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montanaWineGuy

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The old fashion steamer. Faster, easier, cheaper, is the way I like it. :db

I spent over 4 hours removing the elderberries from the stems and only got 1/2 way thru my 6 gallon buckets worth. Former once upon a time winemakers let me borrow this -- which I am definitely buying next year.

No more strainer bag, no more pectin enzyme, and the berries and vines get steamed together. :r

I did the first 1/2 and it looks like a quart of concentrated juice so far.

Dayum!!!!

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Never before heard of this method. The juice looks pretty awesome.
 
I'm thinking to juice as much Elderberries as possible and store it in the several old Pickle Jars (96oz) for making wine come spring time. Save me freezer space and take advantage of this loaner steamer.
 
Isn't that how u make apple juice?

Probably. One way at least. I always thought Apples were more crushed/pressed then steamed.

For me this is all about dealing with the vines. I just got an email from my generous friends. This steamer is being offered to me for $10, as they already have one, and this was purchased at a garage sale because it was such a bargain. :db
 
Today I found a new and the best yet source of Elderberries. Rest of the day is processing these berries before going back for more.

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My first steamed Elderberry Juice has been fermenting along nicely -- in the fermentation bucket. I thought the bucket was primarily to extract the juice from the fruit, but since I skipped that step in steaming, why bother with the bucket. Fermentation is quite active even though it no longer has the natural yeast off the berries.

I'm just not sure. I have to move to a carboy today, I guess I will leave a good head space and see what happens with the foam/bubbles, whether or not they will breach the bung.
 
Coming along. Racked the three batches, and lost only a gallon. The sediment was thick. Took a lot of flushing and shaking to get it all out. Super cold here, so I have now resigned myself that this will be bottled maybe sometime in April/May of 2018. :(
 
After 2 months I did the last racking. Wow! Of the three 6 gallon carboys 2 were nearly perfect in taste. The 3rd a bit of sugar was added. I'll bottle this in a couple of months, but the question of steaming has been answered. I questioned about not fermenting with the berry skins and how that might effect the end product. Answer: No negative, in fact this is the best Elderberry I've made yet. :db
 
So . . . montanaWineGuy, what was the question and what answer did you get about steaming?

Don't see a question - He was just sharing an experience for the rest of us to learn from or provide responses to if we have something to contribute.

Nice to hear what people are up to and results of new or different methods of producing wine.

Thanks MontanaWineGuy. I may not be a big fan of steaming or heating fruit juices for me but great to hear it working for you. Fortunately my wine production quantities are much lower than some so juice extraction is a lot easier for my wine making batches. (At present)
 
The question was "What will be the wine quality, if the fermentation was done without the berry skins?".

I also added some plum wine to the last batch of Elderberry to fill the carboy space. The plum wine is a bit weak by itself, but might be just the thing to round out the strong Elderberry flavor. I pretty much have 3 six gallon carboys and they differ in strength. When it is time to bottle I will experiment in mixing the 3. If I can get one six gallon batch that stands above the others it will be set aside for aging for up to 3 to 4 years.
 

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