Matts Elderberry Wine.

[Matt Weir]

I thought I'd have a bash at this one. The recipe is the same as HFW in the River Cottage Cookbook.

I filled 5 gallon bucket with bunches of Elderberries (remembering to ask the Elder for permission and giving thanks after ).

People say use a fork to dislodge them but after a couple of minutes I thought 'stuff that for a game of soldiers' and resorted to a more hands (well fingers) on approach. I found the finger technique better as you can apply the best amount of pressure to leave the green and not-so-ripe berries on the stems.

I was left with this lot was about 6 -7 cupfulls...

Next I added 2 litres of boiling water...

Then gave them a good mushing up with the 'tater masher...

As I left that to cool I heated another 2 litres of water and stirred in 1Kg of caster sugar. When these were combined I added the juice and zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon and left that to simmer for 10 minutes...

I took some of the sweet orange and lemon liquid and left that to cool until luke warm then added a 6 gram packet of general use yeast and allowed that to develop into a nice frothy must...

Next when everything was cool I threw the lot together in the 5 gallon bucket and left it all to infuse for 24 hours. The day after I strained the mixture through muslin into demijohns (I have recently acquired some glass demijohns which I will use in future)...

As you can see the whole thing looked cloudy but I wrapped them up to maintain as even a temperature as possible...

... and after a week I racked them off.

I did this in early September and they are looking a lot darker and clearer now and it is time I racked it off into some bottles.

That's all for now but I'll update in 6 months or so. Watch this space...

 

[firebreather]

looking good mate but you might want to fill the demijohns up as it looked like there was too much air space in them. You can always add more sugar and yeast to get the alcohol content up if it proves to be a problem. we have found the air to be detrimental to the wine and it finished more like a sherry .........but if thats what your after then hey ho lol
Greg

 

[BushTucker]

lol, its like putting toast in lager..

 

[Matt Weir]

looking good mate but you might want to fill the demijohns up as it looked like there was too much air space in them. You can always add more sugar and yeast to get the alcohol content up if it proves to be a problem. we have found the air to be detrimental to the wine and it finished more like a sherry .........but if thats what your after then hey ho lol
Greg

Right cheers for that tip Greg. I had no idea about air reaction. The reason I did that was simply because I had too much for one demijohn so thought I'd just split it.

Ah well, it's been like that for about 1 month now so I'll just see how it turns out this time. To be honest I'm expecting it to be either the best ever created or lip curlingly nasty

 

[firebreather]

Its not bad just feels dry on the old palate and we dont particulary like our wine like that. What we do like is mind blowingly alcoholic that feels like pop when its being drunk.

SSSSHHHHHH even if its bad ........it was the best ever and you just had to drink it all................everybody else will have to wait for the next batch . I am going to shut up now before i give away all our secrets

Greg

 

[rich59]

Well done for having a go at the home made wine. The air over the top is not a problem in the active fermenting stage as it is very rapidly replaced by carbon dioxide. It is much more of a problem at the settling out stages. That is the time you want to keep out oxygen as much as possible.

 

[Matt Weir]

Cheers Rich,

I suppose I'd better bottle up this weekend then.

 

[mason]

Hi all,

I'm nearly 3 weeks into fermentation and have noticed a thin white, hint of green line around the top of the wine, I've got a bad feeling about it, please tell me it'll be ok.

 

[addo]

Hi all,

I'm nearly 3 weeks into fermentation and have noticed a thin white, hint of green line around the top of the wine, I've got a bad feeling about it, please tell me it'll be ok.

Think u may be ok but not near a book to check. u can get tablets to help clear/clean wine, although never used them.

Nice one matt, ive been using hugh's recipie for four years now. The elderberry/blackberry mix turns out sweet/dry and strong . One year after doing up my cellar, I decided to ferment my wine down there, which was a disaster as it was too cold. They are best at room temp for first 3-6 months, and pref for next 6 after racking.
Cold good for storage in bottles though, if u dont drink it all when its ready!

 

[Matt Weir]

Cheers Addo I need to exercise restraint I know Thanks for the temp tip as as well. Mine is in the bedroom as yet.

 

[dave k]

Hi all,

I'm nearly 3 weeks into fermentation and have noticed a thin white, hint of green line around the top of the wine, I've got a bad feeling about it, please tell me it'll be ok.

did you sterelize the containers before using? If you don't have any commercial stuff, a little bit of bleach in warm water, then rinsing out in lots of very hot water until you can't smell anything...

If you don't sterelize properly you don't give the yeast enough of a chance against any wild or present bacteria. I've had 2 batches go bad from this - one just went mouldy ( and really stank - last time I use ben law's birch sap wine recipe) and the other time it was infected with the ropey bacteria - makes it turn into like egg whites!!

 

[match]

Generally a line of anything that looks bacterial or fungal is a bad sign, but you might be in luck - not all infections actually cause any flavour changes to the wine.

The thing to do now is as follows:

Open both demijohns and taste - if it tastes foul, curse loudly and throw it out - it'll make a good addition to a compost heap though!

If it tastes ok, strain it all in a big container, and add campden tablets to the required strength (something like 1-2 tablets/gallon is about right). Cover and leave for 24-48 hours. this will kill off everything in the wine - both your wine yeast, and any bugs.

Now add a new amount of yeast (as you did when you started), and put back into the demijohns, but make sure that there's not much air space at the top (an inch or 2 is usually enough).

However, be aware that elderberries are rich in saponins (natural soap-like chemicals) - this means that they can often froth up and out the airlocks. If this happens, just remember to keep the airlocks clean, or leave a slightly bigger air-space between liquid and airlock.

Good luck!

 

[mason]

I did sterelize everything before hand. Oh well I guess I'll have to open it up tonight and cross my fingers that all is ok.

Match - The fermentation has slowed right down, almost stopped. Should I add more yeast or just drink the stuff before it has chance to get worse

 

[rich59]

Hi all,

I'm nearly 3 weeks into fermentation and have noticed a thin white, hint of green line around the top of the wine, I've got a bad feeling about it, please tell me it'll be ok.

I have been playing with fermenting things for years. I wouldn't do anything in a rush here. A few questions:-

Is it still bubbling?
Do you have some sort of air lock and is it working?

If yes to both then it can't be much of a problem.

If however it has been quiet for a week or so and air is getting in then it could be some unwanted growth.

 

[match]

If its nearly stopped fermenting, then everything is the same I described before, but without adding more yeast later. That way, you stop fermentation in the wine, either by yeast or bacteria, which should mean that when its in the bottle it doesn't start up again and pop out the corks. you can also add potassium sorbate (stops yeast cells multiplying) if you want to be really safe. Some people also chill the mix for 24 hours before bottling - this causes the yeast particulates and other bits to sediment out to the bottom, leaving a clearer wine with less things in it to affect the flavour.

Either way, you probably don't want to drink it for at least 3-6 months - elderberry wine can be very harsh when young, and is best kept a good while (some recommend up to 7 years - if you can wait that long! )