2011 Strawberry

[ffemt128]

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.

 

[Tom]

Keep us posted...

 

[ffemt128]

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

 

[ffemt128]

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.

 

[ffemt128]

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.

 

[ffemt128]

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.

 

[ffemt128]

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.

 

[Calvus]

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.

 

[ffemt128]

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....

 

[mmadmikes1]

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

 

[Arne]

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.

 

[ffemt128]

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