Strawberry Wine

Please follow the Basic Steps in Fruit Winemaking instructions on our Resources Page.

Recipe Volume is 1 Gallon, multiply the ingredients (except the yeast) by the number of gallons you wish to make or based on the amount of fruit you have.

Note: 1 packet of yeast will effectively ferment up to 5 gallons.

Ingredients:

We suggest a Starting Specific Gravity of 1.090 for a 12% Alcohol by Volume Potential

Suggested Fruit Acid should be .5% to .6%

3 ½ to 4 lb.  Strawberries

1½  lb. white granulated Sugar or until Specific Gravity is 1.090

1  tsp. Nutrient Powder

¾ tsp. Acid Blend Powder

½ tsp. Pectic Enzyme Powder

1  Campden Tablet

½ tsp. Energizer Powder

Add enough water to make 1 gallon

Suggested Wine Yeast: Lalvin D 47, Vintners Harvest  or Red Star Cote de Blanc

Method

Use only ripe fruit without any visible damage.  Make sure all stems are removed.  Place the fruit into the fermentation bag, and put this bag into the primary fermentation container.  Crush the campden tablets and mix all ingredients except the wine yeast in primary fermentor.  Cover with a plastic lid.  After 24 hours and when must is 70 degrees F., add the yeast.  Ferment for 5 to 7 days or until Specific Gravity is 1.040.  Remove fermentation bag and lightly press.  Rack wine into gallon jug.  Attach fermentation lock.  Rack after the first week, then one week later and again in two weeks.  Rack every two months until the wine is clear and no sediments are visible on the bottom of the jug.  When wine is clear and stable, bottle.

NOTE:  Strawberries yield more flavor, if they had previously been frozen

The color of strawberry wine is usually more orange than red.

Age 6 months or more.

Sweetening a wine

While there are some general rules regarding the sweetening of wine, the most important rule is to have a finished wine that you enjoy. Many wines will benefit from sweetening; however sweetness is always about personal taste, so we can only advise you on how sweet a wine should be, the final decision is yours.

Sweetening should always be done after the wine has fermented to dry. Then stabilize the wine by adding 3/4 teaspoon of Stabilizer (Potassium Sorbate) per gallon to prevent refermentation. Add the sweetener a day or more after adding the stabilizer.

There are several methods used to sweeten a wine, experiment and have fun.

Simple Sugar Syrup

Mix 2 parts sugar and 1 part water. Boil for 10-15 minutes until it

becomes syrupy. Cool and add to the wine to your taste.

Syrup or Concentrate

Frozen Concentrate juices or syrups may also be used to sweeten and enhance the flavor of a wine. For example frozen concentrated kiwi strawberry juice or strawberry syrup is an excellent sweetener for strawberry wines. Experiment and get creative!

Always stop when you think it needs a little more. Sweetness emerges over time!