Elderberry

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ffemt128

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What's the recommended amount of elderberries per gallon of wine. I'm seeing alot of differing amounts. Most recommend 3 lbs per gallon. Does anyone have a tried and true recipe? I'll most likely be steaming the elderberries to extract the juice.

Lets hear it from the pro's at WMT....
 
I'm definitely not a pro and I don't have any recipes, but I would use 5-7 lbs per gallon if I could ever find a stinkin' bush of elderberries in the acres and acres of woods surrounding me.
 
I'm definitely not a pro and I don't have any recipes, but I would use 5-7 lbs per gallon if I could ever find a stinkin' bush of elderberries in the acres and acres of woods surrounding me.

Where about in Pgh are you from?

I found the bushes I located in June when the flowers were still on the bushes. It made life a whole lot easier.
 
Jason,

There are tons of elderberries along route 19 heading north. THere is a large bush on 19 under i79 if you get off at the warendale exit and head north on 19 it is just after 79 on the right hand side.

Wade,


Thanks for the info any good recipes?
 
ffemt, I dont have a recipe per say as last year was the first year I made elderberry wine which came out really good but was a cluster F!!! as my freezer crapped out and by the time I found out the temp was up to 85 in there as it was actually stuck in dethaw mode where a heater actually warms up the freezer to melt any frost. I had to scurry to use all my frozen fruit and did type up something afterwords but that hardrive became garbage after a virus took out 3 of my computers. I think 5 lbs is about right and as Luc told me dont ferment on the fruit past 4 days as it will leach out to much tannin. Julie made a very nice wine and then a blush with the fruit extracted and a 2nd run on them. below is what she used and according to her recipe she used less fruit as I believe its a 5 gallon recipe.
Here goes. I got the recipe from another site by a guy named Paul. The only thing I do different is to I use water for the first batch, the full body and then use grape concentrate for the blush.

Elderberry Wine
This recipe makes five gallons of elderberry wine and another five gallons of elderberry blush. In the beginning, when pressing the berries, do a thorough job because they don’t break open as easy as you might think.



Ingredients:

15 Pounds Fresh Elderberries
2 Gallons Water
6 11.5 Oz. Cans Welch’s Frozen White Grape Juice
7-8 Pounds Sugar, approximately (enough to bring S. G. to 1.090-1.095)
2-3 Tbls. Acid Blend approximately (enough to bring acid level to 0.65)
2 Tbls. Yeast Nutrient
2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
5 Campden Tablets, Crushed
1 Packet Lalvin RC 212 Yeast

Instructions:

Place the frozen elderberries in a nylon bag, tie the top of the bag and place in a nonreactive container that will hold at least four gallons. When the elderberries are thawed, press thoroughly, and cover with two gallons of boiling water. After the mixture cools, add pectic enzyme, cover and let it sit for 12 hours. Remove the nylon bag and allow it to drip until it stops. DO NOT SQUEEZE or you will get a green substance that will have a bitter taste to it. When this is complete, transfer the contents of the container to a primary and return the nylon bag to the container and cover. This will make the 5 gallons of blush, so when finished with the wine recipe, you will cover the nylon bag with two more gallons of boiling water and repeat the entire process. Thaw the six cans of white grape juice, add it to the primary, and bring the water level up to the five gallon mark. Take a reading with your hydrometer and add enough sugar to bring the specific gravity to approximately 1.090-1.095. Stir until all sugar is well dissolved. If you have a TA kit, check the titratable acidity and correct it to 0.65. Add the yeast nutrient, and the crushed campden tablets. Wait 24 hours and add the yeast. Cover the primary with a cloth and check the S.G. daily. When the must reaches 1.010 in approximately one week, rack to a secondary and put under an air lock. Rack again in two weeks and then every two months until clear.

Stabilize, add 5 campden tablets, wait ten days and bottle. I like to add ½ to 1 cup of light corn syrup mixed with 1-2 cups of hot water at bottling to give it a smooth taste.

Repeat the process to make another five gallons of elderberry blush.
 
I used 6 lbs per gallon last year and it was way too heavy. The body was over the top. Ended up doubling the batch size (meaning 3 lbs per gallon) and it came out great. It was my first try, though, too.
 
I normally use 3 kilo per 10 liter.
That sums up to 6 pounds per 2.6 gallon

so about 3 pounds per gallon
That is less as I would normally use for fruit (I like pure fruit wines with no dilluting) however elderberries are very strong in flavor and in tannins so I would not exceed these amounts.

I do recommend, if possible, that you do a blend of elderberry and blackberries.
About 2 pound elderberries and 2 pound blackberries.
This is indeed more as the amount stated above but that is because the blackberries are added.

I did a series on elderberries on my web-log.
There is a tried and true recipe on it which I make each year, it is a port style: sweet and high alcohol.

This story tells you how to harvest them and an easy way to seperate ripe from unripe berries.

http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2007/08/scroll-down-for-english-version-ik-had.html

The next story tells you the berry to juice ratio and the measurements.

http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2008/08/vlierbessen-sap-maken-elderberry.html

Hope this helps a bit.

Luc
 

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