Adjusting brix for strawberry must...

[Brewgrrrl]

My 5 gallon pail of strawberry juice is coming in today (I missed the picking season this year so I ordered juice from Walkers). I've been told that the acid level is .79 and they adjusted thebrix adjusted to 18. From what I understand, it would be better to start withthe standardbrix of 22. To adjust the brix, the formula I'm familiar with is that you add 1/4 cup per gallon to raise it 1.25 points. For this batch, I would want to raise the brix by 4 points, so that's .8 cups per gallon or 4 cups total for five gallons.


Am I on the money here? I've just typically followed recipes so I want to make sure I'm not screwing up something. Thanks!

 

[Brewgrrrl]

P.S. I'm going for a semi-dry wine with a nice strawberry nose (I used a recipe from "Making Wild Wines and Meads" for last year's strawberries and it was terrific). Any yeast suggestions for full fermentation but preserving the strawberry scent?

 

[grapeman]

If that is the specific gravity you want, then yes, you are close in your calcs. Being strawberry, you could just go with the juice as it comes so as to not raise the alcohol level up to the point of muting the strawberry smells and taste with alchohol.

 

[Brewgrrrl]

Thanks, Appleman - the final flavor/nose is my main concern so I don't care if it's lower alcohol. I was going with 22 brix because my understanding is that is the typical starting point for wine. 18's okay though?

 

[grapeman]

That is fine. You can expect it to last alright with the bit lower ABV, but it won't age for 10 years.


I'm sure Tepe will remind you to do an F-Pack treatment on it to bring the nose up a bit along with a great strawberry flavor.

 

[Brewgrrrl]

Thanks! I hadn't even thought ahead to the F-Pack. Hmmm - I may go ahead and adjust the brix anyway and then plan on the F-Pack for later. With the batch of fresh-picked berries I used last year, I did NOT use an F-Pack and the wine (semi-dry) was still amazing and it hada great nose. I think that was because of the high quality of the berries though. Starting from juice, I am sure that using an F-Pack will be essential in getting that same flavor and nose. THANKS!

 

[Tom]

By raising the brix to 22 = 1.090 will be startingthe high end before the alcohol starts to mask the strawberry (1.085 tops is what I suggest). In this case Yes I would strongly suggest to make a f-pac so you will have stronger flavor to balence out the alcohol.

 

[Brewgrrrl]

IT'S HERE!!! IT'S HERE!!! IT'S HERE!!!

They even included a little info pack about making wine from their "hot-packed" juice and a package of Cote des Blancs (which I was thinking of using). Thanks for the advice - I'm headed to the cellar! YAY!!!!

 

[Brewgrrrl]

WOW! This juice smells AMAZING!!! I was a little leery about trying this because the wine I made from fruit last year was so great but - WOW. I am completely impressed thus far with the quality of this product. They also add pectic enzyme when they heat-pack it and they list the brix and acid level on the outside of the container. VERY easy to use and it smells fantastic!