Kathleen
Cupcake
Without having grandparents around anymore, I've decided to remember my grandfather by making wine. My grandfather made the BEST blackberry wine I've ever had. To learn the basics, I'm attempting to make Strawberry Wine. It's my first time making wine and I'm pretty excited about the adventure.
I bought a basic wine-making kit (specifically for fruit wine) from HomeBrewers.com. I likely paid too much for the kit, but it had everything that seemed to pop up in wine-making recipes. It also contained a few things that never popped up in any recipe I've seen so far. (Yeast energizer and Yeast nutrient. I have no idea what these things are or what they do.)
I asked Frank to kill eight pounds of strawberries (which I think will be enough to make 3 gallons of wine.) He used his kitchen-aid (aka Lucille) with the fruit and vegetable strainer. I poured the goop (must) through the nylon fruit bag and lightly knotted it. The color was beautiful!
Added the water, acid blend, tannin, pectic enzyme, camden tablets, and sugar. The tannin added was just a small amount, but changed the color a bit. I also added yeast energizer...since it was in the kit. From what I read, it seemed useful so...I had it and so it went in too.
I used OJ, sugar, and yeast as the starter. I had read a lot on yeast and settled on a type of yeast sold south of town rather than use the yeast that came in the kit. It was active enough to blow the top off of the container that I used to start it.
Now, I'm waiting. Here are some struggles that I've encountered so far:
~Kathleen
I bought a basic wine-making kit (specifically for fruit wine) from HomeBrewers.com. I likely paid too much for the kit, but it had everything that seemed to pop up in wine-making recipes. It also contained a few things that never popped up in any recipe I've seen so far. (Yeast energizer and Yeast nutrient. I have no idea what these things are or what they do.)
I asked Frank to kill eight pounds of strawberries (which I think will be enough to make 3 gallons of wine.) He used his kitchen-aid (aka Lucille) with the fruit and vegetable strainer. I poured the goop (must) through the nylon fruit bag and lightly knotted it. The color was beautiful!
Added the water, acid blend, tannin, pectic enzyme, camden tablets, and sugar. The tannin added was just a small amount, but changed the color a bit. I also added yeast energizer...since it was in the kit. From what I read, it seemed useful so...I had it and so it went in too.
I used OJ, sugar, and yeast as the starter. I had read a lot on yeast and settled on a type of yeast sold south of town rather than use the yeast that came in the kit. It was active enough to blow the top off of the container that I used to start it.

Now, I'm waiting. Here are some struggles that I've encountered so far:
- How do I get an accurate read on the hydrometer? I've tried, but cannot get to eye level to read it.
- When my starter blew the lid off, I lost some of the mixture. Will this be a problem? I would guess I've lost perhaps 1/4 of a cup out of 1.5 cups.
~Kathleen