I appreciate all the feedback folks! If it weren't for the fact that I am moving in the next month or so I would do what we advise most folks to do... wait! ;-)
However, I just won't have that luxury, and so my next question is:
Do you think this wine will turn that golden color AFTER bottling?
Here are my notes:
Strawberry Wine
1/23/13
24lbs Dole Frozen strawberries
2 1/2 tsp Pectic enzyme
4 tsp Acid blend
1/2 tsp Potassium Metabisulfite
3-4 cups warm water (used for dissolving the chemicals)
Sanitized a 7.8 gallon bucket and lined it with a large fine mesh bag. Added fruit in 6 lb increments, mashing with the flat end of a 22oz beer bottle as each 6 lbs was added. Added pectic, acid, and kmeta just before the last 6 lbs of fruit so that the mashing mixed the chemicals in. Covered the bucket loosely with a lid and put painters tape over the airlock hole.
1/24/13
Dissolved 10 lbs cane sugar in 2 gallons of water. Boiled for 10 min to sterilize. Cooled down to 80 degrees and added to must.
Added :
1/4 gallon cranberry juice (for flavor and color)
3 tsp Fermax yeast nutrient
Topped off with cool water to 6.5 gallons and mixed everything with a paddle.
Gravity @ 1.084
Pitched 2 packs of Lalvin D-47 and stirred them in. Loosely covered the bucket with the lid.
1/25/13
Began 'punching the cap' twice per day.
1/30/13
Removed the pulp at the end of the day. Moved it to a collander suspended above another fermenter bucket and let drain freely for 45 minutes. Then added the liquid back into the primary and closed it up with an air lock.
Gravity @ 1.004
2/3/13
Racked to carboy. Large deposit of sediment at the bottom of the bucket. Only got about 5 gallons of liquid.
2/12/13
Just opening the carboy gave a burst of amazing strawberry aroma.
Added 1/2 tsp Kmeta
Added 1 1/2 tsp Ksorbate
Added 2 tsp Pectic enzyme
2/19/13
Racked to 5 gallon carboy.
Smell of Strawberrys less intense.
Added Kiesesol and Chitosan during the racking process.
2/23/13
Gravity @ .994
Orange! Like Crush soda. (Light struck?)
Cleared up, not too hazy.
Smells like strawberrys, but less intense again, slightly off?
Taste is strong alcohol, sharp bite (acid?), strawberry behind the first two.