Now is the time to make Strawberry Wine
Strawberries are not just for desserts and summer picnics. They can also be the star ingredient in a delicious, refreshing homemade wine. Strawberry wine offers a fantastic way to broaden your horizons as a seasoned craft winemaker or as a newcomer who is eager to explore the world of fruit wines.
Strawberry wine boasts a distinct, fruity flavour that is both sweet and slightly tart, offering a refreshing alternative to traditional grape wines. Its vibrant aroma and taste can capture the essence of summer in a bottle. It can be enjoyed on its own, or used as a base for sangrias, cocktails, and even culinary dishes. Its versatility makes it a fun and rewarding project for any craft winemaker.
Strawberry wine is a perfect accompaniment to a summer barbeque and now is the time to start thinking about collecting the ingredients and finding a good recipe.
May heralds the start of the growth season for fresh ingredients and the sight of creamy white elderflowers in hedgerows is a visual sign of this. Following on the heels of elderflowers will be delicious strawberries, which make a perfect summer Rose wine.
In the UK, strawberries typically ripen from late May through to July, depending on the specific variety and local weather conditions. The peak season for British strawberries is usually in June. Of course, weather variations can affect the exact timing of ripening, so it’s always a good idea to check with local farmers or growers for the most accurate information.
Lyme Bay Winery in Devon produce a delicious commercial strawberry wine, which costs £12.79 a bottle. Using the recipe below, you can make your own version for around £3 per bottle and conduct a taste test to see how close you are.
Strawberry Wine Recipe
This recipe has a distinctively fruity and aromatic flavour that captures the essence of ripe strawberries. It has a subtle tartness, which come from the natural acidity of the strawberries, that adds complexity to the flavour profile. This Strawberry wine is refreshing and easy to drink. It strikes a balance between sweetness, fruitiness, and acidity. The sweetness of the strawberries is balanced by the natural acidity of the fruit and the additional acid added during winemaking, resulting in a harmonious and enjoyable wine. It is a Rose style that should be enjoyed chilled, making it a popular choice for warm weather or as a refreshing alternative to heavier wines.
Ingredients:
At Start:
2 Kg (4½lb) Strawberries
(Use 400g of canned fruit if fresh is unavailable)
250g (1/2lb) Long Grain Brown Rice (whole, do not crush or crack the husks)
250ml or 245g White Grape Concentrate
1 Kg of Sugar
1 crushed Campden Tablet
1 sachet of Gervin GV1 Wine Yeast
1 teaspoon of Yeast Nutrient
1 teaspoon of Acid Blend
1 teaspoon of Wine Tannin
10 drops of Pectinaze
3½ litres (6 Pints) Water
After Fermentation:
½ teaspoon of Potassium Sorbate
1 crushed Campden Tablet
1 sachet of Winefine Finings (one sachet will clear between 1 and 5 gallons)
Directions:
Always choose ripe strawberries and remove any stalks from the fruit. Rinse them under a cold tap in a sieve before use. Then crush them into a pre-sterilised white plastic bucket. Rinse the rice in a sieve under a cold tap to clean it then add to the bucket (do not crush or crack the husks as they act as a filter to retain unwanted starch). Then add the grape concentrate, which will provide depth and body to the wine. Then dissolve the sugar in a little hot water and add this to the bucket.
Pour the cold water over the contents together with the acid blend, and pectinaze. Crush a Campden tablet into the mix and stir well. Cover with a cloth and leave for 24 hours in a cool place. This process will kill any wild yeast and bacteria that may be present on the fruit. The next day add the yeast and yeast nutrient. Stir thoroughly for 1-2 minutes to oxygenate the must. Cover the bucket with a cloth and leave to ferment in a warm place for 5 days, stirring the contents of the bucket occasionally. Then strain into a demijohn (4½ litres) or fermenter, through a nylon straining bag. Press as much of the juice as possible and discard the pulp. It may be necessary to top up with a little extra cold water to achieve 4½ litres. Fit a bung and airlock and leave in a warm place to continue to ferment out completely.
Finishing your Wine:
Fermentation should be complete in 2-5 weeks. At this stage, CO2 bubbles should have stopped being released through the airlock. Your wine should then be checked with a hydrometer. The hydrometer will indicate the remaining sugar level and finishing levels are as follows:
Dry = 0.990 – 0.996 Medium = 0.996 – 1.009 Sweet = 1.009 – 1.018
At the end of fermentation add 1 crushed Campden tablet and half a teaspoon of potassium sorbate per gallon. Leave in a cool place (15C) for 3 days to kill off the yeast. Then syphon the wine from the sediment into a second fermenter. Shake or stir the wine to degas it then add wine finings to ensure your wine will clear. Leave for 5 days in a cool place then syphon the wine from the sediment. Finally, pass it through a Vinbrite filter to obtain a professional finish before bottling. Filtering will remove all colloidal suspended particles and will ensure that your efforts are rewarded with a professional clarity and a pure taste.
The wine should now be bottled and stored in a cool dark place to mature for at least 6 months. During this time any rough tastes will be smoothed out and the wine will improve in bouquet and flavour.
This recipe makes 1 gallon (4.5 litres) of wine. For larger quantities simply multiply the quantities of ingredients except for the Yeast and Winefine. One sachet of each of these will be sufficient for any quantity between 1 and 5 gallons.
This recipe was taken The Art of Craft Winemaking. This book is a comprehensive guide that will steer you from the basics of making wines from kits to more advanced craft winemaking using grapes, fruits, and other countryside ingredients. The book describes the processes for achieving great results every time. It explores advanced winemaking techniques and describes how to make craft wines from grapes and other countryside ingredients. There are over fifty award-winning wine recipes included, which have been perfected over many years. They provide full instructions and advice to ensure the production of consistently high-quality wines.
The book also covers the topics of spirit-making and mixology. It describes how to make your own base spirits, which can be used to produce fantastic, cost-effective liqueurs, cocktails, and mixers. Mixology techniques and equipment are explored, and thirty of the most popular cocktail and mixer recipes from around the world are included to develop your skills.
