# First Try at Strawberry



## Dend78 (Mar 22, 2013)

Getting ready to fire up a strawberry once i juice my berries and I get some more. Im currently sitting at 24lbs I plan to try to get that many more again today if they have them in stock.

one question for you seasoned strawberry vets whats a good yeast? I am looking to go somewhere around 11-14% and I am guessing I will turn this into a semi-sweet, to sweet wine. I was thinkin Lavlin D-47 or some Red Star Montrachet, but i dunno never made strawberry before, recommendations?


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## UBB (Mar 22, 2013)

what lb of fruit/gallon ratio are you using? I'm wanting to try a strawberry this summer if I can source enough fruit.


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## Dend78 (Mar 22, 2013)

im gonna try for 10lbs/gal if i can get my hands on that much, at .99 cents per lbs i cant argue to much


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## UBB (Mar 22, 2013)

Dend78 said:


> im gonna try for 10lbs/gal if i can get my hands on that much, at .99 cents per lbs i cant argue to much


Good luck, I'll be interested to hear how it turns out for you.


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## Dend78 (Mar 22, 2013)

UBB said:


> Good luck, I'll be interested to hear how it turns out for you.



THANKS! Hopefully it turns out as nice as several have talked about on here


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## Scott (Mar 22, 2013)

I have always used the Red Star Montrachet with good results. Maybe someone with alot more yeast knowledge will come along if there is any better one to use?

Good Luck


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## Turock (Mar 24, 2013)

Don't use D47 on strawberry. We experimented with it one year and it did a great job on color but the flavor was blah. Montrachet is our favorite yeast for strawberry.

I hope these berries have very good flavor. The whole secret to great flavor in strawberry wine is highly flavored fruit and the use of no water. We always use 10# of fruit per gallon.


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## Norske (Mar 24, 2013)

We have good luck with 71B. You may want to try several 1 gallon bench tests with several different yeasts and see which one best suits you.


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## winemaker_3352 (Mar 24, 2013)

71B has done really well for me. But turock is right. You need to make sure your berries have great flavor


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## Dend78 (Mar 25, 2013)

thanks for all of the input guys but it appears fate (and dangerdave) have stepped in to change my strawberry plans hahaha see thread below.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum...awberry-coastal-white-wine-competition-37454/


I will still probably pick up a bunch more of these strawberries and give a strawberry wine a shot, the flavor is awesome and the berries are some of the biggest ive ever seen and 0.99 cents per pound cant be argued with either.


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## Turock (Mar 25, 2013)

So is this adding the berries to the kit or making the wine seperately and blending them?

I forgot to talk about PH control on strawberry. I think our last strawberry wine--which was 2011-- has a PH of 3.4 But the wine tastes slightly too acidic. The plan this year is to get the PH adjusted to about 3.5 Be sure to always take PH readings on your musts---and adjust them PRE-FERMENT for the best results. Be aware that higher PH wines will then need a little more SO2.


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## Dend78 (Mar 25, 2013)

adding berries to the kit is what im going to do, thanks for that info i will keep a check on that!


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## Dend78 (Mar 26, 2013)

got a test kit, packet of yeast and 48lbs more lbs of berries last night ima do just a strawberry batch as well


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## Turock (Mar 27, 2013)

Sounds good Dend. Since this is your first strawberry wine, be sure to use NO water in the ferment. Adjust the PH pre-ferment using calcium carbonate. You might want to bag this fruit because if the seeds get over into the secondary, they can cause off-flavor problems. We use Leggs knee-length hosiery for bags--if you don't have a nylon bag.


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## Dend78 (Mar 27, 2013)

will do now im questioning if i got the right acid test kit, cause im seeing a 3.4 - 3.5 on your post above and the instructions i was looking at said something like 0.15 or something see link below

http://www.greatfermentations.com/Acid-Test-kit/productinfo/5400/

is that what i am looking for?


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## Turock (Mar 27, 2013)

Dend--what you REALLY need---especially if more fruit wines are in your future---is a PH meter. They aren't that expensive and PH control will make a big difference in your wines. Unfortunately, I can't recommend a meter because I never bought the type sold today for home winemakers. I have a professional PH meter used in water treatment, picked up many years ago that probably cost closer to $1000. Ask around on the forum--many others will be able to recommend a meter to you if that is what you choose to do.


