My new strawberry wine

[Smoke]

I too recently started a batch of strawberry wine. I used Jack Kellers recipe/instructions from his "Home winemaking" book with Daniel
Pambianchi Circa 2021, ppg 152-153.
I tripled the recipe as follows-
10.5 lbs frozen strawberies ( from my Garden)
5.25 lbs turbinado surgar(dissolved in 6 quarts of water)
1.5 tsp pectic enzymes
.6 gms potassium metabisulfate (powder not tabs)
9 grams yeast nutrient
3 grams fermaid K

Started by bringing 6 qts of water to a boil to dissolve the sugar. since the berries were frozen then thawed, they had relaeased a ton of juice so i placed the fruit in a nylon bag and crushed them by hand after transfering them to a 6 gal pplastic primary along with the juice, and poured the boiling sugar water over the berries. I then dissolved the yeast in one cup of juice and added this to the primary and topped off the primary to a little over three gallons,( to compensate for the volume of berries when i pull the pulp bag after primary fermentation).
I then added the .6 gms of p-meta, stired and waited 12 hrs. added the pectic enzymes and waited 18 hrs. I then checked for SG and the must was at 1.092 sg. FORGOT TO CK TA/PH!
I then prepared a yeast culture by starting the Lavulin EC-1118 in a cup of warm water (102f) with a pinch of yeast nutrient, waited 2 hrs, added 1/4 c water, waothes another 2 hrs, added 1/4 c water, 1/4 tsp sugar and a pinch of nutrient, waited another 2 hrs added 1/4 cup jhice from the primary, and another 1/4 tsp sugar, and waited another hour all to jumpstart the yeast culture prior to pitching.
I then pitched the yeast and stirred the must before capping the primary.

I did all this tuesday and wednesday. checked the wednesday night and yesterday and am stiring 3-4 times a day to keep the cap punched down. SInce I'm fermenting in my basement which is a constant 63f, the fermentation seemed to be a bit slow, so I wraped the primary in seed starting mats which brought the temp in the primary up from 63 to 87. Now the yeast are happily farting Co2 fairly vigorusly as seen in the video below.

Questions- I noticed in another post the he added tannins to his must which I didn't think was necessary but am wondering if adding to strong blak tea to the must post first rackng if this is really necessary as this is a berry wine and I want to keep it sweet and light. Also since I forgot to check the PH/TA before pitching the yeast, will I be ok adjusting after moving to the secondary?

Anyone see anything else that I did wrong or forgot?

This is only my second wine and the first was a crap shoot grape wine that I started having only read Jacks book and tried to follow but, I/m sure I forgot a few thngs.

I have 27 bottles aging now and to me, it tasted ok before I bottled it.Started in November- Fermented 1.5 week in primary, 2 months in secondary (racked twice 30 days apart), 30 days in the fridge to cold crash the yeast,racked again, then an additional 30 days in secondary to ensure zero fermentation, then bottled. has been resting since march 15th.

 

[Raptor99]

Next time I suggest increasing the amount of fruit. For most fruits, I use at least 5 lbs. of fruit for each gallon of the batch size. Too little fruit results in a watery wine.

I ferment most of my wine around 65 degrees F. Lower temperatures result in a slower ferment, which usually produces a better flavor. A small amount of tannin in the primary will be mostly used up and will not affect the final flavor of the wine. You can read a bit more here: https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/tannins-know-when-and-why-to-add-them.42039/

A small amount of tannin added to the primary serves as a "sacrificial tannin." It helps protect natural tannins in the fruit (if any) as well as the flavor. The easiest way to add some tannin to primary is with a powdered tannin product.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I am a fan of antioxidants therefore I put tannins in basically everything. That said I don’t like bitter notes off grape tannin so I frequently add crab apple or BlancSoft. I also enter in contest, the crab tannin gives long flavor notes that multiply the taste from acid.
If you still do not have a pH (and TA) I would run them ASAP. work in progress numbers are better than finishing the ferment and saying OH Sugar! Why didn’t I add citric? or Why didn’t I add calcium carbonate? I do not pay a lot of attention to TA until bottling time.
High temperature pushes aromatics out of the primary. I would try to get back to 63F but an active fermentation is usually 2 degrees warmer than air temp. High temp also increases the risk of reductive (mercaptan) flavor. One technique that has shown up in state fair wines is sweetening with Torani strawberry syrup. Another fix is to soak the berry pulp with sugar and creating your own F pack.

