12c (3 1/2#) frozen strawberries that had been canned in 2010 into two quart jars
2 pts boiled, non-softened, city water
1 tsp acid blend
1/4 tsp tannin
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1/16 tsp K-metabisulfite (potassium metabisulfite)
This recipe will be an experiment of two strawberry batches running simultaneously with different yeasts. The October 2011 batch was very good with Pasteur Champagne yeast. One of these batches will use 1/2 package of this and another 1/2 package of Pasteur Red.
I also tried something else slightly differently based on and article found here http://www.eckraus.com/wine-making-strawberry/.
They recommend only adding a slight amount of water the first day and leaving out the sugar, nutrient, and yeast until 24 hours later. It is a type of fruit "liqueur". The higher volume of pectic enzyme to water will allow the pectin in the fruit to break down quicker.Starting With A Wine Making Liqueur
To make a wine making liqueur take the chopped strawberries and put them into a primary fermenter such as a food grade pail or stone crock. Then add just enough water to barely cover the strawberries. Add to this the Sodium Bisulfite, Acid Blend and Wine Tannin as called for in the above home wine making recipes.
Do NOT add the Yeast Nutrient, Sugar or Yeast at this time.
And here is the important part: add the Pectic Enzyme as directed on the package it came in, based on the total batch size. In other words if 1/4 tsp. per gallon of Pectic Enzyme is called for and you are making five gallons, add 1-1/4 tsp. even though your wine making liqueur may currently only be around 2 gallons. This will allow the fruit’s pectin to be broken down faster than normal.
Let the mixture stand covered with a light towel for 24 hours. You can give it a stir from time to time. What you will notice during this period is that the wine making liqueur will change from a thick, pasty mixture to a thinner, “syrupy” mixture and will have a more candied appearance.
Also during this period, the Sodium Bisulfite that was added is sterilizing the wine making liqueur.
The Home Wine Making Fermentation
After waiting 24 hours, it’s time to dilute the wine making liqueur with water to 5 gallons. Stir in the sugar called for until completely dissolved, then add the Yeast Nutrient and Wine Yeast as called for in the above home wine making recipes.
Keep covered with a towel and allow to ferment. On or around the 7th day of a normal wine making fermentation you will notice the activity starting to decrease. The Specific Gravity reading will usually be between 1.025 and 1.035 on a wine making hydrometer. It is at this point in the wine making process that you are ready to rack (siphon) your must into a carboy leaving as much of the pulp and other sediment behind.
Instead of a full campden tablet for sterilization, I also used the K-metabisulfite. Campden is often times made of sodium metabisulfite which will add sodium and can apparently impart a slight off flavor in the wine. I used a whole one in the 2010 batch, but 1/2 is all that would probably be needed anyway.
