Beginner 100% strawberry, no water?

[Scooter68]

Measure SG at least 2-3 days in a row. THAT is the way to determine if the fermentation is done. Once the SG remains unchanged for 3 days then it's stopped fermenting regardless of the reading - a lack of change over 3 days is the common most effective way to decide if it's done.

THEN once it's done rack off the lees ASAP. Strawberry does not do well sitting on the lees with seeds in it. It gets a bitter taste. Once racked treat with K-meta (1/4 tsp per 5-6 gallons).
Then let it degass naturally or if you have a vacuum pump setup rack in about 2 weeks to push de-gassing along. It will de-gass naturally in 4-6 months at room temps.

 

[Jovimaple]

. What pump do you recommand?

I love my All In One Wine Pump!

Wine Pump | All in One Wine Pump

 

[winemaker81]

What is the SG?

 

[Ijsbiertje]

Thanks.

@Scooter68. I already got lost of the seeds when the SG was 1022 and I removed the pulp of the strawberry and sieved the wine trough cloth.
I

 

[Ijsbiertje]

I have not measured it yet. Afraid of getting to much oxygen.

 

[winemaker81]

There is a lot of misinformation regarding O2 exposure. O2 takes time to damage wine, and during and immediately after fermentation the wine is emitting a lot of CO2.

Always read the SG, otherwise you don't know where you are in the process.

 

[Ijsbiertje]

Ok, I will take some measurements

 

[Scooter68]

Good Wine making does NOT require sterile or even near sterile conditions. See Video
BUT it does require following good practices. These days if you are new to wine making you need to do some reading before hand or get some experienced wine makers help. (Youtube is NOT a good source for wine making help.) Knowing when to remove fruit from the wine, when to take the needed measurements and best actions before starting the wine all come to mind. Your wine is probably not lost but the question is how much better could it be if you follow sound practices.

 

[Ijsbiertje]

I made some measurements:
SG: 990
SO2: 110mg/l
TA: 9 gr/l
PH: 3,5

No need to add sulphite I guess? Will there be a difference in taste if you degass the wine with a pump or when it happens naturally? I'm planning on aging the wine for a year or so, racking off one more time in between when the wine has cleared up some more.
Does someone has experience with woodchips on strawberry wine? Is this a good time to add some? (maybe to a small amount of the wine?)

@Scooter68: I removed the lees before fermenting was done so minimal chance to get bitterness from the seeds I think. Anyway the wine does not taste bitter at all. Just a little green but I guess the flavor will mellow out when it has some age.

 

[Ijsbiertje]

@Scooter68: Can you please explain the good practice for this kind of fruit wine? What mistakes did i make?
I'm starting a new wine (Rhubarb) in a week or so. I will start a new tread for this wine. I want to learn from my mistakes.

Thanks

 

[Scooter68]

I'd like to be able to help you with that Rhubarb but that's one you need to reach out to someone else for help on. Check out the recipes section on this board - LOT's of recipes of all kinds there.

I posted a thread a few months ago about getting started in Country Wine Making. It certainly doesn't cover everything and of course as it states each variety of fruit can have certain needs and tendencies that need to be paid attention too. Your strawberry wine for instance is commonly mentioned as one that should not be allowed to sit on lees with seeds any longer than needed. (Generally with country fruit wine that means when fermentation is finished that's the time to pull the fruit or rack off the fruit. If the fruit is not in a bag then you might need to use a strainer to separate the fruit from the wine.)

Here's a link to that thread about getting started. Many others chimed in and added great comments too.

https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/getting-started-in-country-fruit-wine-making.73327/

 

[Rice_Guy]

Bernard, a good question, , , unfortunately I have never read anything on this so best guess is the pigment is bound to cell material from the skin,, when the cellulose drops out it is pulling the color along with it. Next time I go to Two Brothers Winery I need to ask them how they maintain their bright color. ,,, They are unusual in having unusually high solids/ TA.

Rice_Guy, You are a food scientist. What is the reason that so many people who make strawberry wine find that the color drops from bright red to strawberry blonde? Is this because of a lack of acidity and too little tannin in the wine? Is it because they use boiling water to help extract flavor but the heat "fixes" the color to the fruit which they then remove? Is there a method of ensuring that the color remains in the wine

As a food developer folks want to sell me color which comes in a bottle, even if it is organic so my bias is screwy. Some pigments as watermelon settle out with the lees, some as cherry bleach quickly especially with SO2 and some as raspberry and red grape have a few years of life.

@Ijsbiertje >>> a vacuumpump. What pump do you recommand? ,,,, you are measuring in kilos so I will guess you are in Europe ,,,, the generic answer is an oil free air conditioning pump will do everything for years. I have a science supply store in town so I use the 12 volt model similar to what Amazon carries, Degassing is a time related function/ my head space is less than 150ml so my usual way to run is pump a minute then let the CO2 come out of solution for half or a quarter hour. A check valve as the all in one head space eliminator is essential in the process.

 

[Rice_Guy]

it is better to learn from other folks mistakes

@Scooter68I'm starting a new wine (Rhubarb) in a week or so. . . . I want to learn from my mistake

. . . FYI , , ,
Straight Rhubarb juice has a high % TA which will give an acid flavor. The choice to balance is to back sweeten to 1.015 or remove with sodium carbonate or dilute with water (other) or this year I am using a yeast which metabolizes malic acid. At the two week point with 71B the pH has changed from 3.13 to 3.33 which is unusual. The yeast I wanted was Malvern B which removes 56% but it isn’t locally available.

 

[DizzyIzzy]

I made some measurements:
SG: 990
SO2: 110mg/l
TA: 9 gr/l
PH: 3,5

No need to add sulphite I guess? Will there be a difference in taste if you degass the wine with a pump or when it happens naturally? I'm planning on aging the wine for a year or so, racking off one more time in between when the wine has cleared up some more.
Does someone has experience with woodchips on strawberry wine? Is this a good time to add some? (maybe to a small amount of the wine?)

@Scooter68: I removed the lees before fermenting was done so minimal chance to get bitterness from the seeds I think. Anyway the wine does not taste bitter at all. Just a little green but I guess the flavor will mellow out when it has some age.

You might want to check out Danger Dave's prize-winning receipe for "Sweet Strawberry Tart" wine. It includes 1 cup of medium-toast French toast. (I just ordered some today as that will be one of my next wines....................Good luck...........................DizzyIzzy

 

[Jovimaple]

You might want to check out Danger Dave's prize-winning receipe for "Sweet Strawberry Tart" wine. It includes 1 cup of medium-toast French toast. (I just ordered some today as that will be one of my next wines....................Good luck...........................DizzyIzzy

I just made some of DD's Sweet Strawberry Tart wine without any oak and it is now my husband's favorite! Sooo good!!