# Strawberry Wine



## Tx_jrod (Jan 1, 2015)

Strawberry Wine

Primary Ingredients 
30 lbs. bucket of frozen strawberries
1-2 packets of dry yeast (Lalvin EC-1118)
5 tsp. Bentonite
6 Campden Tablets (¼ tsp. metabisulphite can be used) 
3 tbsp. Citric Acid or Acid Blend
5 tsp. yeast nutrient (or follow instructions provided with nutrient)
2 tsp. wine tannin
1 tbsp. Pectic enzyme
Water
Clarifying Ingredients
3 tsp. Potassium Sorbate
1 package Isinglass or Chitosan
6 Campden Tablets (¼ tsp. metabisulphite can be used)
F-Pack (Sweetened Juice)
4-6 lbs. Frozen Raspberries
½ Tsp. Pectic Enzyme
1-cup sugar
2 Vanilla Beans




1 Primary Fermentation

Clean and sanitize primary fermenter and lid, spoon, thermometer, hydrometer and test jar, and wine thief. Rinse thoroughly.
1. Add 2 liters (one–half gallon) of hot water to the bottom of your sanitized
primary fermenter. Stir the water vigorously and slowly sprinkle Bentonite onto the surface. Stir for 30 seconds to ensure even dispersal, and to break up any clumps.
2.	Sanitize a straining bag by dipping it into your sanitizing solution. Rinse thoroughly with water.
3. Mash the thawed frozen strawberries. Strain berries into a mesh bag over the fermenter. Tie off mesh bag, and add to fermenter. 
4. Top up fermenter to the 23 liter (6 US–gallon) mark with room temperature water. Add wine tannins, citric acid, Campden tablets (crushed), peptic enzyme, and yeast nutrient. 
Stir vigorously for 30 seconds.
5. Draw a sample of the juice and use your hydrometer and test jar to check the
specific gravity. It should read between 1.080–1.100. If not add sugar by adding approximately 2 liters of the juice to a pot with a pound of sugar and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add back to the fermenter, mix and draw another sample. Continue this until you reach the required gravity. 
10. Ensure that the temperature of the juice is between 22–24°C (72–75°F). Do not proceed to the next step (adding yeast) unless the juice is in this range.
11.	ADD YOUR YEAST NOW. Open the yeast package and sprinkle contents onto the surface of the juice. Do not rehydrate the yeast. Do not stir it in. It will activate on its own.
12. Cover the primary fermenter and place in a location with a temperature of
22–24°C (72–75°F). If your primary fermenter uses an airlock, insert it now.
Remember to fill airlock halfway with water. 
13. Using a sterilized spoon, push the strawberries under the surface of the liquid once every day for the next 7 days, stirring gently.
Fermentation should start within 24–48 hours. In 7 days proceed to Secondary Fermentation.



2 Secondary Fermentation

Clean and sanitize siphon rod and hose, hydrometer and test jar, wine thief, 23–liter (6 US–gallon) carboy, bung and airlock. Rinse well.

After 7 days draw a sample of the juice and use your hydrometer and test jar to check the specific gravity. It should be 1.010 or less. You must rack (transfer) the wine into a 23–liter (6 US–gallon) carboy at this time.
NOTE: The lower the fermenting temperature, the longer it will take to reach this stage. If your gravity is not at or below this level, wait, testing the gravity each day, until it is.
1.	Place the primary fermenter up at least 1 meter (3 feet) onto a sturdy table.
2.	To remove the berries and prepare for racking, simply remove the mesh bag, gently squeezing as you pull it up and out of the primary fermenter. Discard or compost berries
3.	Wait 10 minutes prior to racking in order to allow any particles to settle.
4.	Carefully siphon wine into a clean, sanitized 23-liter (6 US gallons) carboy. Leave the thickest sediment behind, but make sure you transfer as much of the liquid as possible. This should almost completely fill the carboy.
5.	Attach airlock and bung to carboy. Remember to fill airlock halfway with water.
6.	Leave carboy in your fermentation area at the temperature of 22–24°C (72–75°F) for 10 days.
You may not see further fermentation activity in the carboy. This is not a cause for worry. In 8 days you can proceed to the next step.

3 Making F-Pack (Sweetened Juice)

Two days before stabilizing and clearing, you must make a F-Pack. This can also be done at the time you prepare the primary fermentation and frozen until needed. 

1.	Make simple syrup with the 1 cup of sugar and hot water. The less water the better. 
2.	Combine Raspberries, simple syrup, Pectic Enzyme, and split vanilla beans in a bowl. Cover this and leave at room temperature for 24 hours.
3.	After 24 add contents to a mesh bag and hang above a bucket to catch the juice for 24-36 hours. 
4.	Discard the berries in the mesh bag. The juice in the bucket is your F-Pack.