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## Norske (Mar 27, 2013)

I agree, purchasing a ph meter and a refractometer are 2 tools you will use a lot. The hand held digital ph meters cost around a $100 each and around $6 for calibration solutions. With proper care this will last a long time. They also have replacement probes when it goes bad. A handheld refractometer goes for about $50-$60 or so.
Look up morewine, they carry these items. http://morewinemaking.com/category/ph-meter.html

As far as buffering the ph, we use potassium carbonate instead of calcium carbonate. Everyone has their own opinions on either of these two, just thought I'd mention the other option for you to look into.


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## Dend78 (Mar 27, 2013)

PH meter added to my wish list


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## xcaret (Apr 2, 2013)

I just started my strawberry wine last night, Well sorta , I had bought 9 ,2lb containers on sale at superstore here in Calgary for 75 cents a container. I froze them but last night ( a day later ) I took 5 boxes ( 10 lbs ) and cut the green stems off, then tossed them into a 4 gallon DairyQueen pail. I got 22 lbs of sugar today and all I have is bread yeast ,so after reading the above stuff about wine yeast tomorrow Im going to a wine making store and get some of each thats recommended here . I have still got 4 boxes left plus another almost full upstairs that are frozen from before . I can have 2 pails going at once ,with different yeast. I dont follow the usual technical recipes, just boil the water, pour the sugar into the water and when its all disoved let it cool a bit and pour it over the mashed up fruit ( in this case it will be strawberries) then add the yeast. put an airtight lid on and next day stir it ,then put the airtight lid back on for 3 weeks or longer and strain it and start drinking it. I used this method with pineapples ,it works great. I dont use the camden tablets or worry about sg or acid blend, pectin and any other thing. I like it old fashioned ( or I think it is ) . I think I'll go boil up the water now and add the sugar tomorrow I can add the yeast.
Neil


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## Dend78 (Apr 3, 2013)

Neil,

I totally understand here is one question i have, how much are you making gallon or liter wise? reason i as I used 24lbs of berries in the kit i have going, I used the juice from the kit about 1L of water and the rest is juice from the berries and got about 5 - 5.5 gallons once i removed the berries. you may not need to add to much water is what i am getting at. As for sugar content with the above mentioned I was sitting with an SG of 1.200 which is kickin it up pretty good. for sure keep us updated on how it turns out. Also this stuff is explosive it bubbles out of the bucket after about 48hrs and does that for another 24-36hrs after that. so make sure you are in a sink or somewhere easy to clean up.


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## badmario (Apr 3, 2013)

I will be watching this thread to see more input. I made strawberry wine about 18 months ago per recipe from jack Keller. Using 15 lbs of berry for 5 gallon gave me a fairly nice result. I would surely use more on a second run at this, but originally I was just following recipe outline.


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## Arne (Apr 4, 2013)

The best strawberries I have found are frozen. I can order a 30 lb bucket, it comes with about 20 lb. berries and 10 of juice. If you ferment the berries and add the juice afterwards it is a heavy strawberry flavor. Most people that tried it really liked it that way. I kinda prefer just the 20 lb. of berries for 5 gal. Keep the juice in the freezer til I order another 30 lbs. The two juices should make a batch. I have done several strawberry batches and this beats the fresh ones out of the garder. I know they were ripe, but they didn't give as much flavor as these do. The buckets I order just come from the local grocery store. Arne.


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## Dend78 (Apr 4, 2013)

so far with what I have in the strawberry coastal white the strawberry flavor is for sure there and its pretty good but very young, age should be a thing of beauty for it. October will tell more for sure, in the mean time once i free up some carboy space I will be starting another batch which i believe will be just strawberry, unless this coastal turns out so great i need to start another one just like it


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## xcaret (Apr 4, 2013)

Dend78
I have 10 lbs of strawberries in each of two pails ,with the water that I added one pail has about 13 liters in total, and an SG of 1.07, the other has 11 liters or so and a SG of 1.15 . I added super yeast 20% its called I think. 
Yeah I was suprised at the amont of juice that was in the containers after I looked the next day when the strawberries had thawed out. I should have check the SG of the juice . Anyway I used an electric hand mixer ,to turn it all to mush and left it like that over night ,then added yeast the next day .
I'm moving the pails to my sink after I send this note .. 
How do you get the juice to put into the tube so you can see the SG ? Its only a cup or so but takes a lot of straning to get liquid thats not full of fruit ? I used a reueable coffee filer in a funnel but had to clean it about 6 times .


