Strawberry Wine

The following Strawberry wine making recipe makes a light and refreshing dinner wine that would be consumed in the same manner as a White or Rosé.

• 18 lbs. Strawberries
• 1/8 Tsp. Potassium Bisulfite (or 1 campden tablet)
• Pectic Enzyme (as directed on package)
• 5 Tsps. Yeast Nutrient
• 1 Tsp. Wine Tannin
• 8 Tsps. Acid Blend
• 8 lbs. Sugar
• 1 Pack Wine Yeast (EC-1118, CY17 or VR21)
  
  

You can develop your own fresh Strawberry wine recipe by keeping a few guidelines in mind.

1. Choose an amount of strawberries between 12.5 lbs. and 25 lbs.
2. Adjust the sugar level with the aid of a wine making hydrometer to produce the desired potential alcohol level (11% or S.G. of 1.086 recommended) and
3. Use a wine making titration kit measure and to adjust your acid level to .60% tartaric.

The Pectic Enzyme, Yeast, and Yeast Nutrient do not change and the Wine Tannin is not critical just somewhere between 0 - 1 Tsp. based on the amount of strawberries being used; the more strawberries used the less Tannin required. The Potassium Metabisulfite should be dosed somewhere close to 1/16 Tsp. per each 8 pounds of Strawberries.

Preparing The Strawberries

Use Fresh Strawberries whenever possible. Lightly rinse with water and allow to drain. Then, remove all the stems and leaves. Discard any questionable ones and chop off any un-ripened areas. Coarsely chop them up.

If the strawberries have been frozen, thaw completely then mash them.

Do NOT add the Yeast Nutrient, Sugar or Yeast at this time.

And here is the important part: Add the Pectic Enzyme as directed on the package it came in, based on the total batch size. In other words if 1/4 tsp. per gallon of Pectic Enzyme is called for and you are making five gallons, add 1-1/4 tsp. even though your wine making liqueur may currently only be around 2 gallons. This will allow the fruit’s pectin to be broken down faster than normal.

Let the mixture stand covered with fermenter lid for 24 hours. You can give it a stir from time to time. Also during this period, the Potassium Metabisulfite/Campden Tablets that was added is sterilizing the wine making liqueur.

The Home Wine Making Fermentation

After waiting 24 hours, dilute the with water to 5 gallons. Stir in the sugar called for until completely dissolved, then add the Yeast Nutrient and Wine Yeast as called for in the above home wine making recipes.

Keep covered with a towel and allow to ferment. On or around the 7th day of a normal wine making fermentation you will notice the activity starting to decrease. The Specific Gravity reading will usually be between 1.025 and 1.035 on a wine making hydrometer. It is at this point in the wine making process that you are ready to rack (siphon) your must into acarboy leaving as much of the pulp and other sediment behind.

At this point attach a wine airlock and allow the must to ferment until it has completely stopped which will be about 4 to 6 weeks. At this point rack one more time into a clean secondary container re-attach the airlock to the carboy and allow to stand until the wine is completely clear. This will usually take an additional 1 to 2 weeks.

Now you have Strawberry Wine.

If everything has gone as planned, it should be fairly dry at this point. If you prefer you wines a little sweeter, now is the time to sweeten to taste. You can also add more Strawberry flavor to your wine at this time. You can use anything from table sugar to honey, but remember that anytime you add sugar to a finished wine you must then either add a stabilizer such as Potassium Sorbate or filter with a pressurized type filter system using “sterile” filter pads.

If you have never made a fruit wine, this is the fruit to start with. Homemade strawberry wine is very forgiving to blunders and mishaps that come along with new wine making territory. And most assuredly it will be a wine that will bring a smiles of pleasure to the faces of friends, guests.