Looking t make first strawberry wine from fresh fruit, help a newb?

[Kracker]

I have never made wine from fruit, only joice. so, I have these 2 recipes

TABLE STRAWBERRY WINE (5 Gallons)
12.5 lbs. Strawberries
1/8 Tsp. Sodium Bisulfite
Pectic Enzyme (as directed on package)
5 Tsps. Yeast Nutrient
1 Tsp. Wine Tannin
8 Tsps. Acid Blend (.60% tartaric)
8 lbs. Sugar (1.078)
1 Pkg. Champagne Yeast


DESSERT STRAWBERRY WINE (5 Gallons)
25 lbs. Strawberries
¼ Tsp. Sodium Bisulfite
Pectic Enzymes (as directed on package)
5 Tsps. Yeast Nutrient
12 lbs. Sugar (1.100)
1 Pkg. Champagne Yeast

(No Acid Blend or Wine Tannin required)


which do i use? i just bought 15 lbs of fresh strawberries... i make this for my wife, she likes sweet and very flavorful.

I dont know where to begin with real fruit!!

 

[jdmyers]

I always freeze my fruit first. It help break it down after its thawed, also put fruit in a mesh bag makes it a lot easy to clear the wine

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

use 50 pounds for 5 gallons, the last day of fermenting in your bucket add another 10 pounds of sliced strawberries to give it an extra boost of flavor, if you can use honey instead of just sugar to raise the sg, it will give it more body and taste even better, and if she likes oak a little bit of oak in the background makes a strawberry a very surprising wine, after you strain out strawberries and transfer your must to your secondary carboy you can add more sugar or honey to raise the sweetness, keep doing this until the yeast give up, when you open a bottle of this wine it will fill your house with the smell of summer strawberries, your wife will be very happy and appreciative and you will get a big reward WVMJ

 

[blackspanish777]

use 50 pounds for 5 gallons, the last day of fermenting in your bucket add another 10 pounds of sliced strawberries to give it an extra boost of flavor,

I second this. Go heavy on the fruit.

 

[seth8530]

I would go heavy on the fruit, but I would keep the alcohol low. Ie no higher than 12%. Using honey rather than sugar is also an idea. I got a strawberry wine that I plan on adding sugars back to with honey before way too long.

 

[Kracker]

why keep the alcohol low? im really lost on the 12 lbs to 50 lbs difference?

 

[Julie]

the difference is in taste, 12 lbs all you will have is colored water, you need the 50 lbs to have some strawberry taste and making the alcohol too high will mask the flavor.

 

[ffemt128]

Last batch of strawerry wine I made I had 100 lbs or 8 gallons and I steamed the fruit to extract the juice. It turned out pretty darn good. Wish I still had some left.

 

[seth8530]

You want to keep the alcohol low so the wine will not taste like strawberry rocket fuel. Ie, a nice balanced wine that reminds the drinker of a nice pleasant evening in the garden rather than say a cheaply made strawberry daiquiri that was so hot it needed more sugar than soda in it to taste drinkable.

 

[BernardSmith]

why keep the alcohol low? im really lost on the 12 lbs to 50 lbs difference?

It's the difference between the wine having the flavor of water that has strawberries dipped in it or a strawberry flavored wine. If you extract juice from 12 lbs of strawberries and dilute that juice with enough water to make 5 gallons and then taste that liquid THAT will be the strength of the strawberry flavor when all the sugars have been fermented out. If you were to extract juice from 50 lbs of strawberries and dilute that juice to make 5 gallons the flavor intensity will be four times greater.. So you might aim for 1 gallon of strawberry wine if you only have 12 lbs of the fruit.