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## Dend78 (Apr 4, 2013)

a strainer bag is your best bet, or a pair of knee high hoes, put the fruit in there and it keeps it pretty clean while fermenting, you will still have tiny bits of stuff in there but it will greatly reduce the amount of pulp floating around and makes for a clean racking later on.

was that yeast in the silver package?

here is what the strawberry coastal white is lookin like, the first 11 pics are progress pics of it

http://s238.photobucket.com/user/Dend78/library/Wine


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## YourCaptain (Apr 6, 2013)

I am very new to wine making. But I was told that it is not advisable to make strawberry wine because the pips cause ferment into the dreaded methanol. Is this not true or how do you avoid getting the pips in? I really would like to try out a strawberry, so if possible, please post a link to a recipe. 

Thanks

Z


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## Turock (Apr 7, 2013)

What's a pip? Never heard that term. Are you talking about the green top? You have to clean them before fermenting.


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## saramc (Apr 7, 2013)

Dend78 said:


> PH meter added to my wish list



FWIW, a cheap pH meter used for fish tanks/hydroponics works well. We compared mine to a Hanna pHep5, and got the same results, consistently. This is the one I have been using:

For less than $11, free shipping
pH-009 IA Pen Type pH Meter Digital Tester Hydro, http://www.ebay.com/itm/pH-009-IA-Pen-Type-pH-Meter-Digital-Tester-Hydro-/380521533210

...Sara


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## Dend78 (Apr 8, 2013)

pips = seeds

*YourCaptain* i wouldnt worry about strawberry pips/seeds as much, they have been making strawberry wine for a long long time and i cant imagine someone completely removing them all prior to fermentation. apples and other things with larger seeds could cause some off flavors and such though. I will do some more research on this to see what i can come up with though, but so far all seems fine with mine.

*saramc* thank you very much!!


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## xcaret (Apr 8, 2013)

The yeast in the silver package said "superyeast 20%" the guy at the wine store said moonshiners buy it ,, Oh yeah it said it was 5 day or 7 days yeast ,meaning you get that high % in a few days..


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## Dend78 (Apr 8, 2013)

yeah thats what i thought, from what i have heard it produces off flavors but never had any actual experience. keep us posted as to how it turns out. what is the temp range it wants on that yeast?


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## YourCaptain (Apr 8, 2013)

Well, that makes me a happy man then. Can't wait to get a batch going.


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## Turock (Apr 9, 2013)

It's wise to contain the seeds because if they get into the secondary and age there, they can give off-flavors. Best to bag this fruit.


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## Dend78 (Apr 9, 2013)

Turock said:


> It's wise to contain the seeds because if they get into the secondary and age there, they can give off-flavors. Best to bag this fruit.



for sure, anymore i bag it all ive done a couple without bagging and its just a huge mess to rack and the wine loss is pretty substantial


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## Downwards (Apr 12, 2013)

Hmm.. I did not bag my strawberry. I'll probably rack it into buckets through a really large sieve lined with cheesecloth if the seeds cause bad flavors. Think that will work? Might be slow going though.. I better get one of those bags I guess.


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## Turock (Apr 13, 2013)

Yes--straining will work. But we found that bagging is less of a mess. We use knee-length Leggs hosiery for bags---they work great and even make pressing easier. And then there's no cleaning--just toss them. We found the Leggs brand to be less likely to run than some other brands.


