Strawberry Wine

Recipe

Makes one gallon.

Combine and boil

• 20-40 lbs strawberries
• 1 T (?) pectolase
• ~12lbs sugar
• 2 T yeast nutrient
• yeast
• 12 campden tablets

Mash strawberries by hand combine with pectolase and 6 crushed campden tablets. After 2 days, extract juice and add water to reach 6 gallons.

If hydrometer, get to around 15%. If not, add about 10lbs of sugar and after a week, check the flavor every 3 days and add sugar as necessary. Warning, it will foam like mad when adding sugar so start by just adding 1/4t at a time and increase as the gasses are released.

Add yeast nutrient, sprinkle yeast on top. After 5-7 days rack to carboy. After a week rack again. When fermentation stops add 6 crushed campden tablets. Let it sit for a few days then bottle.

Cost

Fruit was ~$25, so this is a bit more expensive ($5/bottle).

Fresh strawberries in late May @Meijer

• 2017 : $1.50/lb
• 2018 : $1.00/lb : 5/28

In 2018 the price was stable through May at $2/lb, then at the very end of the month dropped to $1/lb. But it was only there for a few days then jumped up to $1.25. So plan on making this the last weekend of May or first weekend of June.

Frozen berries are $12/4lb or $3/lb so around $4 a bottle.

Processing

Using a blender releases some unpleasant flavors. Crushing is better.

The best method seems to be to pluck the stems off many strawberries and throw them in a pitcher. Then mash the whole pitcher by hand then dump it into the bucket. This takes about 10 minute per pound.

Early 2017

I made one batch that came out decently well. But I over sweetened it. There was one bottle left a year later and it was ok, but it was both too sweet and too acidic.

2017-06

I started a batch of 6 gallons on 6/25. About 35lbs of strawberries. Boiled all of them and let them sit overnight with 2T pectolase and 2 camden tablets. The next day I got as much of the pulp out as I could and added enough water to get it up to 6 gallons. It was only at about 3%PAV. I added sugar until it was around 10%PAV (~4lbs), then I ran out of sugar. I added 2 T yeast nutrient and the yeast. The sulpher smell was pretty strong, that might be because it's more than I'm used to making or that the natural strawberries have more nutrients.

I want to be really careful with this batch - it was a lot of work and kind of expensive ($90 or $2.50/lb for the strawberries). When I sweeten it, I want to have another wine for comparison - I want to keep it kind of dry.

Next year I want to get the strawberries a little sooner.

It ended up being too dry so I back sweetened and it started to ferment in the bottle. Which brought it back to being too dry and it was sparkling. I got a lot of compliments on the sparkle, but it could have popped the corks or burst the bottle.

2018

Bought 40lbs of strawberries spread over 3 days. I used the immersion blender plus pectin. In review, a lot of wine makers recommend not blending the strawberries. I'm not sure I accept this argument - the main reason is that it crushes the seeds, but they seemed mostly in tact to me. Anyway, I'll keep an eye on it. I think this approach should let me get more juice from the strawberries, but I'm flying blind - there was no way for me to check my PAV. My plan is to get it close then add sugar slowly until it stops fermenting. The second to last batch I made was very acidic so I decided not to add any additional acid.

On the 3rd night of prepping strawberries, I added camden tablets (6) and let it sit overnight. There mash should have been fairly sterile because it was boiled and the bucket was disinfected. The next evening I started some yeast. I dissolved about 5lbs of sugar and added that, then I added the yeast. I was able to scrape some of the strawberry pulp off the top.

The next morning, it was bubbling happily. A little bit had overflowed the bucket (next year, keep it in the sink until this risk has passed). A lot of the pulp had floated to the top and formed a nice dry layer that I was able to remove.

Looking around at 5 gallon recipes, they seem to call for a lot less. 13-25lbs of strawberries. Worth a shot next year if only because it would be cheaper. Another idea to consider is mashing the strawberries literally by hand.

After about 4 days I transferred from primary to secondary. 4 days after that, a lot of pulp had settled so I racked it. When I moved it, a lot of the pulp kicked up and the racking didn't do as well as it could. In the future, move the carboy the night before and rack it in the morning so it has ~10 hours to settle. At that point it was already moderately dry and a week later it's still bubbling quite a bit. I racked it again about a week later. Still quite a bit of pulp. At that point it was quite dry, I added a little more sugar.

When fermentation was done, I back sweetened just a little with honey. Bottled on 6/26. After about a month, this batch was ok, but just a little acidic and the slightest bit bitter.

Batch 2

I started a second batch when prices dropped to $1/lb. This used 20lbs of strawberries. I think I did this correctly, though it took more effort. I crushed some strawberries by hand and some with a potato masher - the potato masher was easier, do it in one of the big jugs. I added some water, pectolase and campden and let it sit for 24 hours. The next day I first ran the mash through a wire sieve, then ran the juice through a mesh bag. I added 10lbs of sugar and enough water to reach 6 gallons. Then I measured the PAV and added sugar until it was 14%. Once the mixture cooled to 110F, I added the yeast.

For $25 in ingredients, I should get about 30 bottles, so less than $1/bottle.

After about a week, I racked it into a carboy. There was very little pulp left behind. The flavor was much weaker than the 40lb batch, but it still had strawberry flavor. The alcohol stood out much more.

Back sweetened just a little with honey. Bottled on 6/27. After a month, this batch was very good. Tastes nothing like strawberry, an almost whiskey flavor. Very dry. I want to try this method again next year with about 30 lbs of strawberry.

2019

Batch 1

Bought 32lbs from Costco for $1.25/lb ($6/4lb) 5/26. Crush by hand the next day. Two days later I strained out the juice, added 10lbs of sugar, yeast nutrient and yeast.

A week later I racked it to a carboy. At two points, I've tasted the wine to check it's sweetness and added 1lb because it was a little dry. I'll keep doing this until fermentation stops. I can just hold it around the right sweetness.

Another week and I racked again and added one more lb of sugar. I think that will be the last. It's good now, strong, and just a hint sweet. So I expect the last bit of fermentation to make it good.

Bottled on 7/27.

Strawberry Mead

Bought 12lbs from Costco for $2/lb(?) 6/7. Life got in the way and it took 2 days for me to crush them.

About 3 days later I filtered the juice and added 240oz of honey, yeast nutrient and yeast.

A week later I racked it. The sample I tasted was really good, I have high hopes for this batch.

Next Year

Try just pulling the stems off and halving the strawberries and adding a little extra pectolase. After 1 day go in and mash them by hand. May need to do this in batches transferring between buckets.