All about strawberry wine, where to buy it, and how to brew it.
When most people think of think of wine, they think of the common grape-based varieties. However, wine can be made from any from almost any type of fruit, and some of the less common fruit wines are extremely delicious. Strawberry wine, which received a lot of attention after Deana Carter's song "Strawberry Wine" became a hit in 1996, is a particularly well loved fruit wine.
Strawberry wine tends to be very sweet, although some brewers prefer to add little to no sugar, producing a drier wine. Regardless of the level of sweetness, good strawberry wines have a very strong strawberry flavor. They are an ideal dessert wine and go very well with chocolate.
Unfortunately, strawberry wines are not easy to find in stores. They can be purchased at some small breweries, many of which also make other fruit wines, such as blackberry wine and elderberry wine. However, finding a local brewery that sells strawberry wine can be very difficult, and sometimes the wines are not even available year-round. Due to the scarcity of strawberry wine, most fans make their own brew.
Wine brewing is an art, and new brewers must be careful and patient. Strawberry wine typically takes three to six months to ferment; brewers can tell when the fermentation is complete because the wine becomes clear at that time. After fermentation is finished, most brewers recommend allowing the wine to age for a few months to a year. Although the extra time might seem like an eternity to brewers eagerly waiting for the first delicious taste, the aging process does significantly improve the wine by bringing out its strawberry flavor. Wines that have not been aged may taste more like yeast that strawberry.
In addition to patience, strawberry wine brewers also need several ingredients and some brewing supplies. Some recipes are very simple, requiring only strawberries, sugar, water, and lemon juice. Other recipes require additional ingredients like yeast, tannin, and peptic enzyme. Although these recipes are more complex, they also tend to produce more consistent results. The extra ingredients can be purchased at any brewing store. The jugs, airlocks, siphon hoses, bottles, and corks that are needed for the brewing and bottling processes can also be found at a brewing store.
In order to produce good wine, brewers need to start with good strawberries. The ideal strawberries will be fully ripe; brewers should beware of supermarket strawberries, which tend to be picked days before achieving full ripeness. Some recipes suggest frozen strawberries, since they tend to be picked at the height of ripeness; they are frozen because they are too ripe to survive the shipping process otherwise. And because good frozen strawberries are available throughout the year, brewers who use frozen strawberries can begin in any season.
Unlike the wine itself, recipes for strawberry wine are not difficult to find; a quick Internet search will yield dozens of recipes. Most of the recipes are very similar, although they do vary in complexity. Novice brewers might find it easier to purchase a wine brewing kit, which can be found at most brewing stores. Typical recipes produce between two to five gallons; the large quantity makes the difficulty and the wait worthwhile.
