Strawberry Wine is Lovely

Strawberry wine is my favorite.  Wait!  Didn't I say that about the mixed berry?  Well, it is my favorite today for a number of reasons.  I adore the aroma of strawberries macerating in sugar.  There really is nothing quite like it.

First I strain the strawberries (3.5 - 4 lbs) which have been mashed then mixed with 2.25 lbs of sugar and 2 quarts of tap water (not hot).

This wine, unlike the mixed berry, macerates in the sugar.  The yeast, nutrient, etc is added before bottling in the secondary fermentation vessel.  The recipe like the last one is from CJJ Berry's little book.  I have used several different wine yeasts with it and they all have made very drinkable wines.  I have selected this yeast for today's batch.

Its supposed to be good for "blush" wines.  Strawberry can be slightly pink to a full blush or light red depending on the berries.  From looking at this mash I'd say its going to be beautiful!

Then I add another quart of water (well a little less) and strain again.
I add the rest of the ingredients except the tannin.  I add it last because it gums up and while it doesn't seem to make any difference if it goes into the bottle in clumps it bothers me and for a short while I'm on a mission to try and mix it in without clumping.  You can't see the little brown blobs but they are there.

And yeast nutrient! (not pictured)

Now its time to pitch the yeast and stir it in then bottle in the secondary vessel.  If you have more than will fit in a gallon jug you can put it in another smaller bottle (less than a fifth of a gallon or a typical wine bottle or you have too much water most likely) and put an air lock on it.  If you don't have an air lock that will fit use wet cotton stuffed in the top or a fitted lid that will allow the gas to escape but not let oxygen in.

Mine fit perfectly.  The room at the top will allow for the foaming.  I left the bottle on the table where the ambient temperature was 68 degrees F.  The next day I moved it next to the bottle of mixed berry I started last week.

Arent' they lovely?  Then the next day......

You can see the yeast is becoming very active and the wine still has the deep red color.  This will be a beautiful wine!  I snuggle my strawberry baby in where it will stay warm....

This picture is a couple of days later. Notice how the color has lightened considerably.  The yeast is on a binge!  The morning prior to this when I got up the wine had foamed through the air lock and made a little mess.  I didn't get a picture of it, but its easily cleaned up and the air lock refitted.  The color was even lighter that morning.  This batch of berries are very very red and will most likely produce a rosy wine if I keep it covered so the light doesn't fade the color.

That is Uno, my nosy little chihuaha/pomeranian mix puppy with the boss pekingese in the bottom left.  Uno is showing off his sweater I made him from scrap yarn!

Back to wine....


Now isn't that a lovely lovely bottle of lushness?   I particularly enjoy making strawberry wine because of the colors I observe as it ferments.  Little things like that give me so much pleasure!