# Initial amount for a 5 gallon strawberry batch?



## Bill W (Jul 12, 2009)

I'm very a much a novice at this and was wondering before I start this batch of Strawberry wine, how much an overall volume in the primary should I start with to get 5 gallons in the secondary? I know that there will be a pretty good leaving in the primary with all the fruit. I have a 6.5 gallon primary bucket and was planning on using about 17-18# of strawberries (side question is will this get a me a semi-sweet or do I need to back sweeten?). I just don't want to wind up with a lot of headspace and not know what to fill it with.

TIA
Bill


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## Nubz (Jul 12, 2009)

im not sure a bout how much on the berries 
b ut i do know headspace in the primary doesnt matter 
its when that stage is over and your must is in the secondary where headspace matters


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## wilkey43 (Jul 13, 2009)

on the strawberry wine I have found its 1/2 gallon of water, 2 lbs sugar with 3 1/2 lbs of berries is really close to a gallon of wine so 

2 1/2 gal water 
10 lbs sugar 
17 1/2 lbs berries 
5 tsp acid blend 
1 1/4 tsp tannin 
2 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
5 tsp nutrient 
5 crushed campden tabs 
lalvin K1-V1116 yeast
1 1/2 cup of orange juice for yeast starter 

should make a 5 gallon batch


put OJ into a large glass and allow to come to room temp and add yeast and cover with clean cloth ( I place mine on top of my refridgerator near the back and allowed to sit)

heat up 2 1/2 gallons of distilled water to 200 deg F stir in 10 lbs of sugar until disolved

Put fruit into primary then pour heated water over fruit and let sit ( I prefer pouring heated water over frozen fruit this will help break down the pulp in the fruit)

mix other ingridents into a bowl of distilled water then mix into primary 

cover and allow to sit for 24 hours

after 24 hours crush fruit and mix yeast into primary


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## Tom (Jul 13, 2009)

Bill W said:


> I'm very a much a novice at this and was wondering before I start this batch of Strawberry wine, how much an overall volume in the primary should I start with to get 5 gallons in the secondary? I know that there will be a pretty good leaving in the primary with all the fruit. I have a 6.5 gallon primary bucket and was planning on using about 17-18# of strawberries (side question is will this get a me a semi-sweet or do I need to back sweeten?). I just don't want to wind up with a lot of headspace and not know what to fill it with.
> 
> TIA
> Bill


You need more strawberries otherwise it will be thin and not much floavor. I would bump it to around 24#. I would also use2 fermenting buckets as the berries will add alot of bulk. Put the berries in 2 straining bags 1/2 in each bucket. Dont forget to punch down the cap 2-3X a day. Once you can measure the SG add enough sugar to get SG of 1.085. Any higher the alcohol will overpower the fruit. I always make a f-pac and backsweeten.
I have been making Strawberry wine for 6 years and have won awards doing this.


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## Bill W (Jul 13, 2009)

*Re: Initial amount for 5 gallon strawberry batch*

Thanks Wilkey and Tom, now I have a pretty good idea what I'm going to do.


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