Newbie brewing Strawberry Wine

[Retired teacher]

Looks great!

 

[Hwaynemeares]

Yeah. I think I will just back sweeten with a little simple syrup when the time comes and leave the colour alone. It's just a bit disappointing, I was hoping the colour would stay nearer to what I first had, but then, maybe it will darken a little once it's cleared and had time to age.


This is so true. I hate being caught out by the unexpected and having to panic-fix things.

I know this thread is a year old but, i have the same question. How did you add color? I've read adding non sweet kool aid mix of the flavor helps.

 

[Rice_Guy]

My favorite red color is black raspberry at about 5%
I had it in the freezer so put in aronia at about 5% last year
One winery out from Milwaukee has a natural strawberry color, they ferment only the juice from frozen strawberries a neighbor bakery generates.

thread is a year old but. How did you add color? read adding non sweet kool aid

 

[Scooter68]

whatever method works for you and you feel comfortable using. I assume you wont be serving it to children so food color number 40 would even be ok.

 

[Hwaynemeares]

whatever method works for you and you feel comfortable using. I assume you wont be serving it to children so food color number 40 would even be ok.

I might but, my children are in thier 30s...lol. I tried a little koolaide in a glass of store bought strawberry wine. It was terrible. I'll probably just leave it orangey-pink.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Well if they are in their thirties you probably have a bottle of Monin strawberry syrup (or Tonie) on the shelf. ,,, Good color/ no solids and very natural berry flavor, ,,, and shelf stable

 

[Scooter68]

A few dark sweet cherries (15-20) would probably help too. remove the pits and crush well. run the juice through a filter for solids.

 

[meadmaker1]

Hello!

I'm a uk based first timer We are at peak strawberry season here and I got my hands on several kilos of magnificent british strawberries for jam and wine making.

I've done about as much research as I can and it seems like everyone does it a little differently. This morning after sanitizing everything I hulled and mashed the strawberries, added the sugar and let it macerate for a couple hours, then added the boiling water. After it cooled down a smidgen, I added two crushed campden tablets (1 per gallon) and am going to let it sit for 24 hrs. Tomorrow I will add my yeast / nutrient / tannin / citric acid, pop the airlock on and let it do its thing.

Theres a few things though that my recipe and the youtube videos I've watched have been vague about and I was kind of hoping you guys could help me.

With regards to the airlock, some people have said to fill it with water, others said sanitizer. I'm using a sanitizer that comes in powder form, can I dissolve some in water and use that or do I need something else?

And, once my fruit is out tomorrow and the next stage begins, how long does it last, usually? Everyone is super vague on this, do I just let it sit until there are no bubbles in the airlock? And when it's ready to go into demijohns, do I dissolve and add another campden tablet? If so does it have to sit at all before I transfer it to the demijohns?

So many questions, I'm sorry I just really really need this to turn out gorgeous and nothing whatsoever to go wrong or my partner is going to be very cross about all this money I've spent on brewing supplies

I really appreciate any advice you can give me as well, or things to watch out for!

Cheers!

How long has it been fermenting.
What does it taste like.
You may have returned to best fruit, some folks take advantage of the over ripe discount and prefer the most ripe fruit possible. a few bugs although not desirable, I don’t think are an issue unless they clearly have infested your mash. But that would be obvious and visually disgusting.
the vague fermentation information sounds correct to me. To many variables to say when it will Finnish. Bubbles = not done
Campden tabs after bubbles stop, the carbonation will protect until then.
Research the purposes of kmeta to understand what it does for you.
Early fermentation smells happen stay the course.

 

[Cherry Puffling]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I'm afraid you're a bit late to the party dear, i brewed this two summers ago and we drank this wine over this past summer... it was magnificent. I've made and bottled several wines since, it's a bit habit forming

All the best x