Strawberry question

[Joanie]

I'm going to make some strawberry wine from the flat I'm getting today. In recipes I've been reading it says to remove stems and green. Do I need to hull them as well?

Thanks!

 

[grapeman]

I would hull them Joan. The leaves give a green taste to everything. I'm not sure I will get enough strawberries this year ro make any wine from. So far all the berries have been going into the mouths, shortcake and jam. I need to pick again today, but we only have enough to get 5-10 quarts per picking. I usually get lucky when my brother has a few flats that don't sell out when it's really hot at the market.

 

[Joanie]

I was afraid someone would tell me that!

Thanks Man with Apples!

 

[grapeman]

Joan it's really not bad hulling them. I do it by hand, Cindy uses a knife. Just grab the stem close to the leaves and give it a little twist and they usually pop right off. Takes me about 2 minutes to do a quart. Besides the red strawberry juice matches your fingernail polish!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Joan..a friend showed me that you can scoop out the stem with a tool that you punch a 'V' opening in a can....I just use my thumb nail like appleman...a handy tool just made for the job....find it is quicker too.


Appleman...5-10 quarts a day is plenty of strawberries...everyone should get their fill soon and then you can get some to make wine.


I thought I would get lots of berries...BUT...
...first it was the slugs on the low-lying everbearing variety, the berries on those are right on the ground, tight-full clusters of smaller berries. The trays of beer does take care of the slugs.
...then the June bearing ones have large berries nicely placed off the ground...birds were getting them, nets are now protecting them and the nets are working great.
...now if I let them get real ripe they are rotting from too much moisture.


With all of this, I still have hopes of getting enough to make a batch or two of Strawberry Wine.

 

[Joanie]

I hulled 12 pounds of strawberries with a paring knife after work today and started a 3 gallon batch. It smells and tastes great! I pitch the yeast tomorrow.

I sooo need more carboys!

 

[Trigham]

Joan , You realy need to get a camera and show us step by step !!

 

[Waldo]

JOAN !!! I can' see the pictures !!! You did post them didn't you

 

[Joanie]

Pictures? I was supposed to post pictures? Now you guys tell me! Sheesh! I was much too sticky and sweet to be handling a camera!

 

[dfwwino]

Joan,


I know what a pain prepping the fruit can be. I'm missing the tops of my fingers from halving 15 lbs of peaches last night. Where did you get your strawberries?


By the way, does anyone know how large a strawberry patch one needs to produce about 20 lbs of strawberries a year?Edited by: dfwwino

 

[grapeman]

Buy a pack of 25 plants and put about 12-16 inches apart in a row. If you can't go 25-30 feet split it into 2 rows about 4 feet apart. They form runners(daughter plants and spread. Try to keep them in rows about 3 feet wide. You will easily get 20 pounds probably a lot more. They will bear the following year. If you get everbearing they will produce in the fall of the first year also.

 

[Joanie]

Joan,


I know what a pain prepping the fruit can be. I'm missing the tops of my fingers from halving 15 lbs of peaches last night. Where did you get your strawberries?

I bought mine locally. We have a lot of strawberry growers in these parts.

Have you been hiding? I haven't seen you around much.

 

[NorthernWinos]

I have to share my strawberries, with the slugs, rodents, neighbors, birds and now with rotting from the heat and excessive rain we had...so I don't have as many put away as I would have wanted...only have 10 pounds in the freezer now...hope to get about 20-25 pounds enough for a 6 gallon batch.


My 15 or soJunebearing plants I got from a a friend and set out 2 years ago...got a few berries last year, [didn't do anything to the row last year]...this spring I got 62 baby plants and set them out...a few of them are producing now.


The Everbearing plants set smaller fruits, more in each cluster, but they are closer to the ground, those are having a problem with rotting...but now with drier weather I didn't throw as many away today.


I made another row of Everbearing ones this spring, they should produce this fall...I think I will eventually have 2 rows of Junebearing and one row of Everbearing...The Everbearing ones are nice to have a taste of berrieslater during the summer.


Anyone ever grown the Day Neutral ones????