 

[Smoke]

Apparently I don’t know how to post videos out . Mov

 

[Smoke]

So, I unplugged the heating mats and of course the fermentation settled back down. Gonna test for sg/ ta/ and ph before adding fermaid-k this afternoon. Will post numbers when done.

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Smoke]

On a side note, any idea how to post videos from an iPhone?

 

[StimVino]

Curious if you actually got any tartrite crystals when cold crashing? You may also want to experiment with yeast that preserves more of the fruit flavor in the wine. As Rice Guy mentioned, ph level should be adjusted pre-fermentation, if needed. My recent strawberry wine took a year for the flavor really to come back to a point where I’m really happy with it. It was a 75% strawberry 25% lemon blend which I probably went a little too heavy on the lemon. After a year taste great.

 

[Smoke]

No crystals in the grape wine. I had tiny bubbles in the secondary after 4 rackings in 2 mpnths in the secondary. about 3 inches of lees before the first racking, 2 after the second, less that an inch after 3rd and fourth. let everythong clear naturally, no fining. looked clear enough for me. I like the taste so i bottled it.

Curious if you actually got any tartrite crystals when cold crashing? You may also want to experiment with yeast that preserves more of the fruit flavor in the wine. As Rice Guy mentioned, ph level should be adjusted pre-fermentation, if needed. My recent strawberry wine took a year for the flavor really to come back to a point where I’m really happy with it. It was a 75% strawberry 25% lemon blend which I probably went a little too heavy on the lemon. After a year taste great.

 

[Smoke]

numbers this evening were as follows
SG-1.032
TA-5.5g/l using a wine acid test kit
ph-3.05 @63 degrees using a kegland ph meter calibrated to 4.0, 6.89, and 9.18 prior to testing.
added 3 grams of fermaid-k per recipe. still chugging along.
temp of the must using a IR temp gun at surface is stable a@68f in a 63fbasement. (took off the heat)
Thoughts from the gallery?

 

[StimVino]

numbers this evening were as follows
SG-1.032
TA-5.5g/l using a wine acid test kit
ph-3.05 @63 degrees using a kegland ph meter calibrated to 4.0, 6.89, and 9.18 prior to testing.
added 3 grams of fermaid-k per recipe. still chugging along.
temp of the must using a IR temp gun at surface is stable a@68f in a 63fbasement. (took off the heat)
Thoughts from the gallery?

All seems good. You’ll know if it gets stuck, must will be flat with no activity. Sounds like you have good nutrients. Temp would be the only concern. If it slows prematurely, add a little heat back. But, I'd let it roll at the lower temp to retain more of the strawberry smell. Be sure to check SG every day so that you can rack and get it under airlock at the end of fermentation.

 

[Smoke]

So…. How do i know when to rack into secondary? When sg reaches 1.000, or when fermentation stops? As i understand it, yeast stops fermentation when either there’s no more sugar to consume, or they die off. If i keep feeding them sugar they’ll keep producing alcohol until it reaches a level they can no longer tolerate and they’ll die off, correct?

Or i can stop the yeast with k-meta when the must reaches the ABV I’m Shooting for. And then balance to taste by back sweetening and adjusting to ta/ph?

 

[winemaker81]

So…. How do i know when to rack into secondary? When sg reaches 1.000, or when fermentation stops? As i understand it, yeast stops fermentation when either there’s no more sugar to consume, or they die off. If i keep feeding them sugar they’ll keep producing alcohol until it reaches a level they can no longer tolerate and they’ll die off, correct?

Or i can stop the yeast with k-meta when the must reaches the ABV I’m Shooting for. And then balance to taste by back sweetening and adjusting to ta/ph?

When to rack all depends on the situation, the end goal, and the winemaker. I wrote a post a few years back listing factors for when to rack. This may help you.

https://wine.bkfazekas.com/when-to-do-the-first-racking/

Your understanding of fermentation is correct -- yeast eats until it runs out of food, or until it produces enough alcohol to poison it's own environment.

Cultured/commercial yeast is SO2 tolerant, so if you add enough K-meta to stop the fermentation, the wine will be undrinkable.