4 Stabilizing and Clearing

After 10 days in secondary fermentation, check your specific gravity. It should be 0.996 or less.
If it is higher than 0.996 wait 2 days and measure again–remember, temperatures below 22-24°C (72-75°F) will extend fermentation time.
Once the gravity of the wine reaches 0.998 you can proceed with fining and stabilizing.
If you do not verify the gravity reading, your wine may not clear properly!
Before proceeding, clean and sanitize hydrometer, test jar, wine thief and spoon. Rinse well.
NOTE: Do NOT rack the wine before stabilizing and fining. The wine requires that you stir the sediment back into suspension. Racking the wine off the sediment prior to fining may permanently prevent clearing. Please be sure to stir all of the sediment up from the bottom. The wine needs extremely vigorous stirring during this stage. Without hard stirring, trapped gas in the wine will prevent clearing. At each stirring, whip the wine hard.
Drill-mounted stirring devices (see your retailer) can ensure efficient degassing.

1. Dissolve Campden and Potassium Sorbate in 125 ml (½ cup) of cool water. Add to carboy and stir vigorously for 2 minutes to disperse the stabilizers and drive off CO2. Be sure to stir up yeast sediment from the bottom, and stir hard enough to agitate gas out of the wine.

2.	Remove 500 ml (2 cups) of wine from the carboy to make room for the contents of the pack and to get an idea of how much of the F-Pack to add. Add very small amounts of F-Pack to the 2 cups of removed wine and taste to achieve desired taste and color. Reserve this wine for topping up the carboy (Step 5). 
3.	Gently pour desired amount of F-Pack contents into the carboy. Stir vigorously for 60 seconds. Your gravity will now read between 0.998 and 1.007.
4. Shake contents of package (Chitosan or isinglass clarifier). Carefully cut open the corner of the pouch(es) and pour contents into carboy. Stir vigorously for another 2 minutes to degas the wine. If you do not degas the wine completely, it will not clear.
5. Return any wine removed to the carboy now.
6. Fill airlock halfway with water and reattach bung and airlock to carboy.
7. Leave carboy in your fermentation area at the temperature of 22-24°C (72-75°F) for 8 days to clear.

5 Racking and Clarification

After 8 days your wine will be quite clear.
This next racking will help to brilliantly polish it.
Clean and sanitize carboy, siphon rod and hose.
1. Rack the wine into a clean, sanitized carboy. Take all of the clear wine, and leave the sediment behind.
NOTE: This recipe contains very low levels of sulphite compared to commercial wine. If you want to age your wine more than 6 months, you must add extra metabisulphite powder to prevent oxidation.
To do this, dissolve 1.5 grams (¼ teaspoon) of metabisulphite powder in 125 ml (½ cup) cool water and gently stir into wine in the clean carboy. This extra sulphite will not affect flavor or early drinkability.
2. Do not add any additional water (`top up’) to your carboy at this time. Topping up will change the character of your wine. Your wine will not oxidize or spoil during the time remaining to bottling.
3. Fill airlock halfway with water and reattach bung and airlock to carboy. Leave the wine 14 days to finish clarifying.
4. After 14 days, check your wine for clarity by drawing a small sample into a wineglass and examining it in good light. If it is not completely clear, leave for another 7 days. Do not bottle cloudy wine: it will not clear in the bottle.

6 Bottling

Clean and sanitize thirty 750 ml (25.4 fl. oz.) wine bottles, siphon rod and hose, and siphon filler.
Rinse well.
NOTE: If you are not bottling at this time you must remove the bung and airlock and replace them with a solid rubber or silicone bung. This will help to prevent oxidation until you do bottle. If you intend to leave the wine in the carboy longer than one month, you will need to top it up to within 2 inches (about the width of two fingers) from the bottom of the solid bung with a similar wine. Alternatively, you can transfer the finished wine to a smaller vessel to eliminate any headspace and reduce the danger of oxidation. If you wish to filter your wine, you should do it now, immediately prior to bottling.
If you are concerned about disturbing any sediment on the bottom of the carboy when bottling, clean and sanitize a primary fermenter or carboy, rack or filter the wine into it, and bottle from there.
1. Siphon your wine into clean, sanitized bottles and seal with a good quality cork. Be sure to leave two fingers–widths of space between the bottom of the cork and the level of the wine in each bottle.
2. Leave bottles upright for 3 days before laying them on their sides, to allow corks to seal. Store bottles in a dark, cool, temperature-stable place.


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