Strawberry wine: Part I

This will probably be one of my last wine-making adventures of the summer.  

Strawberry wine began, of course with the strawberries!  I had about 4 cups of them, which I hulled and cut in half.  I added a bit of lemon juice to the berries at this point.

Next I heated up a large pot of filtered water.  When it was boiling, I stirred in the sugar - 2 cups. 

Once the sugar dissolved, I poured a little of the hot syrup over my strawberries and left the sit for about 15 minutes to soften up.  Then I used my immersion blender to break up the pieces.

Finally, I added the rest of the syrup.  It looked like this when I covered it to let it cool.

Later that evening, when it had cooled to room temperature, I added about 1/4 teaspoon of bread yeast, stirred and re-covered it.  The next morning, it looked like this.

I left it sit another two days, stirring it occasionally.  Then on the third day, I lined my strainer with cheesecloth and poured the mixture through it.

Check out the wonderful color of my liquid!

I poured the liquid into my clean carboy and topped it with an airlock.

Within an hour it was bubbling like crazy!  I love to see fermentation at work.  

Now I wait...

Should be about two months from now when it's ready to bottle.  I'm getting to be pretty good at siphoning and bottling my wine.  I've finished up both Dandelion and Honeysuckle.  Next to bottle will be Mint.  Yum!

Strawberry Wine

4 cups strawberries (cleaned, hulled, and halved)

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 gallon filtered water

2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon yeast

1. Prepare your strawberries and put them into a large pot.  Add the lemon juice.

2. In another pot, boil your water.  Once it reaches a boil, stir in the sugar until it dissolves.  

3. Pour enough of the sugar water over the berries to cover them.  Leave them sit about 15 minutes to soften.  Then mash with a potato masher or with an immersion blender.

4. Cover with a clean towel and let the mixture come to room temperature.  

5.  Once cooled, toss in your yeast and stir.  Re-cover and let sit three days, stirring daily.

6. Strain out the solids through a strainer lined in cheesecloth.  

7. Pour liquid into a sterilized carboy and top with an airlock.  

8. Let it sit until the bubbling stops and the liquid has clarified.  

9.  Bottle it and enjoy as you please!

For a full instruction on how to bottle your wine, read my article on Countryside Network: A Homemade Dandelion Wine Recipe.

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To see how this wine finished up, read my January 3, 2017 post "Strawberry Wine: Part II."