# Elderberry Wine (Dried Elders)



## SPAF (Sep 22, 2013)

Just racked to secondary the following recipe with corresponding notes. Any constructive comments for next time are welcomed:

5-gallons 
14SEP2013
Ingredients:
2Lbs. Elderberries, dried
10 Lbs. Sugar
5 Gal. Water
2.5 Tsp. Pectinase
4 Tsp. Acid Blend
3 Tablets K-MetaBiSulf (Campden)
5 Tsp. yeast nutrient (DAP) (staggered in 1/3 additions throughout primary ferment)

Must Data
SG (adj): 1.096 = 12.5% PA
pH: 3.5

Soak must 24 hours for pectinase reactions.

Primary Ferment
1st 1/3 yeast nutrient addition.
Make yeast starter: Red Star Montrachet and must/water mixture.
Ferment to dry. (Predicted 12.5% ABV)
Add 2nd 1/3 yeast nutrient on day 3, and final 3rd yeast nutrient addition on day 5.

Day 3: SG 1.041
pH: 3.5
Temp (°F): 81

Day 4:
SG: 1.021
Temp: 73°F (cooled using evaporation system)

Day 6:
SG: 0.995
Temp: 72.9°F
ABV: 13.2%

Day 8:
SG: 0.992

Day 9: 22September2013
SG 0.992

Rack to Carboy (5-gallons)
1 tablet K-MetaBiSulf (Campden)
1.5 oz. American Oak cubes; Medium toast


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## SPAF (Oct 21, 2013)

1-month notes--

Initial tasting yesterday of both the melomel and the straight wine (5-gallon each):

Elderberry essence really comes out with an awesome, dark hue. Smells pretty young still, as it should, but can tell it'll turn out great in 6 months. Taste of the mead was a bit rough; again rightfully so for being so immature. Definitely can pick up the slight oakiness that's coming through from the medium toast cubes. The wine has a pretty clean flavor, cleaner than any other wine I've made at this 1-month point. Not enough oak yet though, so at least another month on the cubes.

I had my wine-snob wanna-be brother taste test both as well, and he was blown away by the flavor profiles that this little fruit makes. He's definitely converted.

Next update in 30 days.


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## seth8530 (Oct 21, 2013)

Could you post some pictures? Pictures are cool.


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## Julie (Oct 22, 2013)

I am not sure how much 2# of dried elderberries would equal to fresh berries but I normally use 4# per gallon so I am not sure if you have enough berries. Did you taste it yet?


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## SPAF (Oct 22, 2013)

Julie, you use 4Lbs fresh? 2Lbs dried worked great. Ya I tasted it. I could see adding more but honestly the quantity I used made a very good-bodied wine.


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## Julie (Oct 22, 2013)

SPAF said:


> Julie, you use 4Lbs fresh? 2Lbs dried worked great. Ya I tasted it. I could see adding more but honestly the quantity I used made a very good-bodied wine.


 
Well that's all that counts!. I didn't find anything wrong with what you have done so far and I would love for you to post how that oak worked in your elderberry. I am very interested in that.


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## jswordy (Oct 22, 2013)

Dried elderberry is one I've wanted to try. Dunno if I'd like the taste, though, some people do and some don't, I hear. Sounds great.


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## SPAF (Oct 22, 2013)

Julie, I'll do a write up next month specifically about the elderberry's ability to blend with oaking, once I'm able to get a bit more extracted out.

Last poster, the closest taste to a 'normal' euro-style grape wine I would associate this elderberry wine to would be a Pinot noir. In fact, my independent taster (brother) was the one who tagged it with that comparison. I completely agree with his opinion once I heard him say it.


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## SPAF (Oct 22, 2013)

seth8530 said:


> Could you post some pictures? Pictures are cool.



Pictures as requested.


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## ckvchestnut (Oct 22, 2013)

Nice! My elderberries are at the 4 week mark an I'll be doing my 1st racking this week. I have one of the batches on 100% dark chocolate can't wait to sample it. Haven't got my hands on any oak yet would have like to try it on one of the batches. What kind of oak did you use?


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## seth8530 (Oct 22, 2013)

Wow, that is quite a bit darker than I would of imagined it would of been.


