Strawberry Wine - Grade "C"

[jswordy]

How much wine (gallons?) can 10lbs of strawberries make?

Juice yield depends on the berries and how ripe they are, but 10 pounds of nice ripe berries ought to get you around a gallon of juice after being frozen and then double-pressed (press once, fluff up berries and press again). It varies.

 

[Stressbaby]

Sorry to threadjack, but Turock, do you really backsweeten to 1.040-1.050?

I'm not sure I could drink that.

 

[Deezil]

Sorry to threadjack, but Turock, do you really backsweeten to 1.040-1.050?

I'm not sure I could drink that.

With a high acidity, you wouldn't even realize it had that much sugar in it.. It's weird/funny/intriguing how the balance between acidity and sweetness works.

Blackberry, if not acidity-adjusted, is another wine that could end up this sweet without anyone really realizing it

 

[Turock]

Sorry to threadjack, but Turock, do you really backsweeten to 1.040-1.050?

I'm not sure I could drink that.

Well, last year when we bottled strawberry, we tried to lower the sugar. Our PH on that wine is 3.4 and it did not taste good with less sugar. Sweetening is all about balancing sweetness against the existing acids. If you get the PH somewhat higher, then you probably would need less sugar in order to get the correct perception of sweetness.

 

[LAgreeneyes]

Fermentation is usually finished in a month. Once you get a collection of dead yeast on the bottom of your carboy, transfer off the sediment. Let it bulk age as it finishes up clearing for 6-9 months. Rack as needed, don't forget to add sulfite every other racking.

Great tip!! I was wondering about that. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[jswordy]

Well, last year when we bottled strawberry, we tried to lower the sugar. Our PH on that wine is 3.4 and it did not taste good with less sugar. Sweetening is all about balancing sweetness against the existing acids. If you get the PH somewhat higher, then you probably would need less sugar in order to get the correct perception of sweetness.

I make my strawberry on the semi-sweet side.

There's an inverse relationship between sweetness and aging, too. Generally, the less sweet it is, the longer it will need to age. This is especially so in wines not overpowering in flavor. I like to call strawberry an ephemeral flavor.

 

[Turock]

Our strawberry wine has very intense flavor. You want to get the sweetness to the level of strawberry shortcake, otherwise the flavor just seems "off." Tastes more like an unripe berry would.

If your strawberry wine is more on the delicate side, less sugar will be better so you don't tamp down the flavor too much.

My winemaking buddy and I don't like delicate flavors in wine. We like BIG, BIG flavors so we always design our wines to have intense flavor--balanced acids--balanced sweetness. If you tasted our strawberry, you would not say it's too sweet.

 

[refinedmechaninc]

Just curious, but do most people here make wines for others or to enjoy for themselves?

 

[bchilders]

Just curious, but do most people here make wines for others or to enjoy for themselves?

I make wine for my own pleasure and to share. I enjoy when others like what I have made.

 

[bchilders]

I started my first batch of strawberry this week as well. Started with 12lbs of berries and could kick myself for not getting them earlier at their peek of ripeness. Adjusted SG to 1.110 and TA to 8.5 with the intent of back adding sugar after fermentation depending on what the final SG is. I used a low alcohol yeast but given the starting SG I expect it to ferment dry which is fine. I stemmed and roughly crushed the berries/let them sit for 24hrs with pectic enzymes then adjusted SG and TA. I bloomed the yeast with orange juice. I ended up with about 2gl of must. I plan to press after fermentation. Wish me luck...

 

[LAgreeneyes]

I have not been making wine long but I have been sharing with everyone who wants to try it. I use them as my taste testers.

 

[LAgreeneyes]

I wanted to give you all an update on my strawberry wine. It has been 17 days since I bottled it and the taste has drastically changed. I have upgraded my wine from a C to a B+. I am impressed with my own wine. The bitter taste is completely gone. And it has a stronger KICK to it. I had 1/2 glass of wine and the room started spinning. So, I poured another 1/2 glass and layed in bed and watched TV. LOL. Needless to say that I slept like a baby last night.

The only thing that my strawberry wine is lacking is that VERY sweet taste that I like. I think the lack of sweetness (for my standards but others love it) makes it a B+.

Will put away a bottle and open it in a year and see what that taste like.

 

[jamesngalveston]

You should make a batch of dragon blood. goes with every thing cajun.

 

[LAgreeneyes]

You should make a batch of dragon blood. goes with every thing cajun.

What is dragon blood?

 

[jamesngalveston]

are you kidding me.....here is the thread on it.
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f68/dragon-blood-15-days-31996/

you can cut in half, for a small 3 gallon batch..but you will just be making another pretty quick.
you can play around with ingredients. but its good no matter what u use.

 

[GreginND]

If you like it sweeter you can always add some simple syrup to the bottle or your glass when you open a bottle.

 

[LAgreeneyes]

If you like it sweeter you can always add some simple syrup to the bottle or your glass when you open a bottle.

I will have to remember this tip.

 

[LAgreeneyes]

are you kidding me.....here is the thread on it.
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f68/dragon-blood-15-days-31996/

you can cut in half, for a small 3 gallon batch..but you will just be making another pretty quick.
you can play around with ingredients. but its good no matter what u use.

Thanks. I will try that.

 

[gordini]

Strawberry is a problematic fruit to make wine from. Citric acid dominates, colour retention is dreadful and you have to make a sweeter style to make the wine approachable. It eats free sulphur dioxide. Having said that, it does make a good blending fruit wine. Briefly, here is how I do it. Buy strawberries that are more than 10 brix. I make sure that the pH is around 3.55. I crush the strawberries, add mashing/pectolytic enzymes and enough meta to just make the must go pinky cream ( sorry, about 70ppm). I then wait 24 hrs. Then I get a neutral yeast and get it fermenting,and add it to the must. Once the cap comes up, I put the fermenting juice into secondary and adjust the sugar to your requirements. Ferment dry ( with some nutrient ). Immediately the ferment has finished, rack it with another 70ppm free S02. Over the next week, the free S02 level will drop significantly, so add another 30ppm S02. Finish as required with sorbate etc. If you want to be brave, skip the commercial yeast and try wild yeasts. It will take 5 days, but it will begin to ferment. This method does not need to take the green calyxes off.

 

[bchilders]

I started my first batch of strawberry this week as well. Started with 12lbs of berries and could kick myself for not getting them earlier at their peek of ripeness. Adjusted SG to 1.110 and TA to 8.5 with the intent of back adding sugar after fermentation depending on what the final SG is. I used a low alcohol yeast but given the starting SG I expect it to ferment dry which is fine. I stemmed and roughly crushed the berries/let them sit for 24hrs with pectic enzymes then adjusted SG and TA. I bloomed the yeast with orange juice. I ended up with about 2gl of must. I plan to press after fermentation. Wish me luck...

It is turning out really well. It has been clarifying for about two weeks now. I kind of like it dry but my son and his wife like sweeter wines so last night I racked off about 1L and back added some Pinot Gris simple syrup mixture I made with the wine instead of water. I have always used a simple syrup in the past but did not want to dilute this time with water. I decided to refrigerate and not add any sorbet as a this is a trial. We will be tasting it over the weekend.