As the elderberry gods have been good this year I have plans for a two gallon batch of elderberry and blackberry port. I have 8lbs of elderberrys and 6lbs of blackberrys nicely steam juiced. To this I plan to add up to a litre of Beaverdale Cab Sab concentrate and a hint of oak. My plan is to use Vintners Harvest R56 yeast (nicked from a batch of elderberry already on the go) as it is noted for flavour extraction. Downside is it only ferments to 13% or so. Would it be complete madness be ferment down to 1010 with R56 then as I sugar feed introduce a starter of a high alcohol tolerance yeast like Lalvin EC1112? I would like to get it as close to 18% as possible so that any fortifying brandy is kept to a minimum. Can I have my cake and eat it?
Also have plans for an elderberry and chocolate port as one of my happy places involves a bottle of elderberry and a bar of Cadburys . Need to give it more thought though as to how much cocoa to add to the must to give a nice hint of chocolate as I still want the elderberry to dominate.
As always any advice most welcome
Also have plans for an elderberry and chocolate port as one of my happy places involves a bottle of elderberry and a bar of Cadburys . Need to give it more thought though as to how much cocoa to add to the must to give a nice hint of chocolate as I still want the elderberry to dominate.
As always any advice most welcome
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