I'm not a chemist but I'm pretty sure the malic used in acid blends is
usually the wrong isomer for ML to work on. Opening it a day early
does sound like it would be the ticket for me in this situation;
that's great advice. I'm not sure aging strawberry will work out
well, it's color seems to fade quickly and it's freshness is it's main
virtue as I see it. If you did add sorbate the odor can change to
something gawd awful too. I don't use it anymore, it never seems to
work out for me.

Joe

> If you add an acid mixture
> (tartaric-citric-malic blend) to adjust your acidity, you increase the
> malic acid content. Also, if you use grape juice in your recipe, you
> bring along the malic acid from the grapes. Both can result in
> uncontrolled in-the-bottle malolactic fermentation.