Sanitizing, Clearing, Primary/Secondary Schedule for Strawberry/Peach Wine

Good Morning All,

On my first attempt at a wine, it's a tossup between strawberry and peach. If I go with strawberries, I'll likely use frozen or wait for the peak of the season. Same with peaches.

Here's a rough recipe (5 gal):
15lbs fruit (peaches or strawberries)
5lbs cane sugar
5 campden tablets
1.25 tsp pectic enzyme


Initial Nutrients:
4.5g Fermaid-K
4.5g DAP

Active Fermentation Nutrients
2.8g Fermaid-K
2.8g DAP

Midpoint Nutrients
1.8g Fermaid-K
1.8g DAP

Wash fruit, mash in sanitized primary, add 5 campden tablets. 24 hours later, add pectic enzyme. 24 hours later, add boiled sugar and water to 5 gallons (or a bit less in case it kraeusens up) pitch Lalvin EC-1116 (I recall reading this brought out fruitiness, I could be mistaken) and initial nutrients. Add active fermentation nutrients 8-12 hours after fermentation starts. Stir every day until midpoint [(OG+Target FG)/2] and add midpoint nutrients. Transfer to secondary after fermentation slows and lees begin to collect. Allow fermentation to complete, rack and stabilize, backsweeten if necessary.

Here are my questions:
1. Are the nutrients necessary? Does the schedule look right?
2. Is the campden/pectic enzyme going to conflict? Will the wine clear or be hazy?
3. Is the yeast right?
4 How long should this take to primary?

Any other suggestions? Thanks!

All the nutrients aren't necessary. You can add them at the beginning, but it'll ferment just fine without the additional nutrients.

I do things a little differently than you're planning. I mix up ALL of the must- the sugar, water, fruit, etc, but don't add the pectic enzyme or the yeast. The campden goes in at the beginning, too. After 12 hours, add the pectic enzyme. Wait another 12 hours, then add the yeast.

This ensures that the fruit/must is sanitized by the campden but won't inhibit the wine yeast added 24 hours later. Also, pectic enzyme doesn't work as well with yeast or with campden, so it's added 12 hours after the campden and 12 hours before the yeast. With time, this wine will be nice and clear. If not, you can always use finings before bottling.

I primary my fruit wines until the SG is between 1.020-1.010 then it's racked to secondary and airlocked. That gets most of the gross lees out of the way, but there is still some fermenting going on so the wine doesn't get oxidized. This usually takes 5-7 days, but can be more or less depending on how warm it is, and how happy the yeast is.

In primary, I keep a towel over the fermenter (I use a bucket), so I can stir it up a couple of times a day. I put the fruit in a great big mesh bag, so it is sort of contained, but it still tries to float. You need to redunk the fruit so it doesn't dry out on top. I use a big sanitized spoon to dunk and stir. Stirring also helps to aerate, which is important early in primary. You don't want to splash or stir once fermentation is finishing up, though!

Hello Ms. Yooper, thanks for the sound advice!

So you'd stir in primary one to two times per day until SG is down to below 1.020? That will only take 7 days? Sounds quick.

Do I squeeze the fruit bag at 1.020 when I rack to secondary?

Any modifications to the recipe? Is the 1116 the best choice for yeast?

How long will it take to age properly? (guessing a month or two to clear then bottle?)

Thank you again.

Yes, stir once or twice a day until you hit 1.010-1.020ish. When you rack to secondary, you may just want to pick up the fruit bag and let it drip in a sanitized strainer. Squeeze the fruit might make it harder for the wine to clear. It should be pretty much mush before secondary. One tip is to freeze the fruit first, because that helps break up the cell walls and make it easier to extract the juice.

I'd suggest racking every 45-60 days, or whenever you have lees 1/4" thick. The wine should clear by the second or third racking.

I don't know if I can give you a time table, but if I had to guess I'd say this could be bottled in about 8-10 months if it's clear and no more lees are dropping.

As far as the recipe, if you're using strawberries, consider using 3 pounds strawberries and 2 to 2.5 pounds of sugar per gallon. You want the OG to be in the area of 1.085-1.095. Also, you may want to use a little citric acid or acid blend, 1 tsp per gallon to start, to give the wine a nice balance.

The yeast is fine. That should perserve much of the fruity bouquet.

Do you think it will be ready to drink once bottled or will it need to age after it's bottled?

Any other additions I'll need to make to preserve this wine? I'd hate to waste all the ingredients by having it go bad.

It'll be pretty good in a year, if you keep the ABV around 10-11%. A little higher alcohol will preserve it better, but it'll take longer to age out.

I like to use one crushed campden tablet per gallon (dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling water) at every other racking, and at bottling if I haven't racked within a couple of months. This sulfite works as a preservative, and keeps the wine from oxidizing during transfer and it also inhibits microbes that can spoil your wine. Some people don't want to use sulfites, but this amount is much less than is in commercial wines, and I've had wines for several years that haven't had any oxidation and spoilage. I am starting to have a pretty nice cellar, finally!