elderberry wine and updates on wild grape wine

I'm not sure I am using this blog correctly so if I should submit topics in a different way let me know. I have gotten some replies regarding my questions on wild grape wine and elderberry wine. I am sorry for not responding quickly sometimes to anyone but my internet has not been very reliable.

Well my new questions are concerning elderberry wine. I went through much discomfort collecting these little gems and I am not sure if what I am ending up with iswhat I am suppose to. First off everywhere elderberry was so too was the wonderful stinging nettle. So I spent a 24 hour painful skin stinging vibrating state. I have never had such a reaction to stinging nettle. Most times it goes away withing minutes. So I let the berries sit for a few days before I dealt with them. I was afraid I ruined them. Some on the bottom were already starting to mold. I sorted them and used the best ones and then went out a picked a few more. I found it very difficult to get all the green ones out. They are such small berries to sort through. Some were very ripe others were not. This is the reason for my questions. I'm not sure if I began the process to ensure a good end result.
What is it suppose to look and taste like once you remove the cap? I find it a little bitter hence maybe the green fruit not being removed. I'm not sure if I like the taste. I also thought the color would be a little more purple. It is more like a dark pink or rose color. I also might have ruined it by adding a bit more sugar a couple of days after the must was started.

Sorry for the long book I just wrote but I thought it would help to know the background info. Meanwhile I think my wild grape is doing great. It makes me want to pick one last bushel and make a little more before they all dry up.

Hey as long as you picked over as best you could and did an SO2 or campden for 24 hours before you are probably ok. FYI stinging nettles are good for arthritis, although they are very painful they lower inflammation in the joints nearest the stings. Hows that carpal tunnel doing now??

Hi Lilrob, This is my first time here but I saw your post and thought I'd pass a few comments.

Firstly I make only Elderberry wine. I have made around 50 imp. Gallons of it this year but I make it from dried berries rather than from fresh.

My first concern is that you describe your must colour as pink / rosy. I very much doubt you have enough berries in the recipe. The colour should be purple. If strained the liquid should be so dark that you cannot see through a glass of it. I very much doubt you are likely to get anything drinkable from your elderberries. I hope you prove me wrong however.

On the green elderberry problem it is easy to separate ripe from unripe berries if you place the berries in a large bowl or bucket and put cold water on them. Give them a gentle stir and the unripe ones will float to the surface where they can be skimmed off.

How many gallons are you making and what was your recipe?

I have a friend who uses the ratio 3 to 4 Kg of elderberries, 3-3.5 Kg Sugar to 10 litres of water for his wine.

I use 1.25Kg of dried berries and around 7Kg of Sugar to 22 litres of water.

Elderberries should not be left on primary fermentation for more than 4 days max as this will cause the tanin level to rise too high.

Elderberry wine improves with time. Often what tastes unpromising at a month or two will turn out very nicely.

If you can supply a full recipe and the times you've used for the processes I'll happily pass on any tips that I feel may be of use.

If anyone actually wants my fool proof Elderberry recipe let me know and I'll post it.

Good luck with your brew.

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate the helpful hints concerning the green berries. I followed a recipe I found in a book that I had. It was for making 1 gallon of wine. The problem that I have is that I am a newbie to wine making. I purchased a couple of wine making kits last year when I wanted to make crabapple wine. I only have 3 carboys. Two are for 6 gallons of wine the other is for 3gallons. I have mulberry in the smaller one and grape in the other 6 gallon. I had to have enough berries to make 5 or 6 gallons because I didn't want to buy another carboy. They tend to be a little expensive. At least for my budget. The recipe called for 3 pounds of elderberry per gallon of wine, 2 1/2 lbs. of sugar teaspon of acid blend , campden tablet and 7 pints of water. I added all ingredients and let set for about 24 hrs and then added the yeast. I didn't feel I had enough berries to begin with. I had to harvest from several different places and it was difficult to get enough. If the stem had more purple than green I went ahead and harvested them. Since they were not in my back yard where I could keep an eye on them I just went ahead and got them. I also don't even have a weight for measuring so I tried to estimate. That is the problem for not having the proper tools. I'm glad you mentioned the color. I thought it should have been darker. The reason I asked is that I could just pitch the must and consider it a loss and harvest some more grapes and use the carboy for that. Or do you think I could add something to this must or blend it with another to make use of it?

You might add some red grape concentrate, this will add color, some sugar, tannins, flavor and nutrients. I make a blueberry wine using red grape concentrate, however most of the color comes from the berries just like elderberries. I wish I had a good supply of them near me I had elderberry wine once and it was wonderful, comparable to any other good wine I have drank and better than most.

Hi Lilrob,

Sorry to say I reckon that your best bet is to dump your batch. I have been told that you can never take a good wine and blend it with a poor one and end up with anything other than double the quantity of poor wine.

Don't give up on the elderberries though. Next year give it another go. Make sure you get some scales. If not soon then let Santa know that's what you're after for Christmas.

Get a hydrometer too. If you can take SG readings these will help others help you if you get any problems with your wines.

