Strawberry Wine

strawberry

That'd be OK. I'm of the opinion that strawberry is a fairly light bodied wine with a light flavour. I like to maximise extract and flavour. So if you want more flavour I'd push the fruit concentration to the point where the TA is still bearable with an edge of residual sugar.

Well, it depends on the style you're going for. But I'd go for a high level of ripeness (not to the point where the fruit squashes in the fingers, but just before), and a range of different varieties if possible. Go for open, unhidden fruit avoiding anything unripe or mouldy.

A simple way to go: enough fruit (and dilution if you need it) to get a must TA of about 4-6 g/l, with the aim of finishing with something around a few % r.s. I'd go for fresh and fruity style. That'd mean: gentle but maximised extraction, juice fermentation (or short pulp, < 5 days, if you must) and cool fermentation, a minimal handling regime, minimal lees influence. I really dislike seeing too much phenolic character in strawberry so I tend to minimise seed contact in any case.

Ben Improved Winemaking

Please excuse my newbieness. I have been making wine for about 3 years now but still a newbie. I am a little confused by...

" A simple way to go: enough fruit (and dilution if you need it) to get a must TA of about 4-6 g/l, with the aim of finishing with something around a few % r.s. ." What does TA and g/l stand for? I am assuming that % r.s. is the residual sugar.

Side Note: Can I ferment dry and sweeten with splenda? Has anyone ever tried that?

Thanks,

David

Does anyone know what a quart of strawberries weighs? I need to figure out how many quarts I need to get 20lbs.

David

David,

TA: Titratable Acidity, a measure of the acid (and related to the acid taste) in a wine g/l: grams per litre (it's unfortunate that the USA *still* hasn't gone metric)

Yes.

Ben

This is crucial, as I found out with a 23 litre batch of 90% strawberry juice... there's just a bit of a tannic edge on an otherwise marvellous wine... should have left them soak for a day or two, not the 3 or 4 I did. I chapitalised with strawberry syrup as well, which seemed to add a lot of flavour and bouquet. I think my thread turns up in a search of the google archives.

I am going strawberry picking with the company I work with this Friday. I guess we're having a "fun day". I plan on picking or buying about 20 lbs to make 6 gallons of strawberry wine. Do any of you have any suggestions on how to pick the best fruit? Or does anyone have a recipe that they have tried and liked?

David

I got a recipe from the Jack Kellar web site. They have 4 recipes there, and the best one is made without raisins. I altered a batch once by putting in double the sugar. What I ended up with was a semi dry liqueur that tasted great alone or with club soda. The only problem is you need to let it sit for about a year before you drink it. Don't expect to get a wine or liqueur that is like a commercial brand. Home made strawberry wine is fairly dry.

Try this web site:

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Of course you should not expect to get anything that is like a comercial brand fruit wine. I have never tasted a commercial fruit wine that came close to being as good as a decent home made fruit wine. You should set your sites much higher than that!

Ray

Of course you should not expect to get anything that is like a comercial brand fruit wine.&nbsp; I have never tasted a commercial fruit wine that came close to being as good as a decent home made fruit wine.&nbsp; You should set your sites much higher than that!&nbsp; &nbsp; Ray

I wasn't saying that commercial wine is better. I merely used it as an example. I never buy wine anymore because I prefer my own wine.

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Ray Calvert wrote: Of course you should not expect to get anything that is like a comercial brand fruit wine. I have never tasted a commercial fruit wine that came close to being as good as a decent home made fruit wine. You should set your sites much higher than that!

Ray I wasn't saying that commercial wine is better. I merely used it as an example. I never buy wine anymore because I prefer my own wine.