Question about fruit volume

[vNmd]

Strawberry season is here and was wanting to make a batch of wine with local berries. I have read up on it and am looking forward to making it and eventually drinking it. One question, so far, is about the berries themselves. I was going to run them through a Roma strainer to get most of the juice out and put the solids in a bag in the fermenter like skins in wine kits. Was just wondering how much volume the solid parts will be taking up in the bucket. I was thinking 4ish or 5ish pounds of berries per gallon to get a nice flavour. I was wondering how many gallons of wine I can make using a 7.9 gallon bucket . I assume the solid parts will take up a fair amount of space until they are discarded. If I want six gallons of wine and use five pounds of berries, that is 30 pounds of berries. Disclaimer: I don't know what 30 pounds of strawberries look like. Will there be enough space in the bucket for six gallons of juice / water and the solids from the 30 pounds of berries?

Thanks

 

[saramc]

If it helps, one quart of berries comes pretty close to one pound (variables do apply), so I would recommend two buckets. Freeze/thaw your fresh fruit, dosing with pectic enzyme & k-meta as you prep it for freezing, then allow the fruit to thaw at room temp & until it reaches 70F minimum and see what your juice yield is like BEFORE you start adding water. Consider using straining bags to contain the fruit, the seeds are a PITA. With 30#, I really think you would prefer a goal of three gallons as 5-6 gallons will be quite 'diluted'. You should also consider, if you can, adding some fruit to the secondary container once it is at/close to F.G., to pull even more berry flavor.

 

[vNmd]

Thanks for the info. I have not back sweetened before. I will have to check on it.