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## SPAF (Oct 22, 2013)

Wow! Cocoa, now that's thinking outside the box. I like it... I racked mine off the yeast cake at about 2 weeks I think. I don't know it's
In my notes. Today is 1 month on American oak medium toast cubes. I added more oak today. I had some American oak chips that I toasted myself in the oven to about a light-medium toast. 1) my house smells freaking amazing right now, and 2) I'll keep both the wine and the melomel in oak for another month before bottling a few days before Thanksgiving. In total, there will be 3.5 ounces of oak in each 5-gallon carboy at the end of bulk aging; 1.5 oz. for 1 month and 3.5 oz. for 1 month (original 1.5 oz + additional 2 oz.). The reason I'm only doing a total of 2 months bulk aging is that I'm concerned with oxidation in the mead carboy. There's only 4.5 gallons in there so there's a little headspace.


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## ckvchestnut (Oct 22, 2013)

That sounds wonderful! Wel I wanted to rack off the lees earlier but the recipe I was following stated to just rack off lees into bottle at 6 weeks. Then I decided on the chocolate so decided to bulk age in the carboys since I don't have the headspace issue. In fact I had to draw some off after adding the chocolate.

Now I do remember about using the American oak medium toast. I have huge white oak trees on my property and am now wondering if I could toast some of that and try that? 

Seth: this is my first experience with the elderberry wine and mine is from fresh berries from my property and you wouldn't believe the intensity of the colour these give in such a short amount of time. I tried to do a blush as a 2nd run on my elderberries that had fermented to .990 in my first wine, but didn't press them first and only kept the fruit in the 2nd must for 2-3 days to allow the ferment to start. My 'blush' is exactly the colour of the dragon blood!


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## SPAF (Oct 22, 2013)

The dried elderberries have awesome color extraction. regarding American oak, I live in the Lowcountry, SC, and we have an abundance of oak growing on just about everyone's property. I'm telling you the flavors of American oak are more intense than French oak, which seems to me to fit perfectly with he intense flavor of elderberry. It's all about the balancing act with wine.


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## ckvchestnut (Oct 23, 2013)

SPAF said:


> The dried elderberries have awesome color extraction. regarding American oak, I live in the Lowcountry, SC, and we have an abundance of oak growing on just about everyone's property. I'm telling you the flavors of American oak are more intense than French oak, which seems to me to fit perfectly with he intense flavor of elderberry. It's all about the balancing act with wine.



Thanks! I looked up the white oak and it's the same species so I have an option to try! I appreciate your feedback!


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## ckvchestnut (Oct 23, 2013)

I just took a small taste of my big red elderberry and my blended batch (blended 3 gals of the big red and 3 gals of my red blush batch) wow wow wee wow! The big red has that mocha ish flavour I think coming from the chocolate I have it on. It's only been in the secondary for just over a month though but it does seem like it's missing something. What it has now is the deep dark flavour but would the toasted oak add perhaps a sense of spiciness to the mouthfeel of this? The blended batch tastes like a delightful fruity Beaujolais of sorts! It almost seems ready to drink which gets me excited to think that it will turn out really well. It's not really acidic tasting either like a lot of young wines! I'm going to save aside some elderberries next year and dry them to add to other wines as I think they will add a nice element to others such as my concord.

Sorry for another question but at what temp did u toast your oak and for how long? Until it's a medium brown colour?


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## SPAF (Oct 23, 2013)

I'd advise an oak addition if you want an extra layer. Take a look at what flavor profiles the different oak varieties will bring to the table. And then look at what each toast level brings. I chose an American for the more rough-n-ready boldness. I then chose medium toast for some slight vanillins from the caramelized layer below the char, yet still retaining some of the rounded tannic qualities of fresh wood.


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## SPAF (Oct 23, 2013)

Oh and my first addition of medium toast cubes were pre-toasted for me.

The second addition of raw chips I toasted myself on the broiler. Each oven is different but I broiled on low heat so I could monitor the charring easier. Oh and open all your doors and windows and shut off your fire alarms haha.


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## ckvchestnut (Oct 23, 2013)

SPAF said:


> I'd advise an oak addition if you want an extra layer. Take a look at what flavor profiles the different oak varieties will bring to the table. And then look at what each toast level brings. I chose an American for the more rough-n-ready boldness. I then chose medium toast for some slight vanillins from the caramelized layer below the char, yet still retaining some of the rounded tannic qualities of fresh wood.



That sounds like a good choice. I too would be looking for a slight vanilla flavour. This a topic that I clearly know nothing about and more research is in order... So much to learn! I think I do need to add this as a layer as the chocolate has brought it to a much bolder deeper flavour than what it was prior. I'm also thinking of cinnamon and clove.


