strawberry wine. never made before but started

[stevenberry]

Hello any and all and thanks for taking the time to read me.

I am somewhat new to making wine from things. I have made wine in the past but its been a long long time.

Recipe I used

19lbs strawberries de-stemmed sat in fridge all night in distilled water. Used that water (bout 1 gal)
10lbs sugar
2 cups Lipton tea made hot and cooled before added from 3 tea bags


We found this place that had some really sweet awesome strawberries. They were not large berries, a little larger then wild ones. But really really sweet. So we picked about 19lbs of them spent all day long getting the leafs and stems off.

K here is what I did.
Took blender placed enough berries in it to fill half way then topped off with sugar. Liquefied and did this until I went through all ingredients. Than after the tea cooled I wrung out the tea bags and added it to the slurry. Simple? Yeah. smart? idk thats why im here

Its now sitting in a sterilized container in the basement (its cool down there bout 70ish degree) covered with a towel and then with a metal lid (stainless steel container) and since it is so sweet I also placed a 1mil 9x10 plastic drop under it and then wrapped that around it like a bag type thing.

I went up to the local wine store and got myself some wyeast for sweet mead. I wasn’t thnking and now know I should of started it a day or so before I made my mix. They are now closed and in the morning plan on going there to say something but the yeast is 6 months beyond its use date its a year old so its sat for 12 hours now and nothing has happened to the packet (smack pack) By the time I do get yeast in it I will be looking at 3 days that all this has been sitting down there. Should I add something to kill anything that has started to grow in it?

The liquid is more of a slushy slurry, really thick but I am about 1 gallon of water shy of 5 gal. I had planned on adding the extra with the yeast but now I am thinking that its so thick I might just have to make 13 gallons since I do have the extra glass jugs. The liquid is more strawberry pulp or w/e then water. Once I siphon the liquid from this slurr can I add more water to make it 5gal for the jug?

The more I read the more I get confused. Some stuff says I did it rite where other stuff says I should of added this and added that and then other stuff says I did it completely wrong and its just going to be a waist. ok long winded enough.

I do not have a hydrometer.

Glad I found this site. Seems there are a lot of things to read now. wish I would of found it before I started this but I could not let 19 lbs of stawberrys go to waist after all that work.

Thanks for anyone that made it this far for the reading specially with bad grammar and spelling

 

[Deezil]

You mention not having a hydrometer - i'm reading between the lines and assuming you know you really need one

A hydrometer would let you know how much alcohol you can expect & if you'll have residual sweetness or just how much sweetness you have when its all over..

Sounds like you're like on fruit, personally... Somewhere around 4-5lbs/gallon, where you'd hope for double that (or sometimes with light fruits like strawberry, just all juice/fruit & no water) but thats okay, can f-pack it later & bring the flavor back around to where you want it.

I wouldnt put fruit in a blender myself, as you dont wanna chop the seeds up - most seeds will contain chemicals you dont necessarily wanna consume - but i wouldnt say it'd be enough to dump this batch, just might make it a bit.. bitter, or something like that..

Sounds like your yeast might be toast - check how they store their yeasts.. I know some LHBS around here just have them sitting on a shelf, unrefrigerated - not good for the long term when the temp rises.. You might need a new yeast though.. Cote de blanc or 1122 maybe?

 

[winemaker_3352]

Definitely get a hydrometer and an acid test kit.

Always add sugar when you know how much to add - same is true for acids.

I wouldn't put the berries in a blender either - just core them next time and freeze them. Freezing them will break down the wall of the berries letting the juices come out when thawed.

You would be surprised how much juice extracts out this way.

I also would not add water unless your TA is extremely high - but cold stabilizing and potassium bicarbontate can lower that.

Adding water to fruits like strawberries only thins it out and waters it down - strawberries contain a lot of water anyway.

Definitely add an f-pac for strawberries and backsweeten to your tasting - a little sugar helps to bring some of the berry flavor back.

I would recommend using the Lalvin 71B-1122 - a great yeast - it will metabolize 20-40% of the harsh malic acid present in the fruit.

 

[stevenberry]

Thank you kindly people for replieing. I was wondering since I have not been able to add my yeast now in 3 days should I add something to it to kill whatever has started to grow in it?

 

[stevenberry]

Well I bottled this stuff. It tastes wonderful! I gave a few bottles to some friends and they have since started to bug me for more with a lot of praise at how great it tasted and a few who know wines also patted me on the back for how clear it was
But here is my dilemma now. The bottles have been sitting for about 2 weeks now and on the bottom of the bottles I am noticing a small amount of a really fine dust inside. Any way to make that not happen? Should I of kept it in the carboy for a few more months?

 

[stevenberry]

O.O I know your goign to ask me about the gravity. Ummmm yeah gravity. idk lol i know it tastes great and has a heck of a wollup!

 

[bg7mm]

if your seeing sediment in your bottles you didn't let the wine clear enough. a longer time poeriod would have worked or using a claifier . i've had this happened in the past when i first got started, i learned patience can be a wine makers best friend. if your really pressed to clear, once the wine become relitively clear, you can use a filter sysytem to complete the wine to a sparkling finish