Got strawberries, what to use with them for wine?

[Random Badger]

Some weeks back I had the opportunity to pick some garden strawberries and froze them (about 700g) with a view to making wine. I was told I could come back and pick more, but apparently since then the supply of strawberries has not replenished, with hungry birds being blamed (there was no net or other protection over the strawberry plants). I've also been keeping an eye on the reduced fruit and veg section in the supermarket but not managed to snap up any reduced strawberry bargains. So I'm starting to think about what alternatives that I could perhaps add to make a batch of wine. Any feedback/experience as to what might work well please, for example:

Fruit juice as a per a WOW recipe, so the strawberries (and sugar) with red grape juice or apple juice?

Or frozen fruit? Iceland have a 2 for £3 deal on Del Monte Strawberries 350g and Del Monte Summer Fruits 430g. That would give me a total of 1.4KG of strawberries or 1.56KG of strawberries and summer fruits.

Or something else instead?

 

[Tavi-brewer]

Yum, strawberries!
So versatile. Tried a melomel?
I’m one for mead so perhaps try a 1 gallon melomel if you haven’t before.
Take 1.5kg of a decent local honey (else hilltop or some non syrup ethical product) and mix/shake thoroughly with a couple litres of hot water and allow to cool. Take your strawberries half them and add this to the honey and mix again. Throw in a cup of strong tea and zest/juice of one lemon and mix real well.Top up to the neck of the demijohn allowing some space at the top for any foam/bubbles or leave in a bucket/wide mouth fermentor.
Take a SG and it should be 1090-1100.
Use a good mead yeast such as Lalvin D47 (dry sprinkle and light stir is fine) and let it go with a swirl every so often to keep the fruit wet.
Take the spent fruit out after 10 days and rack off again until all activity is done. As usual a couple of same SGs will confirm this. You could get it down to 0.999. This could take a month or more. Let it fully clear, rack off and bottle! This is a simple explanation but I’m sure you can fill in the gaps of technique. You’ll get a gorgeous dry strawberry melomel at around 13%.
I’ve just started 3 or 4 with varying amounts and types of fruit. It’s up to you whether to use the ites/ates.
If you mead any help let us know!
What else could random do?

 

[Nicks90]

With only 700gm of strawberries I'd be tempted to do a dj of turbo cider.
Freeze the strawbs and let them defrost. Then partially squish them and add to 4l of apple juice.
Ferment with either a sparkling wine yeast for a dry cider or a genuine cider yeast for 5 days, then rack off the pulp in to a fresh dj until its finished.
Personally with a light flavour like strawberry I'd say its needs carb'ing and not a hard cider, as the bubbles will help with releasing the delicate strawberry flavour up your nose.

 

[Random Badger]

With only 700gm of strawberries I'd be tempted to do a dj of turbo cider.
Freeze the strawbs and let them defrost. Then partially squish them and add to 4l of apple juice.
Ferment with either a sparkling wine yeast for a dry cider or a genuine cider yeast for 5 days, then rack off the pulp in to a fresh dj until its finished.
Personally with a light flavour like strawberry I'd say its needs carb'ing and not a hard cider, as the bubbles will help with releasing the delicate strawberry flavour up your nose.

I think I'll make this the reserve option and I do have a packet of cider yeast. But for now I'm still leaning more towards making some wine. Pretty much the same process but (guessing the quantities) with ingredients along the lines of:

0.7KG strawberries
2 litres apple juice
1KG sugar (maybe less)
Water to make it up to one gallon

 

[Nidger]

I think I'll make this the reserve option and I do have a packet of cider yeast. But for now I'm still leaning more towards making some wine. Pretty much the same process but (guessing the quantities) with ingredients along the lines of:

0.7KG strawberries
2 litres apple juice
1KG sugar (maybe less)
Water to make it up to one gallon

I just mentioned strawberry on the supermarket wine thread.
Made a strawberry kit wine many years ago and it was the worst of a few batches.
But with time it aged nicely.
I'll be interested to see what you achieve

 

[trummy]

Any british soft fruit to make it up to 3lb would be good.
Had a bottle of red currant, black currant and Josta berry wine with Sunday dinner yesterday, made last year, very nice

 

[johncrobinson]

Strawberry flavour is very,very "mild" when made into wines,So be careful not to overpower it with anything too strong.
The mead idea seems nice.

 

[Random Badger]

Strawberry flavour is very,very "mild" when made into wines,So be careful not to overpower it with anything too strong.
The mead idea seems nice.

Sadly I'm not a fan of the honey based drinks that I have tried.

 

[Random Badger]

Any british soft fruit to make it up to 3lb would be good.
Had a bottle of red currant, black currant and Josta berry wine with Sunday dinner yesterday, made last year, very nice

That was why I was wondering about the frozen fruit option from Iceland. £3 would get me enough "Summer Fruits" to make it up to a total of 3.4lb of fruit with the strawberries.

 

[Wynott]

I made strawberry wine last year (with no additions) - didn't like it at all, and I love strawberries!

 

[Random Badger]

I made strawberry wine last year (with no additions) - didn't like it at all, and I love strawberries!

I've got one that I made earlier from shop bought fresh strawberries currently awaiting bottling and the tastes I've had when racking it off have been very promising. Just hope it gets better rather than worse as it ages!

 

[Janulka098]

I have made strawberry wine with some cheap supermarket - on the cusp ones. To make them up to sufficient quantity I have added some overripe nectarines I have got at the same time. Turned out wonderfully aromatic with hint of strawberry - however with strawberries being so delicate the wine does not need a lot of aging - it was ready to drink few months after bottling and it is best to drink it young otherwise it looses the delicate strawberry hint :)