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## ckvchestnut (Oct 23, 2013)

SPAF said:


> Oh and my first addition of medium toast cubes were pre-toasted for me. The second addition of raw chips I toasted myself on the broiler. Each oven is different but I broiled on low heat so I could monitor the charring easier. Oh and open all your doors and windows and shut off your fire alarms haha.



Ok thanks for the tips lol! I may just try it!


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## SPAF (Oct 23, 2013)

I personally am not into spiced wines (although technically oaking isn't Not a spicing, albeit one of long tradition). But sounds like a good Christmas special.

And yep, just find a few articles to read in the winemaking magazine about the science behind oak aging.


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## ckvchestnut (Oct 23, 2013)

SPAF said:


> I personally am not into spiced wines (although technically oaking isn't Not a spicing, albeit one of long tradition). But sounds like a good Christmas special. And yep, just find a few articles to read in the winemaking magazine about the science behind oak aging.




Yes I will thank you. I'm not really going for so much spice that it will taste like your Christmas wine treat - more on less so subtle that it leaves you pondering what those flavors are. So we'll see how it turns out. Today the big red got only 1 tbsp vanilla extract, 1 clove, 1 anise star and 2 cinnamon sticks. Let's hope for the best lol! Until then I'm looking for magazine articles!


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## ckvchestnut (Jan 3, 2014)

Update! This wine turned out to be the most wonderful wine I have made so far! I'm in love! It turned out to be a robust, fruity flavour with mellow mocha and vanilla on the finish. Just sort of melds together in your mouth and promoting utter euphoria! Thank gosh I took thorough notes on what I did so I can replicate this next year! Wow and who says it has to age at least a year before elderberry can taste relatively good! 

I didn't get around to oaking this wine and perhaps a year from now it might benefit from some but maybe not. Just amazing! The only thing that I added in the primary apart from the elderberries was 2 cans of white grape concentrate just to diversify the flavour a bit. 

I gave several bottles away for Christmas it was that good


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## FTC Wines (Jan 4, 2014)

Ckv...Be sure to let some age. I have a batch of dried Elderberry Wine that is now 3.5 yrs old. It came into its own at 18 mo, & improved till 3 yrs. used 5 packages of dried berries to 5 gals, if memory is good, as per E C Krause. Later batches tried 6 packs but we liked it with 5 better. It's my sons favorite wine! My Grandfather made Elderberry Wine but I never got to taste his! Roy


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## ckvchestnut (Jan 4, 2014)

Thanks Roy! I am doing that for sure! I have never tried elderberry wine up til now and have never had any made with dried elderberries either. I wonder what the differences are in taste? We planted elderberries I think the 2nd year after we moved here and last summer really was the first year I harvested them for winemaking. It was definitely worth the wait to get a full crop for 18 gallons of wine - it's really good! I can't wait til next year! I'm thinking if I end up with extras instead freezing them all, I'll dry some, it must add to the overall body or mouthfeel as well as flavour!


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## WVMountaineerJack (Jan 4, 2014)

Our favorite is dried elderberry mead made with dark honey and med toasted oak. We also found a vineyard that grows elderberries in VA and they make their own elderberry chocolate syrup, yes we have backseetend with their syrup, chocolate and elders and oak go together so well. Our latest is a Elders Blood Bochetomel made with caremlized honey, dried elders and cocal nibs. WVMJ


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## ckvchestnut (Jan 5, 2014)

WVMountaineerJack said:


> Our favorite is dried elderberry mead made with dark honey and med toasted oak. We also found a vineyard that grows elderberries in VA and they make their own elderberry chocolate syrup, yes we have backseetend with their syrup, chocolate and elders and oak go together so well. Our latest is a Elders Blood Bochetomel made with caremlized honey, dried elders and cocal nibs. WVMJ



OMG that sounds Devine! You're inspiring me to try new things next fall! I LOVED the chocolate in this wine for sure! I might try my hand at some syrup. How long did you oak for again? I hope it's not back here in this thread I'd better go read again... My daughter is on a trip with her BF in Montreal and they brought a bottle with them, she said it was lovely and they could just taste a hint of the chocolate... To me when I taste it, it just sort of hits the top of your palate as it's going down and then lingers... Too bad it's only 11am or I'd go have a taste lol! With the 1 tbsp of pure vanilla extract it seems to give it that mellow mocha taste as well. In addition to those I used anise star and 1 stick cinnamon and 1 clove... Can't taste it readily in the wine but wonder if it did have some kind of impact on the flavour.


