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

[lherndo]

This is my first attempt, so I'm not expecting a whole lot.

I think I might have over read on this subject before I started because I went from knowing what to do with a recipe in hand to being really confused with about 10 different Strawberry wine recipes floating in my head and out of my printer.

Anyways, started with 20# of thawed strawberries and 10#'s of sugar. I dissolved my sugar, yeast nutrient, crushed campden tabs, and acid blend. With strawberries an a mesh bag they're all hanging out in my primary fermenter for 24 hours before i had my yeast.

Now, as for note taking, before I add my yeast I need to do a SG reading and start tracking it down. Again the recipe called for the 10 lbs of sugar, but what should my SG start at? My yeast is Lalvin K1-V1116.

So my next step is to take a SG reading, add the yeast and stir, and stir daily and take SG readings right?

Some recipes called for Tannin, should I add that? is it too late since i haven't added my yeast?

Thanks for any and all help, I'm really excited about this new hobby. I just need to get one batch down. Reading it makes sense but doing it is very different. Just need to knock one out and learn.

 

[Leanne]

How many litres/gallons is this for?

 

[Julie]

You want a starting gravity around 1.080 and once it drops to around 1.010 you need to rack to a carboy. Can you post the complete recipe?

 

[lherndo]

5 Gallon Recipe

# 20 lbs chopped strawberries
# 10 lbs. granulated sugar
acid blend
pectic enzyme
# 5 crushed Campden tablet
# Yeast and nutrient

Don't have the exact amount of Acid and Pectin memorized and recipe isn't in front of me.

I can't wait to get home and measure my SG.

 

[Tom]

I dont undrestand why you did not take a starting reading??
That is most important as its a starting point. Adding sugar blindly will not get you good wine. Fruit have a different sweetness by the farm as well as by the State, country each year.
10# of sugar is way to much for 20# of fruit IMO.

 

[lherndo]

RE:

I didn't take a reading because I kind of thought I hadn't started yet, because I haven't added the yeast yet.

The way the directions read, was to use thawed strawberries, and add warm/hot water on top of them to help breakdown the fruit wait a day and add the yeast. It also gave a sugar range of about a lb and a half.

I guess I thought I was supposed to take the reading before the yeast is added adjust to proper SG before I put the yeast in. I thought that was because different fruit has different sugar content and I really wouldn't get an accurate reading until the next day when everything kind of marrinated together

 

[Tom]

here's what you should do. Bump up the strawberries by adding 5# more. The way it is now the alcohol will overpower the fruit. Then for the future Google WineCalc and download. this will help you know exactly how much sugar to add to get the reading of 1.085 for fruit.
Ck back here if unsure on what to do once the fermentation begins.

 

[Leanne]

I dont undrestand why you did not take a starting reading??
That is most important as its a starting point. Adding sugar blindly will not get you good wine. Fruit have a different sweetness by the farm as well as by the State, country each year.
10# of sugar is way to much for 20# of fruit IMO.

Yeah, that's what confused me.
Where did you get this recipe?

 

[lherndo]

Recipe

This recipe was given to me from my local wine making store when i bought my equipment.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

it seems short on strawberries. we do alot more #/gal than that. strawberries don't have strong flavor bacause they have alot of water in them.

what you can and should do is look into making an F-pac. search on this site for Fpac or flavoring pack.

if the yeast hasn't been pitched, then you can still take a reading. the SG will go up some after it sits as you mention. you still want to be close when you add the sugar. i take 2 readings and see if it went up the next day. it typically does. strawberry will get eaten up by the yeast and heating them up won't do much. freezing and thawing works much better for most fruit. raisins would have helped a little for such a low starting #/gal, but more strawberries would be better. or both for a even more full-bodied wine. take notes on what you've made, how it finished and what it lacked. you'll thank me later.

i always add less sugar than needed when making wine and check sg until you are within ~0.005 of target. then check the sg the next day to see if it rose. many times it goes over the target. this way your alc doesn't get too high. the lalvin 1116 is a good yeast and works fast, but will make the wine too high in alc if you don't watch starting sg. we've messed up and got close to 14.5% alc/vol on some and it's not the best for a fruit wine.

better %'s would be in the 10~12 range for fruit wines. you can get away with more on a heavier bodied wine such as elderberry or blackberry if you add plenty of fruit and sweeten it more when it finishes. this will make more of a "dessert wine." that or fortify it with another spirit to get up higher.

i would ask questions here before any brew shop. we've got plenty of exerience and you'll get multiple opinions that YOU can decide which works for you. there are many ways to make wine, find yours grasshopper

 

[lherndo]

Thanks for the replies guys,

I think my starting SG was a little high, but someone on here commented on the fact that they didn't think my sugar was dissolved completely at the time.

I'm definitely planning on adding a Fpack to this wine. And actually a bit higher alcohol is ok for my friends and myself. Since this is my first batch.

So far strawberry concoction is bubbling along nicely and two days in I believe my SG was down to 1.032. ( initial read after mixing sugar and chems but fefore adding yeast was 1.145, that's why they thought my sugar wasn't dissolved properly)

So far the yeast is happy and active and the strawberries are melting before my eys in the bag, so far so good.

 

[Tom]

When the gravity gets around 1.015 remove the pulp. Or what left

 

[myakkagldwngr]

I have quite a bit of strawberry right now sitting in carboys. I was able to hit a upick and cleaned up.
The only thing I would add to what everyone else has said is not to get in a hurry to drink it once it has stopped fermenting in the secondary fermentor.
It will really clear up nicely after a racking or two. My earliest batch has been racked three times now and at two of those I added a flavor pack I made from more strawberries I bought at Walmart.
It's getting to the point a flashlight beam will shine clear thru it into the next carboy sitting by it.

 

[Tom]

TES, how true. I usualle bottle at least 6 months later. Then again I make 6 gallons so I have plenty

 

[lherndo]

Well I guess I was way off on remembering my SG from last night. My SG tonight was 1.102, so last night must have been 1.132.

Now I did squeeze the pulp bag a little, so could that have raised my SG? Could it have been down to 1.032 on day 3 and back up to 1.102 after gently squeezing some strawberry "mush"? Or did I just misread it yesterday?

 

[Tom]

No way. It's either you or the hydrometer. It cant change that much by movint the pulp bag

 

[Wade E]

I agree with Tom! This is why lots of us take notes but then again maybe you did and just wrote it down wrong.

 

[SherrysJubilee]

One of my mottoes is "I fear no beer..." Strawberry wine, on the other hand, terrifies me.

Sherry's fave Indianapolis restaurants

 

[myakkagldwngr]

SJ, have no fear!!
I'm new to this myself, only been doing it for a year now and have made a lot of mistakes learning...
Even with the excellent help from the pro's here.
But one thing I've found out, unless you're taste is something else,,,
you can almost always drink your mistake.
And after a bottle, the mistake doesn't seem that bad!

 

[SherrysJubilee]

SJ, have no fear!!
I'm new to this myself, only been doing it for a year now and have made a lot of mistakes learning...
Even with the excellent help from the pro's here.
But one thing I've found out, unless you're taste is something else,,,
you can almost always drink your mistake.
And after a bottle, the mistake doesn't seem that bad!

hahahaHAHA!