Frozen Strawberry Wine

[Tom]

Try degassing now. If anything it will mix your f-pac. Did you "Taste" yet? Did you add any simple syrup?
F-pac ands flavor
Simple syrup adds sweetnes.
You want a balance of flavor and sweetness.
Remember what Joeswine says
Taste
Taste
Taste
Thru the whole process.
After you get it to taste good add the clairifier.

 

[BDKS]

This one has been sitting for a while. Going to add sorbate, campden, f-pack. I used the simple sugar syrup recipe with some strawberries. This one is clearing good with bentonite. I will let it sit after sweetening for another month or so. I am trying to take my time with this one instead of throwing it in a bottle to early. This one was started January 15th.

 

[uavwmn]

tepe, I don't know if I have messed this up or not. I made the f-pac, added it to the wine and tasted it. Tasted good.

It has ALOT of f-pac sediment on the bottom!!! I am talking about probably 2" at the bottom of a 1 gallon jug. This doesn't sound normal to have that much sediment after adding the f-pac.


I thought the F-pac added flavor AND sweetness????

 

[Tom]

I don't remember how big a batch you are doing. That being the case here is what to expect. Either wait for it to clear by itself or add clairifiers.
You will need to rack a couple more times before you bottle.


When doing an F-Pac it is suggested to do this long before bottling for this reason. Unless you are doing a 3 gallon min I would not bother to do a f-pac ( just backsweeten) because you will loose to much wine and be lucky to get 3-4 bottles in a 1 gallon batch.

When you are doing onlt 1 gallon ( like some here) it seems like alot of work for maybe 4 bottles. It don't take any more time to do 3-6 gallons.

 

[uavwmn]

Tepe, it is a 1 gallon batch. This was my first try at a fruit wine. My concern is if I rack again, I will be no where near the top of the jug with wine.
I am learning alot about fruit wines and total volume expected at the end of this process. And I am thinking those 3 or 4 bottles better be darn good!! hahaha


Think I should rack again now? Or just wait a while longer?

 

[Tom]

After you added the f-pac what did you do with the wine that didnt fit. Put all in a bigger container. If you start with only one gallon there is not enough room to do much. The other is if you just make a small miss caculation it will magnafied 10X over. This is the drawback of 1 gallon batches

Let it clear some 1st before racking.

 

[grapeman]

uavwmn how did you make your "f-pack"? Did you take whole strawberries in a bit of water and boil? If that's what you did without adding sugar, it won't sweeten it much. That would also explain all the sedimant on the bottom.


I think a beginner would be better off just adding a sugar/water solution for sweetening. You also have to be sure whenever you sweeten a wine, that it has been stabilized with k-meta and k-sorbate. If not, it can referment and take all the sugar out you added, raise the ABV and leave sediment and C02 bubbles.


If I was to make a strawberry, raspberry etc "f-pack", I would either do like Wade and reduce a juice or mash the fruit totally and strain it. I would then add sugar, depending on the size of the batch I am making. I would then heat to reduce it down by half. Let it cool and add it to the batch to the desired sweetness. The straining will keep the pulp out and reduce the amount of clearing it will need later.

 

[uavwmn]

Appleman, I took whole strawberries in a bit of water and added about a cup of sugar. Boiled this. Then poured it in a blender and blended the strawberries. Put this in a paint strainer bag and squeezed the bgb's out of it.
I had already added the k-meta and sorbate a couple of weeks earlier.


I had used the f-pac directions thatTepe had suggested.





<TABLE =tableBorder style="TABLE-LAYOUT: fixed" cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 align=center>
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<TD =msgOddTableSide vAlign=top rowSpan=4>Winemaster Member

Joined: 24 December 2008
Location: United States
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<TD =msgOddTableRow vAlign=top> Posted: 01 February 2009 at 8:41am</TD></TR>
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<TD =msgLineDevider vAlign=top height=150>
<DIV =msg style=": left; OVERFLOW: auto">One other thing. If you are gonna do a f-pac you might want to add the clearifier after you make the f-pac.
I make a f-pac a little different. For 1 gal I would use 1 1/2# of fresh or frozen strawberries. Put them in a large frying pan and warm them and add some simple syrup,let the water from the strawberriesevaporate. Do not boil. Then strain and add to your wine. After that TASTE to your liking and add more simple syrup to taste. Let it clear for a month..or more thenbottle.
FYI I bulk age my fruit wines for at least 6 months.</TD></TR>
<TR =msgOddTableRow>
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<DIV =msgSignature style=": left; OVERFLOW: auto">Sometimes I reflect back on all the wine I drink. Then I think of the dreams of the winemakers. If I didn't drink this wine, they might be out
of work and their dreams would be shattered.
FROM NJ </TD></TR></T></TABLE>

 

[Tom]

I didn't say to put it in a blender

 

[Tom]

uavwmn how did you make your "f-pack"? Did you take whole strawberries in a bit of water and boil? If that's what you did without adding sugar, it won't sweeten it much. That would also explain all the sedimant on the bottom.


I think a beginner would be better off just adding a sugar/water solution for sweetening. You also have to be sure whenever you sweeten a wine, that it has been stabilized with k-meta and k-sorbate. If not, it can referment and take all the sugar out you added, raise the ABV and leave sediment and C02 bubbles.


If I was to make a strawberry, raspberry etc "f-pack", I would either do like Wade and reduce a juice or mash the fruit totally and strain it. I would then add sugar, depending on the size of the batch I am making. I would then heat to reduce it down by half. Let it cool and add it to the batch to the desired sweetness. The straining will keep the pulp out and reduce the amount of clearing it will need later.

Yes Appleman you concure with me on a previouse post here.

"When doing an F-Pac it is suggested to do this long before bottling for this reason. Unless you are doing a 3 gallon min I would not bother to do a f-pac ( just backsweeten) because you will loose to much wine and be lucky to get 3-4 bottles in a 1 gallon batch."

 

[joeswine]

I think what happened here was over information,uavwmn took what i said and what everyone else said and got a little confused,on how to,,,,i spoke to tepe about this and asked him.what he thought know one wants to miss imform anyone,If you have only 2 inches of sediment then rackit out don,t worry about it taste it tell us how you fare and we can take it from there....alls not lost believe me,a one gal. batch can be salvaged but we need to know how it taste right now...that determines what to do next..sorry if you got turned around ,fruit wine making isn't ana true science lots of corners to turn then you wait and watch.I just finished a batch of blueberry wine it took two seasons to get it right with working it carefully as to keep oxygen out and degas and chemicallize an all the rest...that was only 6 gals. and 60 ,lbs. of berries..1 gal. is just as important to you we cancorrect it,this group has some excellent wine makers in its core ...stay tooned...