Anyone here an experienced pumpkin tapper?

Discussion in 'Home Bar' started by leedorham, Aug 19, 2013.

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  1. leedorham

    leedorham Initiate (0) Apr 27, 2006 Washington

    I need to procure a bung for a pumpkin, and am unsure of what to get. I would also appreciate any tips on the whole pumpkin bunging process. Do you just do like a wooden barrel and hammer the sucker in while the pumpkin is full of beer?
     
    #1 leedorham, Aug 19, 2013
  2. tweezer159

    tweezer159 Initiate (0) May 2, 2008 Alabama

    I would be careful using a hammer. You might end up with a busted pumpkin and beer on the floor. Are you fermenting or conditioning? I've never heard of such a thing, much less tried it.
     
    #2 tweezer159, Aug 19, 2013
  3. leedorham

    leedorham Initiate (0) Apr 27, 2006 Washington

    Just serving. Basically putting finished, carbonated beer in a giant pumpkin, letting it sit for a while, and serving from the pumpkin at an event this October. Just for fun basically.

    I am also worried about busting something and spilling the beer everywhere, which is why I am seeking the expertise of others. This is actually not an uncommon fall festivity type practice.
     
    #3 leedorham, Aug 19, 2013
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  4. Ri0

    Ri0 Initiate (0) Jul 1, 2012 Wisconsin

    How is this not on YouTube yet?
    Found something.
     
    #4 Ri0, Aug 19, 2013
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  5. geocool

    geocool Savant (1,233) Jun 21, 2006 Massachusetts

    I remember that CBC did this when they served Allagash Ghoulschip a few years ago. Unfortunately I have no idea how they did it so I cannot help you.
     
    #5 geocool, Aug 19, 2013
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  6. jmw

    jmw Initiate (0) Feb 4, 2009 North Carolina

    Just guessing here, but I would assume that you could go ahead and carefully bung your pumpkin before you ever put beer in it to make sure that it fits well. It's just for show really correct? The act of trying to drive the thing into a full but unperforated pumpkin might not turn out how you wanted.

    And I don't want to take any of the steam out of this post at all because it is so...unique, but that thing is actually called a tap or spigot, and it is driven through the bung (the 'keystone' bung to be exact)
     
    #6 jmw, Aug 19, 2013
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  7. leedorham

    leedorham Initiate (0) Apr 27, 2006 Washington

    I had considered that, but the videos seem to indicate full pumpkin is ok. Also, it's all about presentation, right?

    Thanks for the terminology clarification. Probably would have gotten less thread bumps with the right terms though, right? :wink:
     
    #7 leedorham, Aug 19, 2013
  8. leedorham

    leedorham Initiate (0) Apr 27, 2006 Washington

    Thanks for that. The other videos I'd found didn't show it that clearly.
     
    #8 leedorham, Aug 19, 2013
  9. jmw

    jmw Initiate (0) Feb 4, 2009 North Carolina

    This is true, both. The tapping of the cask should be an affair, and it often involves spray and loud cheering. And we should talk about bungs at every opportunity.
    Try a dry run or 2 to see what the effects may be. I could see little harm in scoring the spot where you wanted to hammer it in, but I still think you may not get a good seal.
     
    #9 jmw, Aug 19, 2013
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  10. geocool

    geocool Savant (1,233) Jun 21, 2006 Massachusetts

    I see where you're coming from, but on the other hand, once the spigot is driven through, do you think there might be a time limit before the pumpkin begins to degrade and it no longer fits tightly in the bunghole?
     
    #10 geocool, Aug 19, 2013
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  11. tweezer159

    tweezer159 Initiate (0) May 2, 2008 Alabama

    This is awesome. I want to do this now.
     
    #11 tweezer159, Aug 19, 2013
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  12. jmw

    jmw Initiate (0) Feb 4, 2009 North Carolina

    I think if you did this very far in advance that you would develop bung attrition as the flesh dried and curled away from the bunghole (which is always unfortunate). But I was assuming that the OP-bunger would probably do this just before filling the pumpkin with beer and not days in advance. That may be an assumption, but personally I would also not hollow out the pumpkin very far in advance either if I wanted that fresh pumpkin flavor in the beer. I suppose I could have misunderstood, and the intention was to let beer sit in the pumpkin for a while?
     
    #12 jmw, Aug 19, 2013
  13. leedorham

    leedorham Initiate (0) Apr 27, 2006 Washington

    No. You understood correctly. Would be the day of the event.
     
    #13 leedorham, Aug 19, 2013
  14. JM03

    JM03 Initiate (0) Nov 12, 2010 Ohio

    #14 JM03, Aug 19, 2013
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