Strawberry wine from Wine Maker Mag

[B-well4200]

I just started the Strawberry wine from Jack Keller in this month's issue of The Wine Maker magazine. I think its going to turn out great. The only thing is it called for 2 tsp of citric acid and I did not have any, so I used the juice from 1.5 lemons instead. Has anyone used fresh sqeezed lemon juice instead of citric acid before? I read that you could use that as a substitue. Also, the receipe did not say anything about a campden tablet, so I used one anyway.

 

[Alexander]

Hi B-well,
I am quite new to this myself but a book I have here has "1/2oz citric acid OR 3 lemons, no pith, in lieu" for many recipies. I have tried both and found no difference.
Regards

 

[Madriver Wines]

Jacks recipes usually doesnt mention campden tablest because he thinks everyone already knows to use them.

 

[Luc]

Last year I did a story on lemon juice on my web-log:
http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2008/03/citroensap-lemon-juice.html

I was amazed how low the acidiy of lemon juice was !!!
1 gram lemon juice had an acidity of 0.07.

Be aware that lemons do not just add acid, they impart some flavor to.

Luc

 

[Ceegar]

I just started a 1 gal batch a few hours ago. A couple of Jack's recipes call for acid blend - I don't have plain citric so I used acid blend. I also used 5 lbs of strawberries instead of 3-1/2. I don't know how full bodied 3-1/2 lbs would turn out, but I wanted to make sure it was so I added 1-1/2 lbs more. Hopefully it won't hurt. Plus I don't have the yeast he recommended so I think I'm going to pitch some Cote des Blanc.

 

[B-well4200]

Luc,
Thanks for the info. I went yesterday and bought some citric acid, so hopefully I can prevent that problem from happening again.

 

[St Allie]

citric acid and tartaric acids are in the baking aisle of your local supermarket..

Allie

 

[B-well4200]

That's good to know becouse I got it at a local winery. Didn't know they had it in supermarkets. Thanks

 

[susanppt]

i am about to start this also. did you add potassium metabisulphite? when and how much?

 

[B-well4200]

I used one crushed campden tablet. I added it after I poured the water over the strawberries and sqeezed the juice out of them. Waited 24 hrs before I added the yeast. Beware, don't sqeeze the banana's when you strain it like I did, just let it drip. Good luck and keep me posted on the progress.

 

[Wade E]

1 tablet per gallon or 1/4 tsp per 5-6 gallons.

 

[susanppt]

how much yeast did you use? i have a packet, but it says it is for 5-6 gallons of wine. do i only use 1/5 of the packet?

 

[St Allie]

Hi Susan,

for a 1 gallon recipe use about a quarter of the yeast packet and store the remainder in an airtight container in the fridge..

Allie

 

[Wade E]

It would not hurt to use a whole packet though.

 

[Ceegar]

Hi Susan,

for a 1 gallon recipe use about a quarter of the yeast packet and store the remainder in an airtight container in the fridge..

Allie

I do that too cuz I figure if 1 packet is good for 5-6 gals of wine, then less than a whole packet will do the trick for one gallon. Anything over 1 gal I've been using the whole thing. I've yet to do a batch over 3 gals - prolly when the juice comes around I will though.

 

[B-well4200]

how much yeast did you use? i have a packet, but it says it is for 5-6 gallons of wine. do i only use 1/5 of the packet?

Susan, I used one whole packet.

 

[Madriver Wines]

1 whole packet will give you a great fermentation! I have started to halve the packet for 2 uses of a gallon each. It slows the fermentation some which is a good thing IMO.
Steve