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## xcaret (Apr 13, 2013)

Hey Turock, I read the post about bagging ,or rather pantyhosing it etc. but am wondering with the fruit all in a bunch pressed together wont the middle of the bag be less exposed to the yeast . I was thinking of going to the wine suply place to see if they had big screen bags , but havnt yet. I thought a bag thats kinda lining the container would be better than having all the fruit pressed together .. 
Oh, yeah my strawberry wine I started back on the 3rd is still in the same airtight containers ( 2 containers 4 gall each) I'm a little worried about the mention of seeds , I dont intend to do anything with what I have here for a few weeks yet. Mostly because of the mess it takes to stretch a nylon stocking over the container and pour everything through it . Besides I used super yeast 20% its called .. so the stuff probably wont taste as good as all you guys'es that your making .. I should have taken the advise here when buying the yeast instead of getting stupid thinking of alchol % . I'll send another note once I finish bottling it, in a few weeks . ( I just go straight from the fermenter to the bottles and that's it..time to drink it). after it gets strained through the nylonstocking ,I put a reuseable coffee filter in a funel and pour it through that into 2 liter pop bottles then cap it . I check for pressure building in the bottles now and again. 
Neil


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## skyrat (Apr 14, 2013)

Downwards said:


> Hmm.. I did not bag my strawberry. I'll probably rack it into buckets through a really large sieve lined with cheesecloth if the seeds cause bad flavors. Think that will work? Might be slow going though.. I better get one of those bags I guess.



That should work well. 

Similarly...I use a Stand mounted jelly strainer bag and it will Keep the seeds and most of the gross lees from getting into the racked off liquid. Works well.

I always overbrew by 20% or so when I remove the fruit / pulp I am left with the proper amount of liquid for the batch so I can avoid dilution/additions.


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## Turock (Apr 14, 2013)

The bags do have a tendancy to float as the fruit is broken down in the bag, but you go down to the fermenter once or twice a day and squeeze them, and punch them down into the liquid. It actually works real well. We make about 16 or 17 different wines--grapes and fruit---and we bag EVERYTHING.

Now you're probably asking how we get the fruit into a knee length hosiery. We have a large-mouth plastic funnel from a Vitorio salsa maker that we put into the hosiery. We crush into the funnel for grapes as the other person shakes the grapes from inside the funnel in to the hosiery which is held inside a 5 gallon santitized bucket. For fruit musts, we ladle the fruit into the funnel. This takes a little more time, but saves time when pressing and siphoning off the primary. The must are cleaner too, with less particulate matter to clear off in the secondary. 

We have actually found these funnels, by themselves, at garage sales. Our local hardware store--sort of a country hardware store--also sells those salsa makers with the funnel and a "V" shaped strainer/colander. So they are still available---probably can even be found online.

We make our strawberry different from what you describe. We let it clear well and age about 9 months to 1 year before bottling. Your way isn't traditional compared to the way we do it but then that's what's great about making your own wine. You do it the way you like it.


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## Dend78 (Apr 14, 2013)

yeah once you start pressing every day or two while in primary the bag is literally 1/8 of the starting size and its just pulp there is practically nothing left.

as for it still being in air tight containers you will be alright for a bit just dont let it sit in there to long as with any wine the lee's will start to produce off flavors that you dont want


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## xcaret (Apr 15, 2013)

Yeah , I noticed the strawberrys were very, very juicy . I have probably screwed up this batch , but I like your idea of pressing the bag every day or so to get the contents down to 1/8 of what you start with. It's logical now that I remember all the juice. 
I'm going to finish mine off ( pour out of the fermenter) by the end of the month. I have 2 containers going so I'll see how the first one goes .. 
I originally got this recipe from a site saying how to make pineapple wine , I could probably have pressed then if they were in a bag also.. 
Thanks for your tips .. great stuff 
Neil


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## Dend78 (Apr 16, 2013)

i would grab a piece of tubing and siphon it so you arent pulling a ton of the heavy gross lee's out of the bottom. if you keep the racking cane or tubing in about the center of the wine from top to bottom you will miss most of the seeds as well. I noticed some of the seeds floating on top of mine.


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## xcaret (Apr 17, 2013)

Thanks , I do have one of those siphon things I bought when starting out . I tried it once and made a mess everywhere , but I think it will work better if I'm just siphoning from one pail to another, and not into a bunch of bottles . I try it in a couple of weeks .


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## Dend78 (Apr 17, 2013)

for sure, you need the bottle filler piece to do bottles somewhat cleanly


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