Strawberry wine ideas

[hounddawg]

Can I change my answer?

My previous opinion of strawberry wine was based on one bottled earlier in the year and tastes of two just before bottling. Today I opened my first bottle of a pineapple strawberry bottled a month+ ago and I was shocked. Removing the cork I immediately smelled strawberries. And the flavor - strong strawberry! I used a combination of fresh and canned pineapple and organic pineapple juice and I can't taste pineapple at all. Just strawberry. Strong strawberry. It's wonderful!

I can only surmise that the pineapple boosted the strawberry flavor. Or at least my perception of the strawberry flavor. This also tells me to play with pineapple more.

just don't play with matches,
funny what a little age will do,,,,
Dawg

 

[BigDaveK]

just don't play with matches,
funny what a little age will do,,,,
Dawg

Age?
If for some reason I'm making a late dinner I never use the oven. I might fall asleep and wake up to a house full of smoke.

 

[winemaker81]

Yes, that's a possibility, but that seems like "cheating" to me, you know what I mean. If possible I'd like to avoid that route, but if I can't. so be it.

There is no such thing as cheating in winemaking. There are shortcuts *, but no cheating. Everything that produces a good ending is good.


* Shortcut -- the longest distance between two points.

 

[hounddawg]

Age?
If for some reason I'm making a late dinner I never use the oven. I might fall asleep and wake up to a house full of smoke.

sorry, lol,,, age=bulk aging, to get that mature full flavor sip,,,,
Dawg

 

[BigDaveK]

sorry, lol,,, age=bulk aging, to get that mature full flavor sip,,,,
Dawg

My bad, forgot where I am and that "age" is generally good.
Some days my body only knows one definition of "age" and it's, uh, less than good.

 

[hounddawg]

My bad, forgot where I am and that "age" is generally good.
Some days my body only knows one definition of "age" and it's, uh, less than good.

I HEAR THAT,,, except mine tells me every day, golden years my butt, painful years, and I seen no down hill slide when I got older just a very tall cliff, and wham I was slamming bottom,, lol

Dawg

 

[Ericphotoart]

Colomafrozen looks very interesting. A little price but it all depends how much must be used and how efficient it is. So can I use only that concentrate? And if so how much for 5 gallons. Or is it just addition on top of regular fruits?

 

[winemaker81]

Colomafrozen looks very interesting. A little price but it all depends how much must be used and how efficient it is. So can I use only that concentrate? And if so how much for 5 gallons. Or is it just addition on top of regular fruits?

Go to the web site and read the individual descriptions -- the ones I read listed the dilution rate. For Blackerry, the rate is 1:7.24, which produces a bit over 2 US gallons from 1 US quart. The price for Blackberry is $68 USD, so to make 23 liters the cost is roughly $210 for the fruit. I stopped reading at that point.

 

[Ericphotoart]

Makes no sense. Maybe a bit cheaper fruits and only as a flavor booster, small amount

 

[BigDaveK]

Go to the web site and read the individual descriptions -- the ones I read listed the dilution rate. For Blackerry, the rate is 1:7.24, which produces a bit over 2 US gallons from 1 US quart. The price for Blackberry is $68 USD, so to make 23 liters the cost is roughly $210 for the fruit. I stopped reading at that point.

Holey Sh-, I mean, Holey Moley!
Makes me feel very lucky and grateful that I can source most of my ingredients from the yard.
This year I doubled my thornless blackberries by propagation and in the spring I'll be planting elderberries and aronia berries. Once they're established I'll propagate them, too.

 

[hounddawg]

I got 40 acres with wild blackberries everywhere, pear trees, apple, plum, mulberries, muscadines, Elderberries,, but you start getting in the shape I'm in and Coloma ain't that bad... lol'
every concentrate makes different. the have a page telling what a quart of concentrate makes for each kind, it is cold made, and single fruit, .
Dawg

SCRATCH THAT, been awhile since i bought, it was about a 1/5th of the new price, JEEZE, i got 4 gallon pear concentrate that cost me when i bought about $165 for 4 gallon, and i got 8 quarts of peach in freezer as well , that crap was under $20 a quart,
LOOKS LIKE I'M GOING BACK TO MY REAL FARM FRESH FRUIT, OMG,,,,
Dawg

 

[vinny]

Yes, that's a possibility, but that seems like "cheating" to me, you know what I mean. If possible I'd like to avoid that route, but if I can't. so be it.

