Ingredients
4lbs/1815g strawberries
3lbs/1360g sugar
4 pints/2273ml boiling water
2 pints/1137ml cold water
1 Yeast sachet
1 teaspoon each of Yeast Nutrient, Pectolase and Tannin
Method (First Stage)
• Mash strawberries in bucket and add sugar
• Pour over boiling water
• Leave 24 hours
• Strain liquid into demijohn using a sieve, putting strawberry pulp into large pan
• Pour cold water over strawberry pulp, letting it sit for an hour or so
• Pour strawberry liquid from demijohn back into bucket
• Strain liquid in pan into bucket, discarding strawberry pulp
• Add yeast, nutrient, pectolase and tannin
• Leave 5 (or so) days, stirring twice a day
• Pour liquid into demijohn
• Fit rubber bung and air trap
• leave for 2 months (or so)
Method (second stage)
• siphon liquid from demijohn into second demijohn, trying to avoid the sediment
• fill gap in second demijohn with syrup made from a ratio of 1 pint water:6 oz sugar
• leave for 4 months (or so)
• bottle
• leave until a year from collecting ingredients (if you can!)
• drink
A year from making to drinking sounds like an age, but don’t let this deter you. Start others in the meantime – I recommend blackberry – and soon you will have a wine cycle going where you are always starting a new flavour as you open a fresh wine. Both making and drinking are an absolute pleasure, and I urge you to have a go.