Strawberry Wine question

[User196221]

I am making 5 gallons of strawberry wine, my first big batch. It fermented very well for 4 days, I stirred it up atleast twice a day. This morning it was very "quiet" so I decided to transfer it to a glass carboy. I expected it to continue fermenting but didn't see any bubbles in the airlock. Then took a SG reading and came up with .990. Is this possible to ferment out that fast?? I am wondering what my next step should be as I have about a gallon of air space in the top of the carboy. My thought is to stir in 5 crushed campden tablets. Is this the right thing to do at this point?? JoAnne

 

[robie]

Did you start with the right amount of sugar - what was the starting SG?
What is the ABV % you are shooting for?
Can you give us the recipe you used, so we can get a better idea of what's happenng?

 

[Brian]

I agree with Robie! Sometimes wine can ferment down very fast but without knowing the starting SG and things we can't tell...

 

[Tom]

Recipe please
How many #'s did you use?
How much sugar did you add?
What was the starting gravity?
Yes its finished @ .990 but what was the temp during fermentation

 

[User196221]

This recipe came from Kraus winemaking supply website:
12.5# strawberries crushed (I put in 15#, 3 5# bags from SAM's)
1/8 t. sodium bisulfite
Pectin enzymes (as directed on package)
5 t. yeast nutrient
1 t. wine tannin
8 t. acid blend
8 # sugar (I put in 17 cups)
1 pkg of Champaign Yeast

I'm not real good a taking SG readings yet but the starting one was around 1.086. I did not take an acid reading then because I'm still trying to figure out how to do it. The recipe calls for .60% tartaric.

 

[User196221]

The fermentation temperature was about 70 to 72 degrees. When it fermented it was very active, sounded like a bowl of Rice Krispies that you just added milk to......snap, crackle and pop all day long. But is seemed to come to such an abrupt stop, and that has got me wondering if I did something wrong.

 

[robie]

That's a good temperature, so it sounds like it is done, if you have a .990 SG.
Tom is the man, when it comes to fruit wines, so I'll leave it to him.

 

[chettd]

I am making the exact same recipe and it also my first time making wine on my own. I just racked my wine today and I noticed the exact same thing regarding fermindation. I was wondering the same thing regarding filling the air space in my carboy. I made a 5 gallon recipe but put the wine in a 6 gallon carboy. Do I fill the air space with water or something else or should I just leave it?

 

[Tom]

1st Low on #'s per gallon
Strawbery s/b 6+#'s per gallon so 30# for 5 gal
reason its high in # per gal is that there is alot of water in them.
Now to make your wine BETTER. Get another 5# bag and make a f-pac.
Add this after you stabilized and before adding clearing agents.
You will need alot of racking w/strawberry.
Also you should backsweeten to your taste.
As Robie said I make alot of fruit wines so I talk from experience.
If not sure how to backsweeten of make a f-pac look for the "stickies"

Learn how to read a hydrometer and do a TA test. That can only help you make BETTER wine.

 

[Tom]

I am making the exact same recipe and it also my first time making wine on my own. I just racked my wine today and I noticed the exact same thing regarding fermindation. I was wondering the same thing regarding filling the air space in my carboy. I made a 5 gallon recipe but put the wine in a 6 gallon carboy. Do I fill the air space with water or something else or should I just leave it?

Put it in a 5 gal carboy. DO NOT add water to fill it up in a 6 gal carboy. If you have more than 5 gal then put the rest in a wine bottle like a 1.5ltr and ust that to top off the 5 gal when racking.

 

[chettd]

Here is the recipe.
http://www.eckraus.com/wine-making-strawberry.html
I used the 5 gallon table wine recipe. I added about 3 pounds more sugar than the recipe called for to bring my alcohol percentage up to about 13% or 1.1 sg I also didn't have any tanin so that was not included in the recipe.

 

[chettd]

@Robbie

"Now to make your wine BETTER. Get another 5# bag and make a f-pac.
Add this after you stabilized and before adding clearing agents."

What is an f-pac and what should I stabilize with? The recipe we are using says nothing about either one of these additive/ingredients.

You also mentioned, "If not sure how to backsweeten of make a f-pac look for the "stickies"

Where would I find this info or go about doing this?

 

[Tom]

Stickies are on the top of the topic on the main page like;
f-pac http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=45
Back sweetening
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=105586&highlight=back+sweetening#post105586

All info can be found by using the "search" above this thread.

 

[mxsteve625]

I agree with Tom. I did my first batch of strawberry over a year ago. I would do at least 6 to 7 pounds of strawberry per gallon and an f-pack. Strawberrys have alot of water vs flavor and anything you can do to increase the body or flavor will help.