Okay okay I know I'm going to get a ton of different suggestions which is exactly what I want but what yeast is best for making strawberry wine? I hear that baker's yeast is best. Thoughts??
Mostly what I use for fruit wines is the Lalvin EC-1118 yeast. It's specifically designed for fruit wines, and is an absolute beast at eating sugars and turning them into alcohol.
I'm still learning the best way to write recipes so it's easier for me to give you instructions.
Make a starter with 71b using distilled water with a smidge of white sugar. I use a sterile mason jar and leave the cap slightly loose so it doesnt explode.
I'll leave amount you want to make ambiguous.
I use Fresh pressed strawberries. The fruit and all go in the pot. I use an 80/20 blend of distilled water to strawberry pulp and juices. Make almost enough to fill the full amount you want. Sugar will displace a lot. Add the sugar until the SG is 1.085 to 1.095. You'll have to stir it like crazy until the sugar dissolves. Fully boil for 10 minutes. Add distilled water back up to the boil line. Rapidly cool in a water bath to less than 90F. Pitch back and forth between sanitized containers 10 times. Pour into carboy but leave room for the starter. Give enough room for fermentation. Save leftover juice for a smoothie or something. Add mfg. recommended amount of yeast nutrient blend. Add pectic enzyme. Add Acid blend to a PH of 3.8. Idk why it just tastes better to me there. Airlock it. Stir it daily with a sterile whatever. I use a glass stirring rod or a made for brewing plastic spoon depending on batch size. Avoid metals.
When the bubble slows to 1 every few minutes stop stirring. Let it sit for a week after no bubble activity. Backsweeten to taste with simple syrup and add potassium sorbate. Rack to a carboy and fill air gap to the neck using sanitized marbles and add a crushed cambden tablet for every gallon. Boil plain geletin using box instruction. Cool and add when hot. After the haze settles and it's clear it's ready to bottle. It will take a while for strawberry wine to clear but it will. You can clear it faster in the fridge without affecting taste.
Thanks for the recipe. I'm going to try it within the next couple of weeks. I have 10 gallons of watermelon wine that I'm trying to get the sulfur smell out of. When I'm done dealing with that I'll start the strawberry batch.