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Elderberry Port

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  • Elderberry Port

    This recipe is adapted from one on Jack Keller's site, scaled down to 1 gallon, then generally bodged. Typically (for me) it uses a mixture of imperial and metric. I have no idea why I do that .

    I used:
    * 500ml Red Grape Concentrate
    * 2lb 6oz sugar (added in stages)
    * 1 gal water
    * 4lb 8oz elderberries
    * 13oz fresh sliced banana
    * 3tsp citric/tartaric acid
    * 1tsp yeast nutrient
    * 1 B1 tablet
    * K1V-1116 yeast

    Add the following to a 10l fermenting bucket:
    * the Red Grape Concentrate
    * 19oz sugar (target SG 1.085)
    * the water
    * the elderberries
    * the banana
    * the acid

    SG at this point was 1.085. The total volume of the must was about 7l (the sugar and solids increase it markedly).

    Add a crushed campden tablet or 5ml of 10% sulphite solution, then let it sit, covered, for 24 hours.

    After 24 hours rehydrate your yeast, and add it, your yeast nutrient and the B1 tablet, and cover loosely.

    As it ferments, a 'cap' of elderberry and banana will form. Punch it down at least twice a day (push it to the bottom and stir it in, using a suitable sanitised implement).

    When the SG reaches 1.010 ish, draw off some must and add to it 9 - 10oz sugar. Once dissolved, stir back into the main volume of must. Make a note of the new SG.

    When the SG reaches 1.010 again, rack into a closed fermenter (1 gal DJ or 5l plastic) and fit an airlock. I had almost 7l of must, so the rest went into a smaller fermenter.

    Add another 9 - 10oz sugar. Make a note of the SG. Allow to ferment out.

    Once fermentation has definitely ceased, rack, degas and add 5ml 10% sulphite or a campden tablet, and the recommended dose of potassium sorbate to prevent fermentation restarting.

    Allow it to clear. I didn't use any finings and it cleared on its own after about 2 or 3 months.

    Rack into a bucket, leaving any lees behind. Keep a litre or so as-is - you might need it in a bit!

    Now, add sugar and brandy to taste. I first sweetened to 1.038 - 1.040, then gradually added 350ml Brandy, a little at a time, until the port tastes balanced. If you add too much sugar or brandy, you have your 1l 'reserve' to add back to the main batch, to take the edge off.

    If you are not sure what is 'right' for port, pop to your local supermarket, buy a bottle of cheapish port and taste .

    1.038 - 1.040 sounds very sweet, but the port is quite alcoholic (16 - 17% before brandy, 18 - 19% after), so it needs that sweetness to make it drinkable.

    As an added precaution, I transferred the port back to the fermenters and left a couple of months to ensure fermentation did not fire up again, and to give the port a little longer to clear.

    I bottled around 6 months after starting the port. I did not filter, because it was nice and clear anyway, and I wanted to retain absolute maximum body.

    It is OK to drink after 1 year, but I have found it has improved markedly after 2 years. It is still very obviously elderberry, and is really good with smelly cheese!

    What would I do differently next time?

    I will probably be using steam-juiced elderberry (because that's all I have now), but I'll be adding some powdered tannin to replace that lost in the juicing process. I'm not sure what volume of juice to use yet, but it will be pretty large!

    Oak - I used none, but I'll use a bit next time just to add a bit more complexity.

    Sugar - I'll keep adding sugar when the SG reaches 1.010 until fermentation ceases because the yeast has reached its alcohol tolerance (around 18% with K1V). The finished port should be around the 20% mark then (and refermentation is even less likely to happen than it is now).


    ALCOHOL ESTIMATE
    You can estimate the amount of alcohol in the finished port by calculating the increase in alcohol between each sugar addition. To do this, you need to record the SG AFTER a sugar addition, then record the SG BEFORE then ext sugar addition (or the final SG when the port has finished fermenting).

    For each step, just calculate (start SG - finish SG) / 0.00736

    Just add the figures for each step, and you have your alcohol content (in %).

    The figure will drop a bit when you add sugar to sweeten (because the volume of the port will increase), and the effect of adding 350ml of brandy can be calaculated, but reckon on around 1.5% - 2% increase.
    Pete the Instructor

    It looks like Phil Donahue throwing up into a tuba
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