i am not intrested in the whys and wherefores of the op.
but to help clear up a few pointers to people who do not understand some of the points here.
raw uncooked elderberies can give you terrable stomach problems,
which is why we dont eat them raw. in the same way that raw rhubarb is bad but cooked and covered in lashings of custard is fantastic so are elderberries.
an elderberry has naturally high levels of toxins in the berries, so to proccess them into another usable product they need heat treating in some form,
for wine a simple fork to remove the berries from the stems works best,
to make wine we can heat treat by steeping in boiling water or as i do i use a steam extractor to obtain a base liquid for wine making and its also the basis for my homemade cough syrup,
i do use raw elderberries when making elderbery and apple pies, but as the apples as also raw and the lot go through the oven before drowning in custard they become safe to eat.
when i go out foraging for elderberiess i do try a single raw berry for the sugar levels as some trees produce better levels than others, but we are talking here a max of ten berries ish a trip and i do have a cast iron stomach when it comes to poor quality foods, thats the reason i have never suffered from stomach problems when eating food abroad, inc deli belly
if you wish to try to pretest your berries for wine or other reasons first i would suggest a sugar testing device,
i use a Brix Refractometer 0-32% ATC Fruit Juic,Wine,Sugar Tester it cost about £25 from honkers including delivery to blighty, grab a couple of berries, bust them in your fingers and drop a drip onto the test screen and view the results, its very interesting to see that some trees produce a better or higher sugar content to others.
e-stem Elderberrys
