# 2011 Strawberry



## ffemt128 (Jun 3, 2011)

This morning I started the task of steaming strawberries for the 2011 batch of wine. I thawed 40 lbs of Berries and the first batch is in the steamer. I'm going to shoot for 6 gallons of must and hope for 5 gallons of finished wine. I'll post a recipe when I'm done. It will most likely be e rendition of the strawberry kiwi minus the kiwi.


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## Tom (Jun 3, 2011)

How may gallons U gonna do with 40#'s?

make sure you get more for a f-pac


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## ffemt128 (Jun 3, 2011)

Tom said:


> How may gallons U gonna do with 40#'s?
> 
> make sure you get more for a f-pac




I acually have 44 lbs thawed right now. I was figuring on a 6 gallon batch which would be just over 7 lbs per gallon. I'm working on gallon 3 of juice now. I have another 12 lbs to juice. I'm getting about 7/8 gallon per 10 lbs so what I have thawed will yield 4 gallons of juice and I'll have to add some water as well. I will be adding raisins to the primary for additional body. I have another 60 lbs in the freezer which I'll thaw and juice the necessary amount for f-pac later.


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## ffemt128 (Jun 4, 2011)

Here's the recipe:

44 lbs of strawberries steam juiced yielded 4 gallons of juice.
6 tsp acid blend
3/4 tsp tannin
30 drops pectic enzyme
2 1/2 lbs raisins
sugar to 1.085-1.090
water to bring to 6 gallons.
1 tsp yeast energizer
2 tbls yeast nutrient
lavin 1122 yeast. 

I steamed the strawberries yesterday and that produced 4 gallons of juice. I disolved in simmering water until water was clear the nececessary sugar to bring me to a reading of 1.092 (higher than I wanted). I added raisins acid blend and pectic enzyme yesterday. This morning upon checking sg, I obtained a reading of 1.98. I'm guessing undisolved sugar or sugar from the raisins accounted for this. I adjusted this back down to 1.094 by adding an additional 2 liters of water. This will bring my total volume to about 6 1/2 gallons of must. I pitched the yeast this morning about 10:30 am. I will be preparing a f-pac with more steamed strawberries when fermentation is complete.

Here are my initial readings at the time of pitching the yeast;

sg 1.094
TA .6275%
ph 2.94


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## Tom (Jun 4, 2011)

questions,

you added the water before adding sugar?

Did you use WineCalc http://mpesgens.home.xs4all.nl/thwp/winecalc.html to figure how much sugar you need?

Did you ust the "must" to heat up to dissolve the sugar?


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## ffemt128 (Jun 4, 2011)

Tom said:


> questions,
> 
> you added the water before adding sugar?
> 
> ...



I added part of the sugar disolved (abt 6 lbs) in the water to bring to my 6 gallons knowing my sg would still be low based on the total amount of sugar that would be needed. I then used winecalc to determine remaining sugar needed based on my SG reading and used heated must to disolve remaining sugar.


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## rhythmsteve (Jun 4, 2011)

I'm interested in trying this recipe this summer, when you say steam-juice, did you actually just steam the strawberries and that was the juice that was left over mixed with whatever water you were steaming with or did you boil them?


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## ffemt128 (Jun 4, 2011)

rhythmsteve said:


> I'm interested in trying this recipe this summer, when you say steam-juice, did you actually just steam the strawberries and that was the juice that was left over mixed with whatever water you were steaming with or did you boil them?



Some of the members here have purchased steam juicers. I got mine on Amazon.


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## Tom (Jun 4, 2011)

rhythmsteve said:


> I'm interested in trying this recipe this summer, when you say steam-juice, did you actually just steam the strawberries and that was the juice that was left over mixed with whatever water you were steaming with or did you boil them?



Google Steam juicer.
Attached is a pix.


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## ffemt128 (Jun 6, 2011)

Have a nice vigorous fermentation going when I stirred last night. I'll let it ferment to about 1.000 in the primary and then transfer to secondary.


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## ffemt128 (Jun 8, 2011)

I checked the SG this afternoon when I got home from work. Given that this started at 1.094 I was surprised that it was at 1.006 after 5 days.


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## ffemt128 (Jun 9, 2011)

Checked sg, .996 transferred into 7 gallon carboy and darn near filled it to the top. I have about a 5" diameter circle befor the top. That should suffice while it finishes fermenting and off gassing. Smells wonderful with a strong strawberry aroma coming through the wonderful smells of fermentation. Based on the almost 7 gallons, this equated to just over 6 lbs per gallon. My 2 1/2 lbs of raisins were squeezed to extract all the juice and the remaining raisins were no more than 2 cups. I'm planning on racking of the 4th of July weeekend and will stabilize at that point. Tentative bottling date will be the end of October depending on if I need carboys or not.


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## Tom (Jun 9, 2011)

Remember there will be alot of sediment dropping in the next few months.
U gonna add a f-pac?


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## ffemt128 (Jun 9, 2011)

Tom said:


> Remember there will be alot of sediment dropping in the next few months.
> U gonna add a f-pac?



I will be adding an f-pac. I have an additional 56lbs of strawberries available in the freezer at this time. I'm looking forward to comparing this to last years batch as the fruit quantitly is higher and was steamed vs less quantity and fruit in a bag cut up last year. 

Tom, what is your recommendation for quantity for f-pac?

I'll be re-checking acid and ph once fermentation is complete and will post those numbers at that time.


