbles in the airlock, no more sediment being produced, you can move on to bottling.
    • If stabilizing, follow the instructions on your selected type of wine stabilizer to stop fermentation. For potassium sorbate, this needs to be done 2-3 days before bottling.
    • Using sanitized equipment, take a gravity reading, then rack the mead into clean, sanitized bottles. Cork.

    Notes

    IMPORTANT:
    Software generates nutritional information based on the ingredients as they start, and is unable to account for the sugars consumed in the fermentation process. As such, the calories, sugars, and carbs are shown WAY higher than reality.
    Additionally, the listed value is for the entire recipe, NOT per serving.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 4248kcal | Carbohydrates: 1136g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 300mg | Potassium: 1350mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 1114g | Vitamin A: 26457IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 454mg | Iron: 8mg

    Related posts:

    A glass of straw coloured wine is pictured next to a whole mango. Mango Wine Recipe A close up view of a wine glass with with a deep red wine. There are cranberries and orange peels at the base of the glass, against a white background. Christmas Wine A tall glass of fruit punch-coloured stone fruit wine, next to a peach, a plum, and a few cherries. Stone Fruit Wine A wine glass with deep purple ube wine, next to a sliced up ube - purple sweet potato. Ube Wine Recipe
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Clint

      October 19, 2020 at 10:57 pm

      What is the rough abv on this?

      Reply
      • Marie Porter

        October 29, 2020 at 2:16 pm

        It varies wildly based on the amount of sugar added, etc.

        Reply
      • Dan O

        November 08, 2021 at 9:27 am

        This sounds like a tasty mead. I'm starting a pumpkin cyser this week & was curious....What is the reasoning for adding the acid blend in the beginning? Usually, acids are added to taste @ the end of fermentation. Being a mazer myself, I'm always on the search for the most knowledge about the hobby. Thanks, in advance, if you reply.

        Reply
        • Marie Porter

          November 11, 2021 at 9:32 am

          Honestly, that's how we learned to do it when we were getting started, so it stuck.

          We'll alter the amount based on the acidity of the fruit being used, but that's about it.

          Reply
    2. Kim

      August 16, 2021 at 9:45 am

      Hi, I'd like to try the pumpkin mead recipe and I'm wondering if I can use vanilla bean paste instead of the vanilla bean.
      I have 2 gallons of your hard cider brewing right now. I love that your recipes are easy and quick and appear to have a lot of flavor. I will let you know how they turn out.
      Thank you in advance.

      Reply
      • Marie Porter

        August 16, 2021 at 12:21 pm

        Thank you!

        Yes, you can definitely use vanilla paste instead.

        When it comes to flavouring, you really can do pretty much whatever you want - with only a few caveats:

        - use stuff that tastes good.

        - try not to use too much, you can always add more later

        - don't use anything with a ton of preservatives in it, as it may mess with fermentation.

        Reply
        • Kimberly A Shilling

          August 23, 2021 at 2:17 pm

          Awesome, thank you Marie. I'm starting this right now! And thank you for the great recipes!

          Reply
    3. VC

      November 11, 2022 at 11:28 am

      Do you use whole spices here, or since it's in tsp are you using ground spices? Hoping to try to make it easier to clear this with whole spices.

      Reply
      • Marie Porter

        November 11, 2022 at 3:03 pm

        We use ground spices. You could probably use whole, but the ground really doesn't make it any more difficult to clear!

        Reply

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