First Attempt - Elderberry.

[Bill Berry]

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[Duffbeer]

Hi Bill, and welcome to the forum, OK got to admit the recipe here is not great, but not unusual from older style recipes.
Elderberries contain massive amounts of tannin, they are a great addition to many wines, but in my opinion are way too tannic to ferment on their own.
Hence why this recipe is requiring so much dilution, try adding a couple of ltrs of supermarket red grape juice to build a little vinosity and dilute some of that strong tannin.

[goldseal]

Hi Bill,

I agree with Karl (Duffbeer). There is a lot which the recipe DOESN'T tell you either, such as what starting SG you should be aiming for - it probably isn't a good idea to dump a whole kilo of sugar into it because a lot of older recipes used far too much sugar (a long story).

The recipe seems to assume you already know about degassing and how to stabilise (and sweeten if necessary).

I'd suggest you start with the Wine No.1 recipe on this Forum - the tutorial is thorough and explains everything in great detail. If you have bought the kit for the elderberry recipe you'll have most of what you need for Wine No.1. Another advantage is that you'll have a drinkable wine in a couple of months - elderberry normally takes many months to become drinkable.

Anyway, that's my opinion.

Welcome, by the way

[BorderTerroir]

Hi Bill

Welcome.

I once made elderberry wine years ago following a CJJ Berry recipe. It takes ages for the tannin to mature out so it is not the best introduction to wine making.

Adapt for a Wine Number 1 as suggested and use 1.5lb sugar, you should be OK.

[steven]

How is the wine going?I fancy making elderberry wine as well so am interested.
Has anyone else got a recipe using dried elderberries?
Thanks
Steven

[Tuco]

How is the wine going?I fancy making elderberry wine as well so am interested.
Has anyone else got a recipe using dried elderberries?
Thanks
Steven

Same here, I have some dried elderberries and have been looking for a recipe

[Omniata]

For dried elderberries I'd go for half the equivalent of fresh...

As said before there's a huge amount of tannin in them and it takes a long time to mature...
I've done two batches and they've taken almost year to mature to a drinkable consistency...
Well worth the wait though

The recipe I used for 1 gallon was:

750g dried elderberries
~1kg sugar
1tsp citric acid
4.5ltrs Water
1tsp Yeast nutrient (Tronozymol)
1/2tsp Vitamin C (Anti oxidant, stops it going brown)
Gervin Yeast GV4(26)

Err on the side of caution with the sugar!! I wanted a wine as close to the 21% limit of the GV4(26) yeast as possible...

I added the water (boiling) to the dried elderberries and when cool added pectolase and sulphite and left on a heat mat for 5 days, stirring daily...
Then strained thoroughly and added the yeast from a starter and left to ferment out, racking as the sediment collected...

Took ~6 months before the last bit, another 4 to finally mature out...
For the last month I added a few oak chippings to help the flavour...
It's still in dark demijohns now, minus oak, I just haven't got round to bottling


It's lovely now though, just right

[fatbloke]

Damn, that's a timely reminder to see how the gallon of fresh elderberry I made last year is getting on......

I'll report back later.....

regards

JtFB

[elleks]

I made some elderberry wine from the CJJ Berry recipe years ago, using fresh berries; and it was lovely-very soft and fruity. However, when I tried it with dried berries it was totally undrinkable- like sucking tea-bags!

[Omniata]

That'll be the tannin haha...

Given time it will mature to a more mellow flavour, however, it does take a very long time
Tannins break down naturally, it's just a very slow process...

[lockwood1956]

750g dried elderberries is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much


look for the dried amount to be around 1/4 of the fresh amount, perhaps less, these are packed full of tannin, I woould go for 250g dried elderberries and 2lb blackberries, it will give you a much more rounded wine.

fresh is best though, but Elderberry wine rtakes at least a year (if not 2) to become smoothg enough to drink.

however if you steam the berries and collect the juice, it makes wine that is drinkable a lot ealier.


look up Colin Tweeds methods of juice extraction talk on youtube under winesathome

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNPNXrLfVu0

a great watch

[alcopop]

Started a dried elderberry wine about 4 months ago and used the lees /must and all to make a second batch although not as strong in colour both look good and taste promising.
This was my first venture into Elderberry wine and did not realise how strong the taste was.
Not sure if I can wait until 2010+ to drink them as they are not too bad already.
Next batch will have added Blackberries as you suggest Bob.

Terry

[Bill Berry]

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[lockwood1956]

14.4%......


wow thats quite high

observations......


1 campden tablet for a batch this size isnt enough 1 per gallon is right

Stoppit is a brand name.......you need Potassium Sorbate for stabilisation...read the instructions regarding dosage

you are using boiling water...this is old school, and releases pectins, but because you are using dried ingredients, you get away with it

[lockwood1956]

these were observations only


I am happy your wine gives you what you want.......and thats what its all about at the end of the day