elderberry wine?

[stoofer74]

i am hoping to make a batch of elderberry wine this weekend and was wondering of anybody could give me an idiot proof guide.i havent made any wine befrore but have all the equipment.i dont have any bottles yet so would it be ok to leave it in the demi-johns for say two or three months and then transfer it into bottles?thanks for any help cheers stu

[crafty john]

http://www.whyteshomewineequipment.co.u ... c-113.html there you go, there are loads of recipes for elderberry wine on the net, this is just one of them.

[stoofer74]

thanks for that.excuse my ignorance but what is the cambden tablet for ?and what is the stoppit for? thanks stu

[TC2642]

The campden tablet will help kill any wild bacteria, I usually don't bother but heat the berries with fruit juice (rather than water) and sugar to about 80oC, any higher and you'll likely cause haze. Be prepared to wait about a year after you've bottled before trying it.

[boingy]

50/50 elderberries and blackberries makes a much more palatable wine. Elderberries on their own can be an acquired taste. I've got some three year old stuff and it's still a bit, erm, horrible. So it's got better!

[fatbloke]

Or elderberries, apple juice and sugar, to about 1.090 and use a red wine yeast....

[oldbloke]

Lot of tannin in elderberries, so make it fairly strong to balance that, at least 14%
And it does need aging for a good while for that tannin to settle down. It will keep ages though, coz of it.

I got 2 kilos of them from a tree at my local bowling green so started 2 gallons, each with 1kg elderberries and 500g blackberries, plus 250g raisins and a tsp of acide (mixed citric and tartaric). And I'm sticking probably 1.25kg of sugar in - maybe a bit less, must work out how much sugar the rest is going to give.

[themadhippy]

My tip is dont water down elderberry wine with blue label vodka .whilst at the time everythings fine, the next day hurts

[far9410]

My tip is dont water down elderberry wine with blue label vodka .whilst at the time everythings fine, the next day hurts

Ah I see, red label it is then

[boingy]

And don't confuse "dilute" with "watering down"...

[stoofer74]

ok so thanks for all the replies.today i have picked 5lbs of brambles and 6lbs of elder berriesand was thinking of combining the two as per advice how much sugar would i need for this amount of fruit and how much water would i add i'm a bit confused as i usually make beer and that means topping up my fv to the 5 gallon mark.also some websites talk about adding bananas and raisins is this right and what do they bring to the table?i dont have any pectolase is this a must and if so can i add it tomorrow thanks in advance for your advice stu

[oldbloke]

Pectolase is a good idea but maybe not vital for this combination of berries. It doesn't have to go in at the start but the later you leave it the more you need.
For that combo I'd do a 3 gallon run, with about 500 to 750g of chopped raisins.
You can /almost/ ignore the sugar content of the berries and 1150 to 1250g sugar per gallon gives decent wine. With the berries and the raisins, knock it back to about 3.3kg sugar for the whole 3 gallons, maybe a bit less. 3kg might be enough.
A very ripe banana is sometimes used to add body. with the raisins you shouldn't need it.
Your 5 gallon bin will do for the initial on-the-pulp ferment (which doesn't need the whole water volume, or the sugar bar a small amount to feed the yeast)
After 4 or 5 days, you need to strain it onto the rest of the sugar and get it into demijohns, or as 3g is quite big a 5g bin will probably work, if you have 2.

[stoofer74]

thanks old bloke thats exactly what i needed i will get it going today and hopefully it will work out ok

[stoofer74]

hi so i have mashed up all the berries and added to fermenter.i have then added 1kg of sugar, 750g of raisins 2 camden tablets and brought the level up to the 3 gallon mark with boiling water.i have put the lid on and the airlock and plan to leave it till tomorrow when i will add citric acic,pectolase yeast nutrient and yeast.so do i have to make a yeast starter or can i just sprinkle the dry yeast on top?and am i right in thinking that i leave it for 4 days fermenting away then transfer it to another fermentor removing all the lumpy bits add the other 2kg of sugar and leave it to bubble away till finished? also can anybody recommend a good wine making book cheers stuart

[oldbloke]

A starter shouldn't be necessary but never hurts if you can be arsed to do one. I can't. The yeast may want re-hydrating before pitching though - check the pack.
4 or 5 days, yeh. (I need to get mine strained today, and I have No Free Time, aaargh)
You want to squeeze as much stuff as you can out of the berries when you do the transfer. You want to give them a good mashing now, too, if you can.
CJJ Berry's "First Steps In Winemaking" pretty much covers everything, but some of his recipes have too much sugar, so keep an eye on that.