The Art of Home Winemaking: Strawberry Wine

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

We are used to the fact that real wine is made only from grapes. However, at home, you can make a delicious drink from almost any berry. For example, from strawberries.

Cooking technology: 1 stage

Grapes are crushed and aged for the first time in wooden barrels. Strawberry wine should be made in the same containers. For the first case, a barrel of 5-6 liters is suitable. Then, when you master the technology to perfection, you will be able to produce a drink in large volumes. At first, try the following proportions: berries - one and a half to two kg; water - 1 liter; sugar - from 300 g to 1 kg. However, in order for the strawberry wine to "win back" faster and the fermentation processes to end sooner, it is better to put sugar in two doses. Winemaking itself begins, of course, with the preparation of berries. They need to be sorted out, washed. It is better to set aside spoiled ones so that the final product does not have an unpleasant aftertaste. Then, already in the barrel, the berries are kneaded with a spoon or mortar, sugar syrup is added to them, and the future strawberry wine should ferment. Close the barrel, but stir the mass every day so that the upper layers do not peroxide, and the juice itself does not turn into vinegar. The temperature at which it is betterthe whole process will proceed, should not exceed +20. The fermentation is quite violent. And if there is not enough free space in the barrel, under the pressure of gases, the wine from the strawberries will knock out the cork and splash out.

Cooking technology: Stage 2

The term of the first exposure of the product is about a week. After this time, the juice must be drained into bottles or jars. Berry masses can be squeezed out, and the juice mixed with what has already been drained. Add more sugar if desired. Just do not forget that then such homemade strawberry wines will be strong (up to 18 degrees). In bottles, the wine still continues to "play", and it is not recommended to drink it yet. Since fermentation is in full swing, you should not add liquid to the brim. And having closed the corks, be sure to make “vents”: drill holes in each cork, insert rubber tubes, lower the free ends of which into vessels with water. Then carbon dioxide will come out freely, and nothing will prevent the final transformation of the juice into wine. When can you drink it? Strawberry wine, the recipe of which is given in the article, will be ready after a month and a half. Readiness can be determined by the color and condition of the product: it will become transparent, the sediment will settle to the bottom.

Cooking technology: Stage 3

At the last stage, the drink is again filtered, bottled and tightly corked. Young wine is ready. True, it is better to postpone its tasting for some more time: like a noble grape drink,strawberry also requires aging. It takes a month and a half: the wine, as it were, “ripens”, gaining aroma and taste. True, it is not stored for more than a year, therefore it is better to drink it before the end of this period. Storage temperature - from 10 to 15 degrees. This is best done in the refrigerator.

Culture of consumption

Drinking strawberry wine is recommended at room temperature. You can add some cinnamon or vanilla to it. The drink should be served with desserts, fruits, ice cream and other sweets.