I have a super load of elderberries coming on and want a recipe for wine. I made juice last year and then decided I wanted to make wine, but all the recipes called for whole fruit, so I'm asking early this year, so that I won't mess up (hopefully).
(1. Elderberry Wine Recipe Ingredients for Elderberry Wine Recipe:
2½ lb elderberries
Campden tablets
2½, 2¾ or 3 lb sugar (Use the lowest amount of sugar for a dry wine, next for a medium dry wine and the higher sugar for a medium sweet. )
Wine yeast
Yeast Nutrient
Water
Method for Elderberry Wine.
Strip the elderberries from the stalks and wash well. If you immerse the berries in cold water for a few minutes, any hidden insects will float off.
Put into a fermenting bin and crush. A traditional potato masher is ideal for this. Pour on 4 pints of water.
Add 1 Campden tablet, crushed and dissolved in a little warm water to kill off any wild yeasts.
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 the liquor 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 liquor.
Cover again and leave for 3 or 4 days.
Pour carefully or syphon 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 fermentation lock and leave until fermentation has finished.
Rack, as necessary, and add 1 Campden tablet after the first racking to stop fermentation.
Syphon into bottles.
This elderberry wine recipe produces 1 gallon of rich red wine that should be stored for at least six months after bottling before drinking.
(2.
The problem with ‘straight’ elderberry wine is that it’s just too rich. Full-bodied and porty, it delivers a kick like a mule and anyone who has a second glass risks a world-class headache. It also takes at least two years to mature, although the flavor when it gets there is unbeatable. How then to get a less potent wine out of elderberries?
This recipe gets round both problems by combining elderberries with blackberries. Blackberry wine is quick to mature and has less body than elderberry wine, so a 50:50 mix of the two is just about perfect. ‘Elder and black’ is rich and distinctive, but not so potent that you have to be afraid of that second glass.
Ready to drink in a year, it’s at its fruity best by Christmas the year after it was made.
Elder and black” elderberry wine recipe
To make one gallon (4.5 litres)
1kg (2.2lb) elderberries
1kg (2.2 lb) blackberries
4.5L (8 pints) water
1.5kg (3.3lb) sugar
1tsp yeast nutrient
Juice of one lemon
1tsp pectolase
1 sachet red wine yeast (NB one sachet is enough for up to 5 gallons)
Strip the elderberries off their stalks and mash them together with the blackberries in a sterilised brew bin or lidded food grade plastic tub. Pour over 2.25 litres (4 pints) of boiling water, and leave to cool.
When at room temperature add the yeast nutrient, lemon juice, pectolase and red wine yeast, following the instructions on the sachet. Stir well, cover and leave for a week, stirring daily with a ladle or similar implement which has been scalded with boiling water.
Strain through a straining bag into another sterilised container. Resist the urge to squeeze the bag, as this can lead to problems with haze – leave it to drip through overnight if necessary.
Add the sugar and top up to 4.5L (one gallon) again. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, and stand the container on several thicknesses of newspaper until the initial fermentation dies down. Be warned – in warm conditions it can produce a lot of (staining) froth, which is why we haven’t put it in a demijohn yet!
Once the ferment begins to subside, transfer the wine to a demijohn if you are using one, and leave to ferment. . Remember to store the wine away from light, to preserve the glorious color.
When you juice the elderberries calculate how much juice you get per pound of berries. Then you can use that for converting whole fruit recipes to juice. You may also have to add tannins as those would be removed with the pulp or freeze a few quart bags of the pulp to add to your primary fermentations like the wine kits do with grape skins..
(1. Elderberry Wine Recipe Ingredients for Elderberry Wine Recipe:
2½ lb elderberries
Campden tablets
2½, 2¾ or 3 lb sugar (Use the lowest amount of sugar for a dry wine, next for a medium dry wine and the higher sugar for a medium sweet. )
Wine yeast
Yeast Nutrient
Water
Method for Elderberry Wine.
Strip the elderberries from the stalks and wash well. If you immerse the berries in cold water for a few minutes, any hidden insects will float off.
Put into a fermenting bin and crush. A traditional potato masher is ideal for this. Pour on 4 pints of water.
Add 1 Campden tablet, crushed and dissolved in a little warm water to kill off any wild yeasts.
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 the liquor 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 liquor.
Cover again and leave for 3 or 4 days.
Pour carefully or syphon 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 fermentation lock and leave until fermentation has finished.
Rack, as necessary, and add 1 Campden tablet after the first racking to stop fermentation.
Syphon into bottles.
This elderberry wine recipe produces 1 gallon of rich red wine that should be stored for at least six months after bottling before drinking.
(2.
The problem with ‘straight’ elderberry wine is that it’s just too rich. Full-bodied and porty, it delivers a kick like a mule and anyone who has a second glass risks a world-class headache. It also takes at least two years to mature, although the flavor when it gets there is unbeatable. How then to get a less potent wine out of elderberries?
This recipe gets round both problems by combining elderberries with blackberries. Blackberry wine is quick to mature and has less body than elderberry wine, so a 50:50 mix of the two is just about perfect. ‘Elder and black’ is rich and distinctive, but not so potent that you have to be afraid of that second glass.
Ready to drink in a year, it’s at its fruity best by Christmas the year after it was made.
Elder and black” elderberry wine recipe
To make one gallon (4.5 litres)
1kg (2.2lb) elderberries
1kg (2.2 lb) blackberries
4.5L (8 pints) water
1.5kg (3.3lb) sugar
1tsp yeast nutrient
Juice of one lemon
1tsp pectolase
1 sachet red wine yeast (NB one sachet is enough for up to 5 gallons)
Strip the elderberries off their stalks and mash them together with the blackberries in a sterilised brew bin or lidded food grade plastic tub. Pour over 2.25 litres (4 pints) of boiling water, and leave to cool.
When at room temperature add the yeast nutrient, lemon juice, pectolase and red wine yeast, following the instructions on the sachet. Stir well, cover and leave for a week, stirring daily with a ladle or similar implement which has been scalded with boiling water.
Strain through a straining bag into another sterilised container. Resist the urge to squeeze the bag, as this can lead to problems with haze – leave it to drip through overnight if necessary.
Add the sugar and top up to 4.5L (one gallon) again. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, and stand the container on several thicknesses of newspaper until the initial fermentation dies down. Be warned – in warm conditions it can produce a lot of (staining) froth, which is why we haven’t put it in a demijohn yet!
Once the ferment begins to subside, transfer the wine to a demijohn if you are using one, and leave to ferment. . Remember to store the wine away from light, to preserve the glorious color.
Thats perfect, I love the recipe, simple easy and should be great wine. I mixed mine with black berries last year, but haven't tasted it yet. I've got this one printed off and just waiting for the fruit, thank you!!
I follow this guys recipes when making anything from elderberries. He's over on winemakingtalk.com forum and is super helpful if you have any questions.
Harvest tip: Use a fork to separate the berries from the tiny stems attached to the "umbrella." I get more berries in the shortest amount of time this way.
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