I'm all in a pickle and not sure what to do next,

[Paulwales]

I've started reading the tutorials, but they are quite tough going at the moment.......... but I have got an undefined amount of elderberries in a bucket and not sure what to do next

I didnt weigh my elderberries before washing them then skimmed about a pound off the top of the water which were floating, then afterdraining them I figured they will be too wet to weigh accuratly so I just mushed them all up with a potatoe masher.... just weighed the plup and it comes to 10.7lbs

10ish pounds of pulped elderberries and not sure what quantities of anything else to add, I was going to follow this simple recipie

any ideas on the quantities I should now use>>>> I've guessed by timesing everything by four

2½ lb elderberries > 10.7 Lbs plulp
Campden tablets > 4
2¾ or 3 lb sugar > 5 x 1kg Bags
Wine yeast > 4 heaped tsp Youngs Super wine yeast Compound
Nutrient > 4 heaped Yeast Nutrient
Water

Strip the elderberries from the stalks and wash well.
Put into a fermenting bin and crush. Pour on 4 pints of water. Add 1 campden tablet, crushed and dissolved in a little warm water.
Boil half of the sugar in 2 pints of water for 2 or 3 minutes and, when cool, mix into the pulp.
Add the yeast and nutrient and cover and allow to ferment for 5 days, stirring daily.
Strain and press and return to a clean fermenting bin.
Boil the rest of the sugar in 1 pint of water for 2 or 3 minutes and, when cool, add to the rest.
Cover again and leave for 3 or 4 days.
Pour carefully into a gallon jar, leaving as much deposit behind as possible.
Fill up the jar with cooled, boiled water to where the neck begins.
Fit a fementation lock and leave until fermentation has finished.
Rack, as necessary, and add 1 Campden tablet after the first racking.
Syphon into bottles.

.............................

[kampervan]

how much water did you add as you would have to subract that from weight. and sugar seems pretty high for the amount quoted. use a hydrometer and aim for 1090

[Paulwales]

it wasnt so much the adding of water it's the wet weight I drained them thoughaly but I'm guessing it probably added an extra pound weight

I got the recipe from.... http://www.lowcostliving.co.uk/home-...berry-wine.php

point taken about the citric acid ...I'll add that, unless anyone strongly disagrees

[Her Lushness]

Please don't just add the sugar blindly; you'll probably want about 1.5 LBS per gallon, but USE YOUR HYDROMETER to get the SG to about 1080, and it should be fine.

Good luck mate!

[kampervan]

doubt you will need more than 4 bags sugar but use your hydrometer

[Paulwales]

will do!! thanks

[lockwood1956]

2.5 lbs Elderberries per gallon is a little light....

I would make this a three gallon batch if I were you, or if you already made it to a bigger size, then you need something else in there, like blackberries or red grape concentrate. I feel the wine will be a tad thin at this amount of fruit. (I use 4lb fruit per gallon for a full bodied red)

regards
Bob

[fatbloke]

2.5 lbs Elderberries per gallon is a little light....

I would make this a three gallon batch if I were you, or if you already made it to a bigger size, then you need something else in there, like blackberries or red grape concentrate. I feel the wine will be a tad thin at this amount of fruit. (I use 4lb fruit per gallon for a full bodied red)

regards
Bob

Was gonna chime in with 3 to 3 1/2 lb per gallon (which is what I used for last years elderberry), but Bob's got in there first........

regards

jtfb

[Paulwales]

OK it seems quite thick at just over three gallons, but made the mistake of using the water to swill the mix into the fermenting barrel before the suger so I just threw a third bag of sugar straight in rather than a syrup as not to dilute it anymore, I'm not going to put any yeasts etc in till I've got the sg right, and if need be I'll go pick more elderberries in the morning I got about another 5 trees I havent even looked at since they flowerd earlier in the year, so it would be silly not to pull my finger out now before thyre gone again
after all I'm kicking myself I never picked any blackberries other than for crumble

[lockwood1956]

It will thin out during fermentation....

tsk tsk....cooking fermentables

[Paulwales]

Things seem to be going ok with this one, I got the starting SG to 1.085 on monday , differnt wine recipies vary the time in the primery I assume this is based on getting the must to an ideal SG... it is now about 4 days later and the SG is now at 1.055, is it time transfere it to the Demijohns?

[Rich]

Not at 1.055, wait a little till it is nearer 1.020 or even 1.010 . Doing it too early can make it very 'excitable' in the demijon and lead to it overflowing the airlock. (I have my black cherry port in the demijon now and it's sitting in a bucket just incase, sg of 1.020)

[Paulwales]

so genraly should I just work from the SG and not worry about the days as long as the SG is going down and things seem to be going in the right direction?

[Rich]

yes, work from the sg, rather than a time scale. If the sg is going down that's good.