If it makes you feel better you could use your own strawberries. Squeeze 'em, juice 'em, or just throw them in a pot and simmer down with some sugar. Real strawberry sauce from the garden used to backsweeteen is not cheating! Maybe even just adding them to secondary, but that seems more of a mess to clean up.

 

[hounddawg]

Hum, all the concentrates still aint bad except for blackberry, anyone know why blackberry is so expensive ?
Dawg

 

[Ericphotoart]

Can I change my answer?

My previous opinion of strawberry wine was based on one bottled earlier in the year and tastes of two just before bottling. Today I opened my first bottle of a pineapple strawberry bottled a month+ ago and I was shocked. Removing the cork I immediately smelled strawberries. And the flavor - strong strawberry! I used a combination of fresh and canned pineapple and organic pineapple juice and I can't taste pineapple at all. Just strawberry. Strong strawberry. It's wonderful!

I can only surmise that the pineapple boosted the strawberry flavor. Or at least my perception of the strawberry flavor. This also tells me to play with pineapple more.

When did you start this wine?

 

[BigDaveK]

If it makes you feel better you could use your own strawberries. Squeeze 'em, juice 'em, or just throw them in a pot and simmer down with some sugar. Real strawberry sauce from the garden used to backsweeteen is not cheating! Maybe even just adding them to secondary, but that seems more of a mess to clean up.

I could have used a better word than cheating but that's why I had it in quotes. We all want our wines to be a flavor explosion start to finish and I acknowledge that won't always be possible. But being stubborn (and having way too much fun with this hobby) I'll certainly explore other options. I'm very intrigued by my pineapple-strawberry wine (mentioned earlier in this thread) that has no pineapple flavor but an incredible boost of strawberry flavor. Does using the right combination of medium flavored fruit cause one to be sacrificial but a boost for the other? I'm curious.

And as for your suggestion, yes that's a possibility. I've thought of the potential use of my strawberry jam - strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, no pectin. It would be a sacrifice, though, because the main reason I make it is for strawberry jam and cream cheese on a toasted homemade bagel.

 

[winemaker81]

I'm very intrigued by my pineapple-strawberry wine (mentioned earlier in this thread) that has no pineapple flavor but an incredible boost of strawberry flavor. Does using the right combination of medium flavored fruit cause one to be sacrificial but a boost for the other? I'm curious.

That's possible. Another thing to consider is the acidity of pineapple -- the right combination boosts the strawberry flavor.

 

[BigDaveK]

When did you start this wine?

Plain strawberry was actually my third wine, made last October. I was new, impatient, and it was crystal clear after 4 months so I bottled it. A bit of sediment appeared in the bottles. Lesson learned.

The pineapple-strawberry was started in late February, bottled after 8 months, no sediment. Definitely my favorite of the two.

 

[BigDaveK]

That's possible. Another thing to consider is the acidity of pineapple -- the right combination boosts the strawberry flavor.

Certainly something to consider.
This gets a little complicated but interesting. As I mentioned I used a combination of fresh, canned, and pressed juice. Fresh pineapples don't ripen once picked and they're on the way to the store less than fully mature for transportation reasons. Canned is slightly better (to me) and the pressed juice was the best. I'm sure the acid level is different in each one - and if I made that now I would test the pH AND the Brix of each before starting.

 

[vinny]

I could have used a better word than cheating but that's why I had it in quotes. We all want our wines to be a flavor explosion start to finish and I acknowledge that won't always be possible. But being stubborn (and having way too much fun with this hobby) I'll certainly explore other options. I'm very intrigued by my pineapple-strawberry wine (mentioned earlier in this thread) that has no pineapple flavor but an incredible boost of strawberry flavor. Does using the right combination of medium flavored fruit cause one to be sacrificial but a boost for the other? I'm curious.

And as for your suggestion, yes that's a possibility. I've thought of the potential use of my strawberry jam - strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, no pectin. It would be a sacrifice, though, because the main reason I make it is for strawberry jam and cream cheese on a toasted homemade bagel.

Homemade bagels too, huh.

I will probably be harassing you for a recipe.

 

[StimVino]

Good thread. I have a strawberry lemon bulk aging right now. Been testing additions of citric acid which is one of the main ingredients in many of the concentrates that are available. It definitely can bring back some flavor. However, in the end I’ll probably use a concentrate for backsweetening. I did a blackberry about 3 years ago that I backsweetened with only seeetener. Im sure that I used to much (about double the recommended dosage). It tasted great the first year, but then the blackberry started to fade and the sweetner became overwhelming.