Elderberries are literally everywhere at this time of year.. (late September). I went on a 30 min walk with my girlfriend and our little girl and came back with 2 carrier bags full. Once stripped using a fork I was left with 4 1/2 lb of berries. I tried to remove as many of the small stalks as possible but was left with a few, this doesn't seem to be an issue however. Then I stuck them in a container in the freezer until I managed to buy all the gear the following week!
I went to the local home brew shop (Stockport, UK) and picked up the basics.. a couple of glass demi-johns, big plastic fermenting tub, siphon tube, hydrometer, sterilising stuff etc and for this particular brew.... red wine yeast, nutrient and citric acid.
Once I had everything I needed, the deliberation started! I looked at literally hundreds of recipes and methods and changed my mind with each recipe. Eventually I decided to wing it and use a few for reference and make my own way through using the ingredients I had without buying anything else.
Here's my recipe and method. The recipes vary so much that I figured it's really down to personal taste and experience. Most recipes were for 3lb of fruit, this is for the full 4 1/2 lb.
INGREDIENTS
4.5 lb - Elderberries
2.5 pints - Boiled water
10 pints - Cold water
2kg - Sugar
1 sachet - Red wine yeast
1.5 tsp - Yeast nutrient
1.5 tsp - Citric acid
METHOD
1. I started by thawing the elderberries out. I heard through some research that freezing then thawing helps to break down the cell structure. (I have chosen not to 'mash' the berries at any point. After much reading up, they have a strong flavour with strong tannin. I figured freezing / thawing and the simmering and stirring would release more than enough juice and this way avoids crushing the seeds in the berries which can give a bad taste)
2. Then added the thawed berries to a large pan, then add the 2.5 pints of boiling water.
3. Simmering the mixture for around 15 minutes then added the 2kg of sugar. Stirring gently until all the sugar appears to be dissolved.
4. Once the sugar has been dissolved I took the pan off the heat and let the mixture cool slightly before pouring it into my sterilised tub.
5. Then I poured in 10 pints of cold water which brought the temp down to around 22c.
6. Now the mixture was a good temperature to add the yeast, I mixed up the full sachet of yeast with a little warm water and in 2 separate cups I also mixed the citric acid and the yeast nutrient with a small amount of warm water. Then added all to the tub and stirred gently.
7. I put the lid onto the tub and added the airlock but I've not put any water in the airlock at this point. I'm hoping it serves to just keep dirt / flies out during this stage.
8. I plan to leave this for around 5 days then siphon into the demi-johns..... TBC
9. It's been 5 days and i've decided it's time to get the wine strained into demi-johns. I started as always by sterilising the equipment thoroughly, including the straining cloth.
10. With a little help, I poured the wine through the cloth and funnel into the demi-john, resisting the urge to squeeze the berries once the funnel is full. I've heard this can make the wine taste rough.... (after filling a pan with all the used berries I was really surprised to see there was no missed wine at all in the bottom of the pan, so none left over without even the slightest squash!?!)
11. I added 2 Tbsp of sugar to one of the demi-johns before filling. Just as a little experiment to see which turns out better if there's any difference.
12. I fitted an air lock (filled with just enough water to cover half way up the bottom bowls) to both demi johns and labeled up which had sugar.
13. I plan to leave this for around 6 - 8 weeks before a sneaky taste and racking again...
14. Since my last post I have been a little busy! I racked the elderberry wine into 2 more Demi-johns and added 1tsp of pectolase to each to aid with the clearing. It left behind over an inch if sediment in each Demi John! I plan to bottle in another 4 weeks after clearing.
15. About 1 month later I've bottled the wine, tastes great, a little harsh but I'm sure that will smooth out with age. Looks clear though so I'm excited to drink it. Just brewed 2 batches if beer so look out for that posted soon!