Nowadays I find that the wealth of knowledge on wine forums is indispensable. There are so many people with so much experience that you will always get a hand when you need it. Research like crazy before you start a new recipe... know your enemy!

If you decide to give the elderberries another go then visit this webpage:
http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2007/08/scroll-down-for- english-version-ik-had.html

Scroll down through the Dutch and you'll find the article in English.

Luc really know's his stuff.

Good luck with your future efforts. As I said, I'd bin your batch and start something else but others may disagree. Whatever you do I wish you the best of luck with your wine making.

Cheers!

Becks.

DGreen what do you use for grape concentrate?

Um, grape concentrate. Winexpert brand, for winemaking. Not supermarket stuff.

Hi,
Just reading through your reply and wondered if you would be kind enough to send me your elderberry recipe for fresh berries, making 5 gallons. Recipes I have found on the net all seem to be for just 1 gallon!!! Many thanks, Roz

LilRob:
From what you are saying about the color it sounds like a 2nd elderberry wine I made last fall. It was more on the red side of color instead of the deep purple color of the elderberry I made first. I am no way and expert on this wine stuff. I am still experimenting myself. I used 10 lbs of berries and 10 lbs of sugar.I got these amounts from several recipes and came up with a number that sounded good to me. Please do not ask me what the SP was. I am still trying to understand that. I have a better understanding of it this year. I wil say the elderberry wine I made in the early fall of 2008 had a better taste in the summer of summer 2009. I now have 12 lbs of berries in the freezer that I will using this weekend along with peaches and watermelon juice. I am going to try a new elderberry recipe this year.

Well,I am pretty new at this but I am learning all the time. I just started last year making my first batch of wine. I tried crabapple because I had so many of them. It is drinkable but a little too acidic and it could be a little sweeter. Now that I know what could have gone wrong....my crabapple tree barely produced anything this year!

I ended up pouring out my elderberry wine. I just felt something was not right about it. It was bitter tasting and not the right color. I don't think I used enough berries. They were so hard to come by and I worked so hard getting them, it broke my heart to pour it out. If next year I find a good harvest I will try them again. Did you ever try drying them first like the other poster did? I have read that it produces a very good wine. What are you going to do with your peach and watermelon juice? (just curious). I started some pear wine that I am excited about. I think it may turn out!

The watermelon wine is a first for me. I need to get a couple more watermelons. I am using just the juice so I need to extract all of the juice from the meat, add no water.Then I am going to use the basic wine recipe for the most part. The only catch from what I have read is watermelon juice spoils fast. It has been suggested to put all the goodies together then store the mixture in the fridge for the first 24 hrs. Use a fast acting yeast and start it before hand. Then it is off to the races.
For the peach wine I use the basic wine recipe. This recipe has worked for me in the past so I am going to stick with it.
I know how much work it is to pick and destem 12 lbs of elderberries. It took my girlfriend and myself the good part of the day. I went out and picked and she helped me destem. I put them in the freezer as I didn't have time to get it started. This weekend is my wine weekend. I am hoping to make 5 gals each of elderberry, peach and watermelon. Then next weekend I am going to take a shot at 2nd elderberry.
Good Luck with your wine. Like I said I am by no means an expert but the wine I made last year was drinkable. I will help anyway I can. Just ask.

Roz use the same recipe, multiply by five but only use one package of yeast.

DG Why don't you like the grocery concentrate?

It's concord. In a word, tannins. The better kind like you can get from your homebrew store is made from wine grapes and has better tannins and flavors. I have used the grocery store stuff in a pinch but the quality is not the same and it's been boiled and pasturized and processed etc. The other has been too but less so, just hit with a heavy dose of sulfite to preserve it.

just a quick note.i was looking for info on wild grape wine and found this site.
i just corked up 20 bottles of elderberry wine.
this had been in a carboy for about 4 years with a air lock.
i picked 2,five gallon dry wall buckets of berry's,bunches and all.ran water over them to get off the bugs and such,trimmed away as much of the stalk as i could without wasting a lot of time on it.
put the berry's in a tub with about five gallons of water and ten pound of sugar and some good Red Star wine yeast and let it ferment for a week or so crushing and working the mash around.then strained and put in the carboy with more sugar and let sit.
turned out great,smooth and lots of flavor with a alcohol content of 13-14%..much better than the backyard grape wine that burned on the way down and is a deep dark corner of the basement mellowing-i hope.

Sounds good. I think the othe will mellow tho, give it time. If you have a very tannic wine it can take a while to mellow but it will sure be worth it.

DG..about the grape wine that is very strong,a half glass for taste before it was corked up really knocked me out,i told my buddys it was "jungle juice".anyway i put a few sticks of dry oak from a tree in my yard in the carboy.i also charred them with a propane torch with the idea that i would get a "charred oak barrel" taste..wrong?..did i add tannin when i did that.?

Your Elderberry wine sounds like the 2nd Elderberry I make. I found that my 1st batch the flavor and body got so much better after several months of aging. As a matter of fact I made 5 gals of watermelon and I do not care for the taste so I put it into 1 gal bottles and will let it age and see what happens,