What’s better on hot summer days than some cold homemade strawberry wine. This recipe is super easy and it doesn’t take long to make. The only problem with this recipe is that you need to plan in advance because this wine needs to age at least one year before you can drink it.
Maybe you are now thinking, it’s easier to go and buy it at a store, but think twice. There is something so special about homemade strawberry wine. You will definitely enjoy making it, you can make it from organic fruits, it’s way healthier option, and once the time has come you will be happy that you’ve waited for so long.
The whole process is natural because there is no added yeast, just time and natural fermentation.
You need to find some good quality strawberries, garden or wild ones. You can buy them at the farmers market or if you have your own from the garden, that’s even better.
What you’ll need, the ingredients:
- 7 pounds of strawberries (fresh and washed)
- 2 gallons of boiling water
- 1 lemon (juiced)
- 5 pounds of sugar
How to make the wine
Wash the strawberries and hull them, remove the leaves and stems. You need to mash the strawberries in a large earthenware crock. When you’ve done that, you need to cover the mashed strawberries with boiling water, add the lemon juice and then stir everything for about two minutes.
Cover everything with a clean linen cloth, and store it in a cool and dark place. You need to stir this mix every day for one week.
When the week has passed, you need to strain the mix through a double-layer of cheesecloth into a large new bowl. In the new mix, there should not be any strawberry pulp. Now you need to add the sugar and stir the mix until the sugar is dissolved.
Once the sugar is dissolved, pour the mix into a clean crock and store it again in a cool and dark place. Once again you need to stir the mix every day for one week.
After a week, pour the mix into a 1-gallon glass wine bottle and cork it with a loose cork. If you don’t want to use a loose cork, you can use fermentation locks. Now store the bottle in a cool and dark place for three months.
After three months you need to check if the wine is clear and is it still fermenting. If the wine is no longer bubbling, than it means that it stopped fermenting and now you can pour the wine into individual bottles. Once you pour the wine into new bottles, cork the bottles and let them age for at least a year, before drinking it.
It takes some time, but it worth it. Make notes what was the date when you made your wine so you know when it’s time to drink it. Once you try your homemade strawberry wine after a year, you’ll be delighted.