On this forum the recommended method is to start with an SG that will produce the ABV you want, ferment dry, then stabilize with sorbate + K-meta, and backsweeten to taste. Starting with a yeast that has a lower ABV tolerance can help with this.

If you want a stronger wine, you can add a spirit at what you hope is the right point to raise the ABV to a point that kills the yeast. This may not hit the mark. While this is what is done to make Port, the winemakers have hundreds of barrels which they can blend to overcome any issues not hitting the correct mark.

 

[Smoke]

When to rack all depends on the situation, the end goal, and the winemaker. I wrote a post a few years back listing factors for when to rack. This may help you.

https://wine.bkfazekas.com/when-to-do-the-first-racking/

Your understanding of fermentation is correct -- yeast eats until it runs out of food, or until it produces enough alcohol to poison it's own environment.

Cultured/commercial yeast is SO2 tolerant, so if you add enough K-meta to stop the fermentation, the wine will be undrinkable.

On this forum the recommended method is to start with an SG that will produce the ABV you want, ferment dry, then stabilize with sorbate + K-meta, and backsweeten to taste. Starting with a yeast that has a lower ABV tolerance can help with this.

If you want a stronger wine, you can add a spirit at what you hope is the right point to raise the ABV to a point that kills the yeast. This may not hit the mark. While this is what is done to make Port, the winemakers have hundreds of barrels which they can blend to overcome any issues not hitting the correct mark.

Thank you so much! I read your article and it provided the information i was looking for. This is why i joined this forum! I’ll check the sg again tonight and tomorrow night and compare to last night to get an average of how fast it’s dropping. This should give me a timeframe to estimate when it will 1.000 or lower.

I didn’t know about keeping the primary open but covered, and so I’ve had it under an air lock since it started fermenting.

I’ll take it off now to see what happens. It’s bubbling nicely because i have 3 gallons in a 6 gallon carboy that i store 3-4 times a day, thereby introducing plenty of o2.

 

[Smoke]

So apparently i don’t have to wait until tomorrow since tonight the sg hit 1.008! Tasted fruity but with a strong alcohol aftertaste. Gonna press the pulp and transfer to the secondary, put it under an airlock and let it roll until it stops fermenting then continue the process. Will keep you posted!

 

[Smoke]

Just there’s transferred everything (except contents of the pulp bag, which i ran thru the small chicom wine press to extract every drop of nectar!) to the 3 gallon carboy. Came up about a quart short of the neck.

I thought of just topping off with some sugar water, but then i spotted a pint of homemade strawberry preserves that we put up this summer (no pectin!) so i dissolved that in 2 pints of ro filtered water and topped off the carboy (left about 2-3 inches of headspace for the continued fermentation). Added airlock and placed the remaining must in a qt jar with a loose fitting lid to use as a top up when i rack for the first time after fermentation ends.

Will recheck daily until fermentation stops.

Again, thoughts?

 

[winemaker81]

I would have topped with a light tasting white wine, to avoid a renewed fermentation. Check the carboy a few times per day. If you have a slow ferment, no problem. If your yeast gets feisty? You'll get stuff spurting through the airlock.

 

[Smoke]

I would have topped with a light tasting white wine, to avoid a renewed fermentation. Check the carboy a few times per day. If you have a slow ferment, no problem. If your yeast gets feisty? You'll get stuff spurting through the airlock.

It did get feisty but the airlock is handling it so far. Keeping a close eye it several times a day.,

 

[Smoke]

been watching the fermentation in the carboy after transfering everything from the primary. The airlock is handling all of the offgassing without overflowing, but the fermentation is still going strong after adding the jam. It looks like a freaking lava lamp with mini explosions of bubbles and sediment from the bottom of the carboy to the top! all i need is a black light and some 'shrooms and I'm right back in the 60's! lol

I'm guessing I should let the fermentation settle down, check the SG, TA and SO2 before doing anything else?

 

[winemaker81]

I'm guessing I should let the fermentation settle down, check the SG, TA and SO2 before doing anything else?

Give it at least a week.

 

[m_kluch]

Enjoyed reading your thread. Your pH and TA numbers look good.
As far as tannin goes, you can add some at a later time depending on your taste. Having tannin also helps preserve color as well as gives a wine a longer aging potential depending on the amount.
Keep updating with your progress. I’m also making a strawberry wine for the first time so it’s interesting for me to see how yours develops in comparison.