Elderberry wine - success!

[kelper]

Ye gods kelper! That means it's very wet where you live. Not surprised there are no elder bushes, probably cod and saithe, though. Might you mean N by NE, maybe somewhere near Dunnet?

It is no wetter here than Yorkshire (where we moved from). I am near Bettyhill. We have lots of sunny days here. Often it's wet to the west of us and windy to the east.

 

[johncrobinson]

For your interest my method is as follows:-
(1) Sulphite i reserve for equipment and bottles.I low temp pasteurise instead ( I can taste and smell sulphite a MILE off.)
(2) I often freeze the fruit>The cells rupture during thawing aiding extraction.Also gives me time to collect enough fruit.
(3) If I am going higher alcohol I sugar feed with wine booster grape extract 1-2 tins per gal rather than plain syrup.
I use plenty of yeast nutrient and b vit at start of fermentation.
(4) My yeast is ecc1118 its low foaming high alc and a "killer" yeast so will dominate fermentation I allways use a starter so i guess that counts as overpitching.
(5) I temp control my fermentations keeping temp rock steady throughout.(Allways ferment bone dry)sweeten with non fermentable and glycerine later if reqd.
(6) I use a wine filter (ahem!!)
(7) Alcohol is 15-16% helps wine keep without sulphite.(You need more fruit to keep the wine balanced )
(8) I use pressure relief tops on the demijohns during maturation in case of any refermentation.

Hope this is of some use.

 

[johncrobinson]

Re:>Rodj I use about 2lb fine chopped shells per gal. Btw forgot to mention I pre-ferment in a fermenter before finishing in demijon if there is a lot of pulp. Some Rosehips here are the diameter of golf balls as well as the "normal" ones

 

[Rodj]

Thanks johnc, that's useful and interesting. You may have prompted me into some experimentation.

 

[Rodj]

I am near Bettyhill.

Fair enough kelper, I guess your 90 miles was by road. I measured it as the seagull flies and that put you 20 miles into the north Atlantic.
That entire coast is rather nice. I well remember a fishing holiday I had years ago with my dad, travelling around that area. I was with my dentist this afternoon (not the best of experiences) and he's just returned from a week salmoning up there, I think near Thurso. One of his mates somehow contrived to inherit a lodge and a bit of water; he said there was a lot of salmon activity.

 

[johncrobinson]

As a kid i used to holiday in Ullapool on the west coast,We used to hire boats to fish in loch Broom,Loved the place.
10 years ago i had a speed boat built and spent a whole year there on holiday.I had worked in London for 20yrs without a break so i reckon i was owed.
Now following a road accident i am partially disabled.I now live in muir of ord which i dont like to be honest. If i could work again i would love to go back really love to go back.The west coast people are amazing.Still not to long before i become a "triple locked pensioner" so who knows.I live in hope!!

 

[nige]

Hi, how long did this take to drink, tasted elder before it's great with damson.

 

[Janulka098]

I would like to try the elderberry wine. Got loads of blackberry bushes near by and was thinking of using 1.5kg of those together with 250g dry elderberries - do you think it would also need a litre of red grape juice? Stocked up on juice wines and now trying my hand at country ones as they take time and maturing. Does anybody leave the elderberries in for the first few days and then strain? Or just boil them and discard, thank you

 

[kelper]

I boil and discard. You could add any juice, even apple. What total sugar are you going for? I add pectolase too.
My second wine used turbo yeast and dextrose and went to 18%.

 

[Janulka098]

Thank you. Wow 18%! A bit strong material for me- Total sugar 1100- about 14-15%? Hopefully that should be enough for it to keep for a year or more. Got some elder near by too, not ripe yet and might make both dried and fresh to see how they go. Been donated 6glass DJs and trying to fill them up :)

 

[CeeGee]

I make mine with fresh elderberries. Usually freeze them first (as previous poster said, this heps the cell walls of the fruit break easier), then pour on boiling water add sugar and a few other things and ferment on the pulp for four or five days before straining into a demijohn. Has so far produced good results.

 

[johncrobinson]

Yup CeeGee thats the way I do it.

Freezers are OUTSTANDING for processing fruit for wine-making purposes.

 

[Janulka098]

I make mine with fresh elderberries. Usually freeze them first (as previous poster said, this heps the cell walls of the fruit break easier), then pour on boiling water add sugar and a few other things and ferment on the pulp for four or five days before straining into a demijohn. Has so far produced good results.

Wonderful! - thank you. I have collected quite a haul of elderberries and frozen them in couple of bags. Will have a go at elderberry/blackberry (got those frozen too) - probably 30/70 split.

 

[LED_ZEP]

I'm waiting for the berries on the Elderberry tree in the front of my house to ripen. I just hope I can get there before the birds this year.

On a side note; as kids I'm sure we invented paintball as elderberries are almost exactly 1.77 calibre and fit in to our air rifles.