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## WVMountaineerJack (Jan 5, 2014)

Check out our elderberry page, we grow a bunch of them and thought we were going to have a record crop this year until a stupid little fruit fly showed up and all the berries just fell off the plants. We were already organizing to dry many pounds of them. We like to soak the berrie overnight in warm water and then gently simmer for about 20 minutes and only leave the fruit in about 3 days or just go ahead and drain them so the tannins dont get out of hand. These dried elderberries are so much different than the fresh ones, kind of like rasians and grapes are different, with what I think you will agree a deep flavor profile. We are going to sacarfice a lot of flowers next spring for adding to ciders and leave enough to hope to get some berries if the flies were just passing thru or this very cold spell knocked them back a bit. WVMJ


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## ckvchestnut (Jan 5, 2014)

Certainly I'll go check it out! That's terrible you had some kind of fly ruin your crop?? We had those spit bugs the first few years of growth but I dealt with them manually, haven't seen any flies on them as of yet... What did they look like? Yes I can only imagine the more earthy type flavour the dried elderberries would impart! Kim definitely going to dry some. So you simmer them and then dry them? Or sorry... Your instructions were a bit fuzzy I wasn't sure if you were referring to making syrup or prepping berries for the must or drying them! 

Do you have a website? I thought maybe there's be a link on your profile?


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## WVMountaineerJack (Jan 6, 2014)

No we pick the berries, and put them in a dehydrator. The cooking is part of using them for making wine. The last line in this post has my sig with webpage. We had two spotted drosophila, hoping this cold weather wipes them out! WVMJ



ckvchestnut said:


> Certainly I'll go check it out! That's terrible you had some kind of fly ruin your crop?? We had those spit bugs the first few years of growth but I dealt with them manually, haven't seen any flies on them as of yet... What did they look like? Yes I can only imagine the more earthy type flavour the dried elderberries would impart! Kim definitely going to dry some. So you simmer them and then dry them? Or sorry... Your instructions were a bit fuzzy I wasn't sure if you were referring to making syrup or prepping berries for the must or drying them!
> 
> Do you have a website? I thought maybe there's be a link on your profile?


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## seth8530 (Jan 6, 2014)

ckvchestnut said:


> OMG that sounds Devine! You're inspiring me to try new things next fall! I LOVED the chocolate in this wine for sure! I might try my hand at some syrup. How long did you oak for again? I hope it's not back here in this thread I'd better go read again... My daughter is on a trip with her BF in Montreal and they brought a bottle with them, she said it was lovely and they could just taste a hint of the chocolate... To me when I taste it, it just sort of hits the top of your palate as it's going down and then lingers... Too bad it's only 11am or I'd go have a taste lol! With the 1 tbsp of pure vanilla extract it seems to give it that mellow mocha taste as well. In addition to those I used anise star and 1 stick cinnamon and 1 clove... Can't taste it readily in the wine but wonder if it did have some kind of impact on the flavour.



I am glad your elderberry wine looks like it is turning out. I would not mess with it way too much at this point and take more of a wait and see attitude for now. Perhaps some oak would be cool.

I have never had elderberry anything before so I can only imagine how it taste.


WVMountaineerJack said:


> Our favorite is dried elderberry mead made with dark honey and med toasted oak. We also found a vineyard that grows elderberries in VA and they make their own elderberry chocolate syrup, yes we have backseetend with their syrup, chocolate and elders and oak go together so well. Our latest is a Elders Blood Bochetomel made with caremlized honey, dried elders and cocal nibs. WVMJ



That mead sounds pretty dang good, I must admit I am a bit jealous of your edible plants and your mead.


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## ckvchestnut (Jan 6, 2014)

WVMJ ok thanks for the clarification I'll have to look up those flies! Hmmm I'm on the mobile forum app and it doesn't show signatures or websites I'll go on my laptop!

Seth: ya I'm leaving this batch alone, it's bottled up and aging in bottles now as i needed the carboys so we'll see what they taste like next fall! 

Some people may not like elderberry but I love it, it's not overly unique to the point of being peculiar but it's a refreshing change from the usual grape wines...


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## wineforfun (Jan 6, 2014)

Did you put chocolate in the secondary? or how exactly did you go about adding the chocolate and vanilla?
I may do that with my second carboy but am leaning toward leaving it straight elderberry since the other carboy is already oaked.


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## ckvchestnut (Jan 6, 2014)

wineforfun said:


> Did you put chocolate in the secondary? or how exactly did you go about adding the chocolate and vanilla? I may do that with my second carboy but am leaning toward leaving it straight elderberry since the other carboy is already oaked.



