Strawberry Rocket Fuel

[desertwind56]

Okay, I'm not really wanting to make strawberry rocket fuel. But through a series of goof-ups and my in-ability to enter the correct info in Winecalc, I have a SG of 1.110!!!! (I was shooting for 1.080).

Well, maybe. I have a lot of strawberries (36 lbs) and not a lot of water (2 gallons). Makes it difficult to take a reading

I just added K-meta a couple of hours ago. This evening I'm going to add pectic enzyme.

How quickly will the enzyme break down the strawberries? Would I be able to take out what is left of them tomorrow? I need to get a good SG reading. Also, I don't have enough room in the bucket (8 gallon) to add much in the way of water or more strawberries.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

I should have steam juiced them, but I was being lazy. *sigh*

 

[dangerdave]

I did the exact same thing, dw! My strawberry started with SG=1.110 and ended up with a very high ABV...duh! I won't start that high again. I'm thinking of blending the strawberry jet fuel with a fuity peach/mango I have on hand. Bench tests have shown some promise. The resulting strawberry/peach blend ("Two Sisters") may appear soon, in a cellar near me!

 

[desertwind56]

I can't believe I did this! Ahhh!

Current plan is to go to the local brew shop when hubby gets off and pick up a 12 gallon bucket. I'll dump the contents in to the 12 gallon bucket (okay, 6'6" son in law to be will dump it in the 12 gallon bucket). Then tomorrow, I'll steam-juice the 9 lbs or so strawberries that are in the freezer and add to the must. Then top with water. Hopefully I can get it down to a decent SG (right now I'm hoping for 1.09). *Sigh*

At least this will clear out the 8 gallon bucket and I can use it to start some skeeter pee.

 

[rjb222]

When making fruit wines or country wines the recipes are usually form the probation period. Since then the sugar we use as table sugar has been further refined and we actually need to start with a smaller addition. I always cut 1/3 of the sugar back that the recipe calls for and if needed I balance just before inoculating the yeast. Depending on the year the fruit has had I may have to add a bit more but not very often. Most times I hit a SG of 1.070 - 1.080 this will of course depend on where you live or the fruit was grown as the amount of sun dramatically changes the sugar content of the fruit.

 

[Arne]

I can't believe I did this! Ahhh!

Current plan is to go to the local brew shop when hubby gets off and pick up a 12 gallon bucket. I'll dump the contents in to the 12 gallon bucket (okay, 6'6" son in law to be will dump it in the 12 gallon bucket). Then tomorrow, I'll steam-juice the 9 lbs or so strawberries that are in the freezer and add to the must. Then top with water. Hopefully I can get it down to a decent SG (right now I'm hoping for 1.09). *Sigh*

At least this will clear out the 8 gallon bucket and I can use it to start some skeeter pee.

It can be a little bit of a pain, but you can start your ferment in 2 buckets which are easier to handle. Quite a few folks on here have gone to donut shops and get their icing buckets for little or no charge. Course if you have lottsa help this should be no problem. lol. Make sure you leave some space atthe top of the primary buckets. It can make quite the mess if the ferment comes over the top. Arne.

 

[jswordy]

Just wanted to add that our old friend Father Time aids high abv wines very much when they are left in his care. When I started out, I kind of felt like that harsh alcohol astringency I was getting from my high abv wine meant I had to lower or dilute the alcohol content.

Instead, I found out by experiment that letting it rest in the bottle will allow me to get easily plastered and yet have a very smooth wine to do the work. If I could just wait, Father Time would wear the edge off the high alcohol bite.



The bonus is, I found time and again at dinner parties that people would leave behind my 10% wines to clamor after my high abv wines if they are mellowed by aging. So now I never make wine below 14-15% minimum and I really try for 16-18%.

One other little cheap trick (great band!) I do is to use citric acid or acid blend to hide high abv in wines you think will be consumed younger. Little by little, add just enough after fermentation is over to cover the raw alcohol with an acid bite instead. It gets close to "OMG, I have gone too far," so go slow.

 

[desertwind56]

We bought a larger fermenting bucket last night and transferred the must to it last night. I had the berries in a nylon fermenting bag and ended up taking them out and just dumping the berries in the bucket. Also added pectic enzyme.

This morning the SG was 1.090.

Okay, I couldn't leave well enough alone. I steamed juiced 6 pounds of berries and added the juice to the primary. Also added a little water and some sugar. Ended up with a SG of 1.080 or so. Checked the acid, added a little acid blend, added a little tannin and some yeast nutrient. Since I had so much liquid volume (8 gals?) I pitched 2 packages of yeast. (Cotes des Blancs).

I really wished I had steam juiced all the berries. This is going to be a pain in the neck to transfer to a secondary.

I was hoping to have strawberry wine by summer (I know, should of started sooner). The first batch of wine I ever made was a 1 gallon batch of strawberry almost 2 years ago. I only have 2 bottles left and I hate to drink them because then it will be all gone! Hopefully, I'll have something drinkable in a few months.

Also, I didn't have another bucket to transfer part of the must to. All my buckets were full (Mead, brown ale, wheat beer, strawberries and some StarSan I'm going to need in a couple of days) . And now that I have an empty bucket I can get a batch of Skeeter Pee started. . .

 

[Arne]

Sounds like you are doing fine,but you are in for one of the great joys of strawberry winemaking. Trying to get all those small seeds and pulp out when you rack. I have gone so far as trying to pour thru a strainer funnel. Spent lotsa time cleaning the strainer. But with some patience you can get most of it out and the rest will fall out as the wine ages. I have had to leave strawberry in the carboy for a long time to get it clear. Arne.

 

[dangerdave]

Just wanted to add that our old friend Father Time aids high abv wines very much when they are left in his care. When I started out, I kind of felt like that harsh alcohol astringency I was getting from my high abv wine meant I had to lower or dilute the alcohol content.

Instead, I found out by experiment that letting it rest in the bottle will allow me to get easily plastered and yet have a very smooth wine to do the work. If I could just wait, Father Time would wear the edge off the high alcohol bite.

The bonus is, I found time and again at dinner parties that people would leave behind my 10% wines to clamor after my high abv wines if they are mellowed by aging. So now I never make wine below 14-15% minimum and I really try for 16-18%.

One other little cheap trick (great band!) I do is to use citric acid or acid blend to hide high abv in wines you think will be consumed younger. Little by little, add just enough after fermentation is over to cover the raw alcohol with an acid bite instead. It gets close to "OMG, I have gone too far," so go slow.

Good point, Jim. I am going to let most of the strawberry age. Some, I will blend. The strawberry/peach blend was really quite good!