How to make Elderberry Wine

[Moley]

Many thanks for the How-To Moley! I got 2 gallons on the go last year as my first go at winemaking, opened a bottle at the weekend at a year old and it's really good already :thumb:

Welcome to the forum Jamie :

Thanks for your comments, I'm glad you found this guide helpful and seem pleased with the results.

I really should update it though because I much prefer a mix of elderberries with blackberries.

 

[jabba]

Cheers Moley, I've been lurking for a while (spend more time over the other place ), I'm more of an all grain kind of guy but having a 15 month old around limits my brew time somewhat, winemaking is much more family friendly!

I was thinking about blackberries, there are still a few around here but they're not very sweet- I think I missed the boat on those. I may pick some and bung them into the mix as well anyhoo!

Cheers,
Jamie

 

[Crastney]

I currently have 7lbs of elderberries in on FV, but only about 1 gal of liquid. I added nutrient and citric, so I'm guessing that I can add sultanas/raisins, and sugar, and RGJ to make it up to 2 gal when pressed/filtered/sieved into the DJ.
or can I just split what I have and top up 1/2 gal each with water?

 

[hypnoticmonkey]

I really should update it though because I much prefer a mix of elderberries with blackberries.

Ah.

I made 2 gallons of blackberry and elderberry 3 years ago and it was the best wine I've ever made, even though it only lasted 6 months!

This year I've made 2 gallons of blackberry, 5 gallons of black and elder and I have the elderberries in the freezer to make 5 gallons of this elder only recipe. I had assumed this recipe was your preference, over and above a mixture, and therefore intended to sample the three different mixtures of red in a year or so and see which I prefer.

I'll still do that, of course, but by the sounds of it everyone would recommend a mix!

 

[Crastney]

so far I've forgotten to take an initial SG on all the wines I've started in the past 6 months, so I have very little idea of what the ABV is going to be. My elderberry wine needed sorting, so last night I strained all the juice into a 5litre PET, with 400g of sugar, and topped up to about 1 gal with boiled cooled water. The berries/mush is in a tub, in the freezer, to go with the second batch of elderberries that I've picked and will mix together to get another gallon (or two), maybe a mix with pears of apples at a later date.

 

[Warley]

I’ve just started my first ever wine to make and chosen to give Elderberry wine a go. I know it’s a wine that takes a while but hey ho Im in no rush.

My 3lb of elderberries are currently fermenting away in kitchen and smell quite good. Hope that’s a good sign.

In the meantime Im going to have a look in the recipe section to find something else to make :)

 

[hypnoticmonkey]

so far I've forgotten to take an initial SG on all the wines I've started in the past 6 months, so I have very little idea of what the ABV is going to be.

If you know the recipes of all of those wines, you can calculate what the OG should have been quite easily...

 

[Crastney]

i do konw, all the details are written down in my notebook- When I have spare time, and I'm at home, I might check, and write up a new thread asking for advise on how to work this out. I know you need to know the sugar per kilo of the fruit.

my elderberry wine (to which I'd added 400g sugar) went crazy in the cupboard, and so I spent an hour cleaning the entire cupboard last night! doh!

I guess I topped up too close to the top of the DJ/PET

 

[hypnoticmonkey]

my elderberry wine (to which I'd added 400g sugar) went crazy in the cupboard, and so I spent an hour cleaning the entire cupboard last night! doh!

I guess I topped up too close to the top of the DJ/PET

I'm sure we've all been there before!

 

[KevinH]

I'm going to be doing a straight Elderberry, no optional extra's (cash-strapped).

I want to fill 2 x 25l carboys. What quantity of sugar to begin with and how many g of youngs super-duper high strength yeast, pretty please and kiss your little toes(!). I have the other stuff, pectolase, nutrient, etc.

 

[hypnoticmonkey]

I'm going to be doing a straight Elderberry, no optional extra's (cash-strapped).

I want to fill 2 x 25l carboys. What quantity of sugar to begin with and how many g of youngs super-duper high strength yeast, pretty please and kiss your little toes(!). I have the other stuff, pectolase, nutrient, etc.

Are you using any raisins? Will you be using 30lb of berries? (3lb per gallon; 2 x 25l ~ 2 x 5 gallon ~ 10 gallons)

What % ABV would you like to aim for?

 

[Moley]

I would usually aim to make elderberry or any mixed fruits full bodied red wine at around 15% abv.

For that you need an Original Gravity around 1.100

For that you need 280g sugar in the litre.

50 x 280 = 14kg total sugar required.

50 litres is about 11 gallons so you need 33 lbs of berries, and I certainly wouldn't fancy stripping that many from their stalks all in one go.

33 lbs = 15kg of berries with a sugar content of 11.5% = 1725g sugar in the berries.

Ferment in the bucket for 5-7 days before straining and the yeasties should get most of that out. Don't add all of your sugar to the bucket or you will be throwing a lot of it away with the spent pulp. Maybe give them one bag to get stuck into, but you will need 12.5kg of sugar and two tablespoons of yeast.

 

[KevinH]

Dear Moley and hypnoticmonkey,

Moley hit it spot-on, as per usual! :
That's very do-able - I have everything except the raisins. To make life easier for me I'll do it one carboy at a time. My biggest pan needs to be a cauldron! :lol:

 

[hypnoticmonkey]

50 litres is about 11 gallons so you need 33 lbs of berries, and I certainly wouldn't fancy stripping that many from their stalks all in one go.

Of course, when you're looking at those quantities, the extra half litres will add up to give you a bonus gallon!

 

[divingdavey]

Do folks back sweeten Elderberry wine when it's finished?

 

[Moley]

That's all down to personal preference, I usually sweeten mine slightly and bottle it medium dry at around 0.995

 

[divingdavey]

Cheers Moley :

 

[Murdo]

Thanks for this recipe. I have a 0.5 KG bag of dried elderberries....if I'm reading other threads right...this is equivalent of 4x 1.2 lbs of fresh berries. so I have 60% extra fruit?

If I use full 500g I need to adjust other ingredients? So does this sound right
4.8 lbs equivalent of berries
1060g sugar etc etc


two questions....
I ideally want to use two Demi johns...so can I add something that makes it up to this amount? I have raisins...100% pineapple juice....polish syrup....
I only have in cider....champagne...ale or Youngster super yeast...am I better off waiting and getting the yeast mentioned?
thanks for patience.

 

[Murdo]

I'm trying to work out how to use 500g of dried elderberries and add enough sugar/red grape juice to make up to 2 demijohns worth. I've read Moley's helpful sugar calculation thread but think I'm over my head here? Anyone know the sugar calc of original 1 demijohn recipe to help me work out what I need to add in terms of raisins/RGJ. many thanks

I'm putting my calculations here so if folk see an error, I'd be grateful for pointers.

So aiming, from other posts for 280g of sugar per litre?

500g fresh elderberries x 11.5% = 58g sugar....so if 500g of dried is equivalent of 2kg of fresh...does this mean I have 232g of sugar from elderberries?



Edit:spell check keeps putting Miley not Moley.

 

[calluma11]

I started this over the weekend (3lbs elderberries 1lb blackberries) and will be transferring to DJ soon.
I'm just a bit confused with hydrometer readings..

BEFORE adding sugar, i had a reading of 1009.
AFTER adding sugar, of course this will be much higher

However, before i add sugar the yeast will start working on the natural sugars, so am I right with the following:

The gravity before sugar is 1009 and lets assume by the time I transfer it's 1006.
I syphon this onto sugar and the gravity is, for the sake of argument, 1080

Do i add add 009 to 1080 to make 1089?

Hope this makes sense :lol:

Callum