My first Strawberry Wine w/a question....

[meadmaker1]

@porkchopmessiah
To help a friend understand tasting,i used black coffee, black tee, and green tea. These are flavors he thought he knew but after smelling sipping and swirling, the flavors to look for and mouth feel made more sense to him. Tea worked to explain dryness as well especially after sweetening each just a touch. Not enough to call it sweet but enough to bring the flavors together. A touch of sugar reallly balances the dryness of a strong black tea

 

[user 32346]

Will throw another suggestion your way.

I have been making strawberry wine for many years in a Rosé style that is dry, quite thin but a family favourite. The smell is like strawberry lollies and when chilled to white wine temperature, on a nice summers day a bottle goes down extremely well.

Pictures are of this years 10litres and a bottle from last year.

The secret to it's success is time and cold stabilisation. 9 months minimum from start to bottling.

 

[porkchopmessiah]

So I just got my Mini jet filter today from amazon...was pretty ez to use..i went straight to the second filter since i had racked once already..
Added the sorbate and k meta and will let that sit 2 days before back sweetening juice sweated juice.
My ABV is currently at 12.5 did some taste testing and should be around 11 after adding the clear juice..
Just waiting to get my pH meter from Amazon to double check my pH...I dont trust my titration skills or the pH paper...got conflicting results..
Overall very happy with how my first attempt came out...but look to improve with all the knowledge and help you all have given.
Here's before and after filtering

 

[meadmaker1]

Adding juice will cloud it again.
The filter looks to work amazing. But i think i would wait till additions were done.
Head space should be addressed. I would go to smaller carboy and an appropriate vessel for any that doesnt fit

 

[porkchopmessiah]

Adding juice will cloud it again.
The filter looks to work amazing. But i think i would wait till additions were done.
Head space should be addressed. I would go to smaller carboy and an appropriate vessel for any that doesnt fit

So my plan is this...
I have to top off with either a pinot grigio or sauv blanc (if anybody has a better idea holler)...will probably need about 2 cups after the juice if my math and the marks I made on the carboy are accurate recheck pH and adjust if needed (shooting for 3.6 to 3.8?) Then let it sit for few months and filter with fine filter before bottling....
Do you think the filter will eliminate need for fining agent/sparkalloid?

 

[meadmaker1]

I use gravity.
I admit i understand what is meant by using a filter to polish. That is a gorgeous color, i would hate to stain it with a dark red. But to stay true to making wine that tastes good i wont advise for or against topping with wine
I always shoot for more than my car boy will hold.
Primary 7-8 gallons in brute
Rack to 6 gallon carboy
Then to a 5 gal to get off lees
I have a small 5 for third rack (was initially pissed at its size now its a tresure)
Then to threes and gallons if need be

I have to many various sized smaller than a gallon to list but keep left overs in them for topping off, and because of variaty of sizes can easily keep them topped

 

[porkchopmessiah]

I use gravity.
I admit i understand what is meant by using a filter to polish. That is a gorgeous color, i would hate to stain it with a dark red. But to stay true to making wine that tastes good i wont advise for or against topping with wine
I always shoot for more than my car boy will hold.
Primary 7-8 gallons in brute
Rack to 6 gallon carboy
Then to a 5 gal to get off lees
I have a small 5 for third rack (was initially pissed at its size now its a tresure)
Then to threes and gallons if need be

I have to many various sized smaller than a gallon to list but keep left overs in them for topping off, and because of variaty of sizes can easily keep them topped

Well I'm am working on my equipment...this was the first ever attempt at wine making...my primary is the bucket that came with the kit I got as gift...now have 2 5 gall, 2 6gal, want to get something about 20 gal for primary as I get better at this..filter and good ph meter my most recent buys...honestly I didn't think my first crack at this would be as good as it was...did strawberry bc I grew enough in my yard to make it without spending money on something I thought there was a high probability of screwing up..lol

 

[meadmaker1]

With enough glass wear you wont need the filter as much. You will be busy enough to let the crud to fall naturally.
I think i would wait till you are satisfied with the taste and ready to bottle to filter.
Filter cost and possibility of contamination from yet another thing to clean need to be considered.

I totally understand playing with a new toy, my bad , i mean working with a new tool, but wine needs age and all you need for that is a calendar.

 

[meadmaker1]

All of the people i know that think they failed at wine making, simply judged success when the bubbles stopped. So yea yuck,, if they took the time to read just a little and waited a while they might still be making and teaching me instead of the other way around.

 

[Scooter68]

Yesterday I opened a bottle of Strawberry that is over 2 years old. It's been very disappointing up to now. I was prepared to pour it down the drain after giving it a shot.
Surprise, Surprise (Aka Gomer Pyle) It tastes pretty doggone decent now. It's a bit on the light side and I still won't make any more but at least all was not lost. Still have 3 more bottles of it.


The point - When you are ready to give up, give it time, LOTS of time and you may just be glad you did. These bottles were in the corner of my wine rack to remind me to not get too proud of myself and all those successes. Now it;s a reminder of how valuable patience is in this hobby.
(I also have about 3 bottles of Apricot that's a bit younger and far less than pleasing. Guess I have to let it sit another year or two.)

 

[meadmaker1]

Yesterday I opened a bottle of Strawberry that is over 2 years old. It's been very disappointing up to now. I was prepared to pour it down the drain after giving it a shot.
Surprise, Surprise (Aka Gomer Pyle) It tastes pretty doggone decent now. It's a bit on the light side and I still won't make any more but at least all was not lost. Still have 3 more bottles of it.


The point - When you are ready to give up, give it time, LOTS of time and you may just be glad you did. These bottles were in the corner of my wine rack to remind me to not get too proud of myself and all those successes. Now it;s a reminder of how valuable patience is in this hobby.
(I also have about 3 bottles of Apricot that's a bit younger and far less than pleasing. Guess I have to let it sit another year or two.)

I totally agree. In the beginning I dreamed up a citrus mead that i developed by reading listening and sheer full speed ahead. It was awful.
I read about off flavors fading and the one purpose of bulk aging being ability to make adjustments. Ehhh what ever tasted bad even after adding things that did help. My intent was to turn it to vinager. Pushed to the back hit with kmeta and my dad passed away keeping me busy for awhile. After being asked what about that one while sharing a tasting session with my aunt i pulled her a sample of it and she said it was her favorite, so I sampled it myself. Holy crap what happened. Long storey short i entered it in competition and earned gold. Of course an early batch with no starting recipie and poor to nonexistent notes, so many lessons learned the hard way.