Strawberry wine question

[JimmyT]

I'm getting my strawberrys cleaned and cutting all the leaves off getting everything ready to start a 1 gallon batch. My recipe didn't say anything about how to prep the strawberrys prior to putting them in the bag besides to clean them. Should I cut them in 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 or just leave them whole? And does strawberrys benefit from freezing like I've seen people mention about the bigger harder fruit? Also, do you have to thaw the fruit back out when you put it in the primary? Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[Julie]

Hi JimmyT, welcome to winemakingtalk.

yes you can benefit from freezing the fruit and again, yes cut them in 1/2, 1/3 or 1/4 however you want. When you take them out of the freezer, let them defrost, add some pectic enzyme to them. This will help in extracting more juice. Also, do not add any water, strawberries have a light flavor so going with all fruit and no water will give you a nice flavor wine. Only add enough sugar to get your sg to around 1.080 - 1.090, no higher.

If you need anymore help please feel free to ask.http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/

 

[jobe05]

Something to consider: About 9 years ago, I made a strawberry wine. During the fermentation stage, I decided to add about a pound and half of Malt to the 3 gallon brew. I was thinking the Malt would give it a nice smooth creamy taste (Keep in mind, malt will ferment higher ABV, ut not much, maybe 1 to 2%). After a few months in the bottle I tasted it and it was OK, but not really drinkable. Last year (8 years after bottling) I found my stash and opened a bottle......... OMG!!!! It was fantastic and taste exactly as I had envisioned it would when I made it. Again, something to keep in mind........

 

[JimmyT]

This is the recipe that I was looking at. I have 4 lbs of strawberrys now in the freezer. You said to use all strawberrys but this calls for 7 pints of water. How many pounds do you think I'll need to make up that 7 pints and get a gallon of straight juice?

 

[BernardSmith]

I strongly agree with Julie. You really don't want to add water to strawberries. But here's what I would do. I would get hold of the very best strawberry jam I could find (perhaps from a farmer's market?) and if there is not enough juice from the quantity of strawberries you have, I would add enough jam (2.25 lbs of sugar in one gallon raises the gravity to 1.090 and water to raise the gravity to around 1.090 in one gallon. You then really want to add pectic enzyme before adding any water but at least now you have a great deal more concentrated strawberry flavor. You need to check the quantity of sugar in the jam (the nutritional label should provide this information per serving but simple arithmetic will enable you to determine the total amount of sugars in each jar (number of servings * the amount per serving = total quantity of sugar : 1000 gms = 2.2 lbs)