Quick ? about my next step in my Strawberry Wine...

[lherndo]

I'm taking notes,

I'm taking notes everyday, I may have not mixed enough, or I had some bubles on my Hydrometer. Who knows. It was my first time ever reading a hydro, so we'll see how it turns out, here are my notes so far:

Strawberry Wine Journal
First Attempt

Mon 4/26/10 - Starting SG = 1.145, yeast added.
Tue 4/27/10 – Stirred, bubbling a little
Wed 5/1/2010- Stirred, squeezed fruit bag, very foamy, measured SG = 1.132
Thur 4/29/10 – Stirred, Measured SG= 1.102
Fri 4/29/10- Stirred , SG = 1.089
Sat 4/29/10 – SG = 1.07
Sun 4/29/10 -
Mon 4/29/10 -


So I have a ways to go before I remove the bag, but it's only been 5 days. It smells like a very fragrant strawberry soda right now.

When is it safe to taste?

 

[Torch404]

If done correctly it will always be safe to taste. It just might not taste good. It's good to taste as it goes so you can have an idea of how your next batch is doing.

 

[Wade E]

Its safe to taste at any time! Im sorry I havent been following this thread but dear lord thats a very high starting sg and since all the SG's have follwed suit I dont believe you were wrong with that starting SG. That is going to be a very hot wine and may take a year or probably even more before that is ready to drink because of that unless you like strawberry flavored vodka!

 

[lherndo]

Wade

I saw a post from you in the recipe section and you mention you don't like some old recipes b/c of the high starting SG and the way the alcohol overpowers the fruit flavor.

This recipe was from my local wine/beer brew store. It called for 16# of strawberries and 10# of sugar. I used 2 cups/lb of sugar as I didn't have a way to measure just yet. (I'm getting one for the next batch though) and I see that the actual calculation is more like 2 1/4 cups/lb so I actually used less than it called for it looks like!

The good news is that my buddies who I'm making this for ( a year from now, and they don't know it yet) usually pass around tequila and goldshlagger at their parties, so a little high gravity strawberry wine should work quite well.

Again, it's my very first attempt, and I plan on doing a nice strong F-pac before bottling, so hopefully I'll end up with a nice sweet high gravity wine with a lot of strawberry flavor. (from the f-pack) - That was actually what I pictured in my head all along, I just didn't know how to get there. Maybe I'll end up with beginners luck

 

[lherndo]

First taste...

First taste...

It tastes like a sweet bubbly alcoholic strawberry soda/syrup! Ha!

I'm having a hell of a good time so far.

This is way more fun with less expensive mistakes than my saltwater aquarium hobby I took up about 6 years ago!

 

[Wade E]

All should be good then if thats what you planned for.