I put 300 gms of unsweetened pure dark bakers chocolate in my 6 gallon batch in the secondary and 1 tbsp of pure vanilla extract as well as 1 clove, 1 anise star and a long cinnamon stick broken up. Not sure what affect the other things had on my wine but the overall effect on the flavour profile was a mellow mocha flavour mixed with round berry flavours that is just sumptuous! It's not overpowering though at all I can still taste the full flavour of the elderberries. I remember after I racked it after a month of being on the chocolate and other stuff that the smell and taste seemed too strong. So I racked it off the chocolate and all the flavours toned down and melded together perfectly.


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## wineforfun (Jan 6, 2014)

Thank you. Sounds very tasty.


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## ckvchestnut (Jan 6, 2014)

Welcome look forward to hearing updates!


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## SPAF (Jan 11, 2014)

Update with latest tasting notes:

I brought a bottle home to VA for my parents on Christmas. We had a little tasting event in the house before dinner with some cheeses and sausages and man did it turn out spectacular. My dad was amazed how different (pleasantly that is) this is compared to anything he's had before, and he's a hard skeptic to impress. Here's a copy of my notes:

"25-Dec-2013
Tasting: Definite honey aroma. Berry-front flavor with quick punch of acidity and slight non-persisting astringency. Good body through mid-palate. Hint of honey at back-end. Paired well with goat cheese. Would not recommend for main course. Rather, very good choice as aperitif with charcuterie. Would do well with oak-barrel aging. Overall, very impressed with this Eldermel."

Pic attached:


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## SPAF (Jan 12, 2014)

To clarify, I seem to have mixed up this thread with both my straight wine and my honey-wine. I'm obviously talking about the honey-wine now. Pretty much every note taken thus far has been about the melomel.


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## vernsgal (Jan 12, 2014)

ckvchestnut said:


> Some people may not like elderberry but I love it, it's not overly unique to the point of being peculiar but it's a refreshing change from the usual grape wines...



When I 1st went to spagnols, the 'then owner' told me,quote "you add elderberries to everything" . I don't follow that anymore but I do know it adds a whole new flavor to your wine!


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## WVMountaineerJack (Jan 12, 2014)

Do you mean they were adding it to their kits?? Elderberries are great to add to other red wines, justify adding them as a tannin source, a kick up in color and adding a little flavor behind your main fruit - at home. We just opened a red currant plus dried elderberry well oaked started Christmas 2010 and in the bottle for a year and a half, perfect blend of acid and flavor from the currants, color and tannins from the elders and the oak just compliments them both so well. This is the last batch with red currants, the bushes dont do so well here and only live a couple of years before some fungus takes them out. So glad we put elderberries in this, we can stretch out the aging over a longer time with them in there. WVMJ



vernsgal said:


> When I 1st went to spagnols, the 'then owner' told me,quote "you add elderberries to everything" . I don't follow that anymore but I do know it adds a whole new flavor to your wine!


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## ckvchestnut (Jan 12, 2014)

Yes I definitely am glad we decided to plant the elderberries 6 years ago, I didn't realize just how versatile they were going to become! So many possible uses!


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## vernsgal (Jan 12, 2014)

WVMountaineerJack said:


> Do you mean they were adding it to their kits??


Yup. A lot of their kits came with dried elderberries. Keep in mind, this was back in 2009. I haven't bought 1 from them lately that have them


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## WVMountaineerJack (Jan 12, 2014)

So the kits had a little pack of dried elderberries but not already mixed in, I think that a great idea, wonder if they would sell the dried ones on the side like they do with F pacs? WVMJ


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## vernsgal (Jan 13, 2014)

WVMountaineerJack said:


> So the kits had a little pack of dried elderberries but not already mixed in, I think that a great idea, wonder if they would sell the dried ones on the side like they do with F pacs? WVMJ



they do. You can buy them in a variety of sizes.You're supposed to rehydrate them in hot water then toss in your must. I always keep a few bags of them on hand.


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## SPAF (Jan 14, 2014)

WVMountaineerJack said:


> ... We also found a vineyard that grows elderberries in VA... WVMJ



Do you mind sharing who they are? I'm in South Carolina and would love to find a grower within a 500 mile radius or so.


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## jamesbsmith (Aug 10, 2014)

How does dried elderberry wine compare to fresh elderberry wine? (I know a quarter of the amount is needed for dried).

The elderberries are almost ripe here, but I only have limited fermenters, and freezer space, so it would be nice to be able to make it whenever using dried!


