Concord Elderberry started

[Steve in KC]

So I started a new job about a month ago and in my bio, I had to list 'hobbies'. So I put winemaking.

One of the ladies who works in the facilities/operational group stopped by my office on Tuesday and offered to give me some concords which were growing in her yard. Not having really ever paid attention to proper harvest time for them, I let her know I'd be happy to take them and would either make wine or jelly.

SoWednesday she shows up with a copy-paper box FULL (probably 20-30lbs). They've got GREAT color, the skins slip right off and the seeds are nice and brown...perfect.


I culled through them and got 24lbs of usable grapes.


Here's my recipe:

24 lbs fresh Concord grapes, destemmed by hand.
3lbs fresh elderberries
2.5 gal water
10lbs granulated sugar (dissolved in above water)
4 tsp pectic enzyme
4 crushed Campden tablet
4 tsp yeast nutrient
Pastuer Red yeast

Wednesday evening:
destemmed grapes, elderberries, crushed, added campden only

Thurs afternoon:
added pectic enzyme, nutrient

Friday early evening:
dissolved 10lbs of sugar in 1 gallon of boiling water, added to the must without cooling
added another 1.5 gallons of cool water
stirred really well

2-3 hrs later (around 9pm):
pitched starter of pastuer red which had grown to the 1500mL mark.

Starting SG was 1.110 which should give me in the neighborhood of 12-13%ABV I believe as I do plan on backsweetening this one a bit and want to ensure it's balanced. I may just backsweeten with concord wine from the store (St. James Velvet Red). That stuff's so sweet it will eat the enamel off your teeth!

Well, we're off to the races!
I got up this morning and had a nice cap to punch down!

Any idea on what dry wine I should top with? I was thinking petit sirah so that I could build some more tannin structures.

 

[Wade E]

Sounds great, 4 gallon batch? Petite Sirah does sound good.

 

[Steve in KC]

ahhhh. very perceptive grasshopper! I wonder how many people caught that.


Yes, I'm using jack keller's concord recipe for 6lbs/gallon. At crush, I had just a bit over 2.5 gallons of must. With the additional 2.5 gallons of water and 10lbs of sugar, I'm hoping to eek out right at 4 gallons, plus maybe a 750mL bottle for first topping up.


Just did a punch down #2 today and it looks, smells, tastes great!!!!


The rain has let up here and I think I'm going to go on an elderberry run.

 

[Steve in KC]

**NOTE: these pictures were taken on day 4**


Day 21...
Secondary has been done for about a week now. It was foaming SO MUCH that I transferred all 4.5 gallons into a 6 gallon carboy to finish secondary. It had a solid 3" foam top, which began to fall when secondary was completed.

I racked back into a 3gal and 1gal.

It has already begun to cleary very nicely. I tasted last night and believe the elderberries gave it a nice touch of tannins and body, however, I think I should've added a bit more as the body is just a tiny bit more thin than what I would've liked. I may do some bench trials and blend with some commercial concord (yes I do plan to back sweeten this one) or a vinifera wine like a white zin and make it a rose?

The color changed dramatically from that cherry/strawberry color above to being just a bit more purple than the baco noir sitting next to it. I'll post some pics later this week. Edited by: Steve in KC

 

[Wade E]

What was the final SG? Looks great!

 

[Steve in KC]

Wade...


When I measured my starting SG, I forgot that there cannot be ANY non-juice material in the hydrometer jar. d'oh! So I have to estimate my original SG to be somewhere around 1.090 Final SG was .996 where my hydrometer bottoms out. That should give me right around 12%abv. When I tasted out of the secondary, it was just a wee bit hot, but not bad. Will DEFINITELY mellow quickly as I plan to backsweeten with red grape concentrate which will add that little bit of body that I'm missing, and hide any residual foxiness from the concords.