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## Tom (Jun 9, 2011)

ffemt128 said:


> I will be adding an f-pac. I have an additional 56lbs of strawberries available in the freezer at this time. I'm looking forward to comparing this to last years batch as the fruit quantitly is higher and was steamed vs less quantity and fruit in a bag cut up last year.
> 
> Tom, what is your recommendation for quantity for f-pac?
> 
> I'll be re-checking acid and ph once fermentation is complete and will post those numbers at that time.



http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7547


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## Tom (Jun 9, 2011)

I would steam so U get 1 gallon. Then simmer to less than 2 qts


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## ffemt128 (Jun 9, 2011)

Tom said:


> I would steam so U get 1 gallon. Then simmer to less than 2 qts



I'm aware of how to make a f-pac. Above is what I was looking for. I'll take another 10 lbs and use that as the base for my fpac. Thanks for your input Tom, it is appreciated as I know you make a fair quantity of the Strawberry Wine.


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## ffemt128 (Jun 9, 2011)

Tom,

I know you sweeten to the maker's taste, but where does your strawberry usually end up. I believe last year's batch was 1.006 with out looking at my notes and I know Arrowhead Wine Cellar's streawberry is 1.100.

Thanks


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## Tom (Jun 9, 2011)

depends on how ripe the berries were and how many used. best to backswweeten after f-pac and then ck gravity. This can change year to year


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## ffemt128 (Jun 9, 2011)

Tom said:


> depends on how ripe the berries were and how many used. best to backswweeten after f-pac and then ck gravity. This can change year to year



Good deal, advise is appreciated.


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## ffemt128 (Jun 27, 2011)

No signs of fermentation going on at this point. Very little visible off gassing. I have about 5/8" to 1/8" of sediment on the bottom of the carboy since it is on an angle. Considering racking into a 6 gallon carboy this weekend for futher clearing. So far it's still a nice red color. I'm hoping it stays this color. I'm sure with the fpac it will get some color back even if I do lose some between now and then. Going to take Tom's advise and use 10 lbs for the fpac then simmer down to 1/2 that amount.


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## Tom (Jun 27, 2011)

Keep us posted...


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## ffemt128 (Jun 30, 2011)

I racked this off the heavy lees yesterday from my 7 gallon carboy. I now have a 6 gallon carboy full and a 1/2 gallon jug. The jug will be my top up wine. There is still a strong aroma of strawberries from the wine at this point and the color is an off red. I will let this rest until the end of July then stabilize and backsweeten. I'll be shooting for 1.006 which is where the batch I made last year ended up. I need to dig out my notes to confirm that. 

I'll probably start another batch the middle of the month so that I can use up the strawberries, my freezer needs defrosted bad, as the door was ajar and ice built up in places.

Checked my thread from last year and will shoot for 1.006 as I did last year.

Here's that thread. I started with 14 lbs more this year than last year for the same size batch.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8035


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## ffemt128 (Jul 6, 2011)

Took a small sample of the Strawberry. At a little over a month in it is tasting pretty good. End of the month I'll stabilize add fpac and back sweeten as needed then allow to age and clear. It has a nice orangish haze to it.


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## ffemt128 (Jul 17, 2011)

Steamed 14 lbs of strawberries for an fpac this am. Started with a gallon and a 1/2 of juice and simmered to 1/2 gallon or so. Wine was strong in alcohol due to the inadvertant high starting sg. This diluted it just about right. I also back sweeted to 1.004 for now. My wife tried it and said it tasted good where it's at. We'll see in a month or so. I have no intentions of bottling until October or November or later. Depends on how it's progressing.


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## ffemt128 (Sep 2, 2011)

Strawberry wine is coming along nicely. We had a sample and decided that by adding 1.5 grams of acid blend to 750 ml it was just about perfect. It's due to be racked so I'll make those additions this afternoon or evening. I'll start low for my 6 gallons then go from there.


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## ffemt128 (Sep 13, 2011)

Well as you recall, I had issues with this being a higher sg than anticipated after a day or 2 in primary. I think it was likely due to undisolved sugars from the strawberries and possibly the added sugar. After fpacking and pack sweetening it was pretty good, but lacking somehting, I added a touch of acid blend and it brought it back nicely. I think it may be a bit much. May try to reduce acid a touch. Anyway, the initial sg put this at about 14% awhich is very high for strawberry, after the fpac reduction this is still likely near 13%. It's quite the sneaker IMHO.


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## Calvus (Sep 13, 2011)

Sounds like my kind of wine. If you get a chance you should post a pic so we can see the nice color. Nice of you to keep the thread updated. It seems so many threads die after the primary takes off.


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## ffemt128 (Sep 14, 2011)

I plan on bottling about 3 gallons of this batch then saving the other 3 to blend with Peach once I get that started. I'll try to snap a pic over the weekend....


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## mmadmikes1 (Sep 14, 2011)

don't bottle strawberry to fast, unless your ok with sediment on bottom of bottle


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## Arne (Sep 15, 2011)

mmadmikes1 said:


> don't bottle strawberry to fast, unless your ok with sediment on bottom of bottle



I agree Mike. Had a batch of strawberry last winter. Watched it clear thru this spring. When shining a light thru it it always had a little haze. Needed the carboy, tho. I had used sparkaloid on it, super kleer, and warmed it up. Still had that haze. Finally bottled it after almost a year, and 2 weeks later the sediment fell out. Tasted fine, finally decided to drink it all up. Shake the bottle and you could not see the sediment. Best of luck with your batch of strawberry. (By the way, I am getting ready to try it again, will just have to wait longer and if I have the same problem again, think I will try racking again a month or so before bottling. I also had let the carboy sit for a couple of months without sediment before I bottled it.) Arne.


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## ffemt128 (Sep 16, 2011)

I made this last year and we really enjoyed it. It is crystal clear now. We bottled last year after about 4 months, it was fined and filtered prior to bottling. Never did have sediment drop out. We gave it away last year for Christmas. Well heres a picture so far. (Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic). THis and the one to the right are both 3 gallon carboys of Strawberry


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