 

[Dean]

I did strawberry wine last year. Here is the recipe I used:

Here is the recipe:

About 4lbs of fruit per gallon - yield 6 gallons

24lbs strawberries
12lbs sugar or to adjust to 1.090-1.095
2 tsp pectic enzyme
9 tsp acid blend
1.5 tsp grape tannin
1lbs golden raisins for body
water to 6 gallons
2.5 tsp yeast nutrient
Lalvin K1V-1116 yeast

Freeze the berries if they are fresh. They should be overripe if possible, picked in the heat and almost falling apart.
Hand crush the berries after they have thawed.
Place all this in your primary fermentor and add sugar.
Add water to 5 gallons and stir VERY well to disolve, or add sugar to a large pot of boiling water and disolve.
pour over the berries and stir like hell!
wait for must to cool down, add the chopped raisins, acid blend, tannin, and pectic enzyme. Stir well add 1/4 tsp K-meta or 6 crushed campden tablets and wait 12 hours.
Sprinkle yeast on top and let it ferment in a room that is about 70F.
Rack to secondary (glass) after 7 days, then continue to rack to clear (every 3-4 months). Bottle and age. You might want make 7 gallons of must
and reserve 1 gallon for back sweetening when finished. Remember to add sorbate to prevent refermentation! K1V is a powerful
yeast that can take a wine up to 20%!

The wine turned out to be an awesome light red color, much darker than any other strawberry wine I've had before. I've noticed that K-meta will leech the color out. Here are few pics of the day that I got the strawberries from a local grower. They were called "Jam Berries" because they are picked in the heat of the day, and go soft (makes for good jam!). Most were already hulled, so the whole 30 pounds only took about 1 hour to finish off. It took over 3 days for my fingers to go back to normal color!

 

[Waldo]

Thats gotta be a mighty good wine Dean. I might also suggest adding another tool to your wine making arsenal. A box of disposable latex gloves. They work great for applications such as this. I wear them a lot in my winemaking. Just dip your hands into a sanitizer occasionaly with them on.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Dean those strawberries look nice and ripe...I bet they are sweet and juicy.


With all of our recent rains I have found the I can't let them hang out there too long, or they would all be rotten...it seems they are getting better every dry day we have.


Today's pickin'...

Most came off the old row of Everbearing variety...The Junebearing row is mostly new plants that were moved from the few older plants, so not getting many berries off of them. The new row of Junebearing ones will only have a couple berries...but still go over there and look for them...hope for a small crop later on the Everbearing rows and a better harvests next year.Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[NorthernWinos]

We like red wines, so I use WinExpert Red Grape Concentrate in most of our fruit wines...The last batch of Strawberry wine has been our best.


~~~~~~~~~~STRAWBERRY WINE~~~~~~~~~
[7 GALLONS]


11 QUARTS STEAM EXTRACTED STRAWBERRY JUICE [about 24 pounds]
3 500 mil WINEXPERT RED GRAPE CONCENTRATE
7 CAMPDEN TABLETS
7 tsp ACID BLEND
4 tsp LIQUID TANNIN
9 1/2# SUGAR
TOASTED OAK [about2 oz]
2 VANILLA BEANS
S.G 1.088


NEXT DAY:


3 1/2 tsp PECTIC ENZYME
7 tsp YEAST NUTRIENT
3 tsp YEAST ENERGIZER
2 PK MONTRACHET YEAST [only because I had it and wanted to try it]


Ferment in usual way...Rack every 2 weeks or so...Cleared with SUPER KLEER K-C....Final S.G. .994....
ADD:
1 1/2 tsp ASCORBIC ACID
POTASSIUM SORBATE
35 bottles



Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[dfwwino]

Joan,
Have you been hiding? I haven't seen you around much.

Joan,


Iwasin hibernation for the winter andspring. I was busy proposing, getting married,purchasing a new house, movinginto an apartment temporarilyand blending families. Besides, I ran out of empty carboys last October and had no room for more wine. I knew if I kept browsing this forum during my self-imposed moratorium, I'd be making several more batches of wine. The pics of the strawberries have me salivating. I've got 30 gallons of wine aging in the dining area of our two bedroom apartment, which also houses myself, my new bride, three teenage daugthers and two dogs. I can't wait until construction of thehouse is finished at the end of October. Despite the lack of space, I could not pass up the harvest season and 30 lbs of free peaches for another 10 gallons of wine.


Appleman,


Thanks for the input. When I get into the new house, I'll give it a shot next growing season. I'm already planning to plant a couple of rows of blackberries as well as a peach and fig tree. Edited by: dfwwino

 

[Joanie]

Congratulations to you and Best Wishes to your wife!!

This is an exciting time for you! I hope you and your new family will be very happy! Cheers!!

 

[NorthernWinos]

dfwwino...major life changes...Congratulations!!!