Strawberry Wild Yeast

[cohenhouse77]

Already done. 6 lbs of strawberries from the same batch, 1 lb of blueberries, 1 lb of raspberries. It is fermenting away as we speak. The Feral Dragon.


I plan to age this bulk for a good 8 months, so oak will work out great.

 

[cohenhouse77]

Feral Dragon went from 1.075 to 1.01 in three days. I racked last night and it is gorgeous. Much lighter color then the strawberry by itself, but gorgeous. The strawberry is clearing and getting darker red every day.

 

[ShawnDTurner]

Sounds delicious..thanks for the update.

 

[cohenhouse77]

Last night was wine maintenance night and the strawberry had cleared to a deep dark color. I decided to rack it off it's bulk of lees. The strawberry flavor is evident and it is dry, yet smells very sweet. No yeast smell. After much research, I chose the American light toast oak and after sanitizing, added 4 oz during the racking. I still have no idea what I'm doing with the oak, and I'm flying by the seat of my pants but man it looks fantastic!

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

How did you sanitize your oak? You let the wild yeast get at your strawberries but sanatized your oak chips? Fantastic that is smells and tastes good. WVMJ

 

[ShawnDTurner]

Light American Oak is a good choice, Strawberry has delicate aromas and flavor, you only need to uplift the fruit not bury it in oak. You should post some pics of the feral dragon. Cheers

 

[cohenhouse77]

Oaking Rosso on left, Oaking Feral Strawberry on right, and Feral Dragon in the middle.

 

[Downwards]

Wow! Hope my strawberry clears to that great a color. Beautiful!

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Looks like quite a bit of headspace in some of those carboys, did they just come out of the primary? WVMJ

 

[cohenhouse77]

Head space? Are you crazy? They are all the way up to the neck, except the Dragon and really, who is gonna top off a Dragon's Blood? I can't share a picture without someone scolding me about head space! I am just not concerned about head space on anything I am not bulk aging in the carboy. I am not afraid of the oxidation boogyman hiding under the corks...

 

[ShawnDTurner]

The colours on the strawberries look fantastic! Have you done any early tasting?

 

[ShawnDTurner]

Cohen, can you give an update on the Feral Strawberry and the Feral Dragon?

 

[cohenhouse77]

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply on here. Work has been killer! Things are starting to slow down and I can finally begin to work my way back into the wine room. I finally bottled the strawberry last night. I had a few friends over that tasted several of my wines and the strawberry ranks up there with their favorites with the first favorite actually being the apple pie wine. The strawberry has a very fruity aroma and almost smells like raspberries. The comment was that it actually tasted better than it smelled and it smelled amazing. I do not want to drink this one early, though I have a feeling several bottles will be gone before their time. As for the Dragon, I almost cannot taste the difference between the two but they do smell different. That one I am going to bottle probably this evening, and let it sit for a good 3 months before cracking that one open again. I know I will never get these results ever again, but I am so glad I took your recommendation to leave it alone. It is probably the first wine I have ever made that doesn't have a Brewers smell at this age.

 

[ShawnDTurner]

welcome back! Great to hear it turned out really well. I was glad to help. Trust me....You just jumped light years over a lot of people.....When it come to true wine making. You now know yourself the ambient fermentation can be very successful. Remember......commercial yeast is rather a new thing when it come to wine making. Just takes a watchful eye.