Elderberry wine

[Mullein]

So I boiled up some berries this morning and added sugar - waiting for it to cool before i add the yeast. My question is this: I have two recipes - one says 'boy elderberries are powerful, don't leave this on the fruit for more than a day' - the other one says 'leave to ferment on the fruit for 8-9 days'. Never having made elderberry wine before, I'm a bit perplexed by such a huge discrepancy and I'd be interested in hearing peoples thoughts on this....

tia
Claire

[MKG]

Wouldn't you just know it? - I'm going to disagree with both of them

It all depends upon what you're trying to do. The whole point of the "fermentation on the pulp" business is to extract colour and flavour. Alcohol is better at this than water, so the longer you leave the fruit in there, the more colour and flavour you'll get. But that has it's own downfalls, because there are many more flavours there than merely the ones you want to extract - elderberries, in particular, are high in tannin, which tends to turn the inside of your mouth into a furry moonscape. Then again, tannin aids tremendously in maturation and preservation. So - what are you after?

Let's do them one at a time, starting with the "don't leave for more than a day" merchant. Well, what's the point of putting the fruit in there at all? In one day, very little alcohol will have formed, very little dissolution of pigments and flavour-enhancing substances will have occurred - very little of anything, in fact, will have happened. What an utter waste of a day!

On the other hand, 8 to 9 days is an awful lot. Tannin extraction, especially with elderberries, will be maximised. That's going to mean a beautiful wine in ten years' time, but it's going to be undrinkable for at least three years. If that's OK, then fine - I don't want to wait that long. Besides which, the increased risk of infection of the must with all of those solids hanging around is too much to take.

Last year, I made a very decent elderberry wine (at 4 lbs of fruit per gallon) which was drinkable within a couple of months. It had 4 days on the pulp. I do not believe that the flavour could have improved with a longer pulp fermentation period.

That, then, is what I advise - 4 days, modified by ... 3 days on the pulp if you're after a light-bodied wine, 5 days on the pulp if you're after a long-term keeper. And that applies for any fruit, not just elderberries.

Hope that narrows it down a bit for you.

Mike

[Mullein]

Thanks Mike - a fantastically informative and common sense answer - as always...
I love your take on winemaking - keep writing!

[dave45]

Just in case you do overdo it and get over-tannic elderberry wine, I can recommend experimenting with blending. I had some mediocre wine that improved enormously when blended with 25% tannic elderberry. Blending caused it to throw a sediment though.

[Mullein]

As I sit here sipping the last glass of my elderberry wine, i thought I should post some feedback.

Mike - 4 days was perfect. I have never made such a fabulous homebrew! (she said modestly). Honestly though, everytime we had a glass we have a little bemused chuckle that I actually made this. Top advice Mike - thank you immensely!

As for blending Dave, I'm curious about that because i've got a demi-john of blackcurrant wine that's just a bit tart - but maybe i'll start another thread on that...

Cheers!
Claire

[MKG]

Mike

[frozenthunderbolt]

As I sit here sipping the last glass of my elderberry wine, i thought I should post some feedback.

Mike - 4 days was perfect. I have never made such a fabulous homebrew! (she said modestly). Honestly though, everytime we had a glass we have a little bemused chuckle that I actually made this. Top advice Mike - thank you immensely!

As for blending Dave, I'm curious about that because i've got a demi-john of blackcurrant wine that's just a bit tart - but maybe i'll start another thread on that...

Cheers!
Claire

So share the recipe then!

[Mullein]

Oh yeah! I was going to do this last night but then Rock and Chips came on...

900g elderberries
1.125Kg sugar
wine yeast
pectolase
water

having looked back at this recipe I see that Mr Bravery has given a note to modify the method for Elderberry by reducing the first fermentation to 5 days rather than 8-9 in the original method...

that method being:

cover fruit with water
boil then simmer until almost cooked
put sugar in a bucket
pour hot fruit and water on top and stir until dissolved
make up to 1 gallon with boiling water
leave to cool then add yeast
cover tightly and leave to ferment for [4 days]
strain and squeeze the pulp
add pectolase
pour into demi-john and fit airlock
when fermentation ceases decant into a clean demi-john
taste in small amounts - accompanied by growing amazement
when confident, decant into spare bottle and take round to friends house
accept praise graciously
contemplate giving out bottles as xmas presents but come to your senses and drink the rest yourselves

OK I've paraphrased Mr Bravery a bit. And actually, having looked back at the method i kind of took a bit of a freestyle tangent after "strain and squeeze the pulp" but, what the hell, the wine was LUSH!!! Can't wait for next Elderberry season!

ps - the Mr bravery in question is Mr HE Bravery of Home Booze fame - a great book. Excellent charity shop find. His Carrot Wine recipe is a bit of a favourite.

Cx

[frozenthunderbolt]

Many thanks! With my elderberries just coming ripe im fighting the birds for enough to brew with