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## Julie (Aug 10, 2014)

James, I made a post on another thread where you were asking about using dried elderberries. Have you looked in our recipe section? I think there are threads about using dried elderberries and if you don't get an answer from there contact WVMountaineer he is our expert on elderberries.


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## WVMountaineerJack (Aug 10, 2014)

Not an expert, I just like to talk about them a lot. I have recipe for dried elderberry on our webpage. I think the dried ones give a richer taste, kind of like using raisans vs grapes but not that huge of a difference as the elders dry so much faster. WVMJ


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## Julie (Aug 10, 2014)

Well I think you are the expert, if I would have a problem with an elderberry wine you are the person I'm going to pm!


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## WVMountaineerJack (Aug 11, 2014)

Just read the univ penn update on spotted wing drosophila, trap numbers are up dramatically this week in PA, MD!!! WVMJ

http://extension.psu.edu/plants/tree-fruit/news/2014/swd


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## jamesbsmith (Aug 12, 2014)

Hi guys,

I found a really nice looking recipe on here by "Becks The Elder". Looks like shes put in a lot of work there, so I look forward to trying the recipe.

As I love elderberry wine, I wanted to make a few variations, so I ran the recipe through the YoBrew wine calcs.

Just a couple of things I have noticed with the original recipe was that the wine is likely to come out (with 250g elderberries, 250g raisins and 1280g sugar per UK Gallon), at 17% ABV, 0.45% acidity and 0.13% tannin! I think that most yeasts wont ferment that high, so I would probably reduce the sugar by 80% to get a dry wine with ABV of about 13.5%, (i.e. 700g white sugar and 320g soft light brown sugar per UK gallon).

Also, the acidity is quite low for a red wine as it stands at 0.45%, with reds typically being between 0.5 to 0.65%. There is probably then scope for adding in some more "fruit". I would cap elderberries at 250g dried berries per UK gallon (as you have due to their high tannin content), so you could add in 500g of fresh fruit or berries, or 125g dried, or maybe half a litre of red grape juice. As the extra fruit would also contain sugar (say approx. 10% for fresh or 40% for dried), the total sugar content could be reduced further by 50g when adding in the extra fruit, (giving 660g white sugar and 280g light soft brown).

I think that Becks' recipe could be used as a really nice base, with these new sugar levels, with additions of combinations of extra fruit. Im going to trial a few combinations using the following recipes for a UK gallon (going off my thinking above):

660g White Sugar & 280g Soft Light Brown Sugar
Cover with water and boil to dissolve. Allow to cool, and add to demijohn along with:
250g Chopped Raisins OR 1 L Red Grape Juice
250g Dried Elderberries,
500g Fresh / Frozen / Tinned Blackberries / Blueberries / Cherries / Plums / Raspberries (If tinned account for extra white sugar) / 500ml Red Grape Juice / 125g Raisins,
2 Teaspoons Pectic Enzyme,
1 crushed campden tablet per gallon.
Leave for 24 hours, then add:
1 Teaspoon Yeast Nutrient,
Gervin GV2 Yeast.
Ferment on pulp for 4 days, strain and top up to a gallon. 
Ferment to dry and mature for 6 to 12 months.

In US Gallons, that recipe would be:
560g White Sugar & 235g Soft Light Brown Sugar
Cover with water and boil to dissolve. Allow to cool, and add to demijohn along with:
210g Chopped Raisins OR 840ml Red Grape Juice
210g Dried Elderberries,
420g Fresh / Frozen / Tinned Blackberries / Blueberries / Cherries / Plums / Raspberries (If tinned account for extra white sugar) / 420ml Red Grape Juice / 105g Extra Raisins,
2 Teaspoons Pectic Enzyme,
1 crushed campden tablet per gallon.
Leave for 24 hours, then add:
1 Teaspoon Yeast Nutrient,
Gervin GV2 Yeast.
Ferment on pulp for 4 days, strain and top up to a gallon. 
Ferment to dry and mature for 6 to 12 months.

The extra fruit could always be added after the initial 3 weeks when fermentation has slowed down a bit, as this may retain a bit more of the flavour of the late added fruit.

Cant wait to try Becks recipe and a few different combinations! The elderberries are almost ripe now (4 times the dried amount would be used). Ive also bought some dried ones so I can do both!


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## jamesbsmith (Aug 12, 2014)

Sorry - here is the link for Becks' recipe 
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f5/my-dried-elderberry-wine-recipe-4376/


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