Strawberry wine???

Lil help, there must be a crisp, semi dry/sweet recipe.?!?

I did a strawberry concentrate not too long ago. I used 10 cans (2 per gallon) and about 1.5ish lbs of sugar dissolved in a couple gallons of water. I made sure to water up to 5 gallons though. Added montrachet and let it go. I mean really let it go, slipped my mind for about 4 months.

When I found it, I racked it into a bottling bucket and it was clear, so I went ahead and bottled it instead of back into a clean carboy (I'm short on carboys). It dropped a layer of lees in bottles (wine bottles). The lees covered the bottom, but didn't really lay on top of each other. It was a really really thin layer and didn't bother me at all. I drank half a bottle that same night. I didn't get that much strawberry flavor compared to a slight 'tang' of alcohol with a slight strawberry on the end. It was good enough for me to drink at that point though.

I did let some sit around for a month, before it happened to all be consumed (by me and buddies). The strawberry was coming out in flavor much more than when I bottled it. Could've waited another couple months, but no more bottles left...

I did not backsweeten it and it def. was dry. If I did it again, I'd up the initial count of concentrate to about 12 or 13 cans and try, and after that 15, cutting the sugar down a little each time.

Take this as what you'd like, just my experience.

I used 24# of frozen strawberries to make 6 gallons. It came out dry and had a good flavor.

Recipe Type: Strawberry
Yeast: Lalvin EC-1118
Batch Size (Gallons): 6
Original Gravity: 1.09
Final Gravity: .996
Boiling Time (Minutes): 0.0
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5 to 7
Additional Fermentation: Rack until clear
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 30

24# Frozen Strawberries
11# White Sugar
Water to make six gallons
6 Campden Tablets
3 Tsp Acid Blend
6 Tsp Yeast Nutrient
1 Tsp Wine Tannin
1 Tsp Pectic Enzyme
Lalvin EC-1118 Yeast

Start with as many strawberries as you can, 40 pounds for a 5 gallon batch isnt to much, just as the primary is done dump in another 10 pounds of berries for a couple of days before transferring to the secondary. It also helps to crush the fruit very well, add the pectinase and let it set overnight to dissolve the fruit, then squeeze the berries in a straining bag to get the seeds out so they dont add any bitterness. You control if its semidry or not when you bottle. WVMJ

bestes said:

Lil help, there must be a crisp, semi dry/sweet recipe.?!?

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http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/request162.asp

This is a 'dry' recipe, but you can then backsweeten it by adding pottasium sorbate and pottasium metabisulfite, then sweetening to taste. Only change I would make would be to use Lalvin K1-1116 or Lalvin D-47. Good luck!

I just started batch of "crap" strawberry, using four pounds of frozen strawberries with one gallon of Welch's strawberry/kiwi chiller. I call it crap, because I don't use artificial juice in any way shape or form, but it is for a friends 21st B-day. I also have 5 gallons of strawberry wine using the above recipe by Jack Keller. I plan on backsweetening to taste when it is close to being finished. I used Red Star Champagne yeast. So far, so good...except for the smell. I can't get used to the smell coming out of the primary.

Mzannie, have you ever used Red Stars Cote de Blanc yeast for your fruit wines? I have not, but am curious about it.

WilliamSlayer said:

Mzannie, have you ever used Red Stars Cote de Blanc yeast for your fruit wines? I have not, but am curious about it.

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No I have not. I bought a bunch of Premier Cuvee, and Champange yeast and I am trying to use it up. I did use the Lalvin for my Carmel APPLE Mead, but it is still in the secondary. Since I have been making so much wine, I really need to start informing myself on the characteristics of yeast. This just started as a way to use up my extra produce. Seems it has become an obscession. Drinking it and making it!

A 'hobby within the hobby'. I like it!

Ok, well, i will use 71B-1122 for my next batch. I got my start with Lalvin yeasts and tend to favor them for that reason. However, I really don't want to get 'locked' into using them all the time. I have no doubts there are other great strains out there!

WilliamSlayer said:

Mzannie, have you ever used Red Stars Cote de Blanc yeast for your fruit wines? I have not, but am curious about it.

Click to expand...

I found a recipe that calls for Cote de Blanc, so give it a go and let us know how it turned out!

I use cote des blanc often for fruit wines.

It works great in my cool house, never gets stuck, and makes fruit wines even "fruitier", if that makes sense! Even my crabapple wine, which I like to finish dry, has an almost semi-sec flavor and aroma due to the fruitiness expressed in the bouquet. It's a good wine yeast!

I think my next yeast order will have to include cote des blanc. When I first used premier cuvee, I did not like it at all. To me (in my uneducated and unadulterated opinion) it seemed like it was very active, for a couple days, then was done. I also thought it left a taste I was not accustom to. Turns out, it was much better tasting, in the long run, and I have been using it for my dark fruited vino. I am excited to start trying the cote des blanc. Ooooh and as a Christmas Eve bonus, I get to rack the Apple Carmel Mead today. It has been in the secondary for two months and I am so interested to see what it has become!