Tom,
I'm glad you've got it figured out. Since I have not been at this too
long - ending my 3rd year of wine making; I've found that the first attempt
is truly an experiment. Even if you're following a tried & true recipe,
there can always be room for "miscalculation". Your example of not quite
knowing how much sugar is in the raisons - I'll add one more, how much sugar
is really in the fruit. I think the second time I make it, I do alter
things a bit to make the wine how I like it. If that comes out, then the
3rd try is usually my recipe which I'll follow from now on. So I'm just now
making wine to match what I like....
Darlene

"Tom" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks Frederick, I might try the pure juice next year.
>
> To Dar -
>
> Sorry it took so long for me to check the recipe and get back to you. I
> used the Strawberry #2 from Jacks site. and in looking over my notes I
think
> I see the problem. I strained and measured the SG of the must as best as
> possible and should have been around a 12% wine. But.... never took into
> consideration the sugar in the raisins. Which is impossible to measure as
> solids. I'm willing to bet that they were responsible for the 2%+ jump.
>
> Tom
> "frederick ploegman" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "Tom" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Two years in a row I am ending up with a strawberry wine with a
> wonderful
> > > aroma, taste and color but at a whopping 14%+ alcohol, way to hot for
a
> > > country wine. Still not sure what I'm going to do with'em. Thinking
> > about
> > > blending with some of my reisling from 2003? My wife likes that idea!
> > >
> > > Anyway, I find pulp laden fruit very difficult to get decent SG
> readings,
> > > and despite reducing the sugar the second year it was still "hot". I
> > don't
> > > do many non grape wines so any suggestions to speed up the curve would
> be
> > > appreciated.
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > >
> > > Tom
> > >
> >
> > Hi Tom
> >
> > As an alternative to the other suggestions here about what to do in
> > futu
> >
> > About the only time solids have to be left in the primary is when
> > alcohol is needed to act as a solvent to extract certain desirable
> > components from the solids. (such as is the case with red grape wines).
> > Any time this is not the case, the juice is extracted _before_ ferment
> > begins and the ferment is conducted as a "juice only fermentation".
> > (such as is the case with white grape wines).
> >
> > With Strawberries, I know of no such benefit, so, why not do these as
> > "juice only" in the future. There are any number of ways to extract the
> > juice prior assembling the must. Since the method of extraction can
> > have a substantial effect on the outcome, you will want to choose the
> > method according to your personal tastes.
> >
> > And, doing it this way will eliminate the problem of adjusting pre-pitch
> > PA to get exactly the amount of alcohol you want in the finished wine.
> > HTH
> >
> >
> >
>
>