Another Evolutionary Step

montanaWineGuy · Sep 3, 2017

The old fashion steamer. Faster, easier, cheaper, is the way I like it. :db

I spent over 4 hours removing the elderberries from the stems and only got 1/2 way thru my 6 gallon buckets worth. Former once upon a time winemakers let me borrow this -- which I am definitely buying next year.

No more strainer bag, no more pectin enzyme, and the berries and vines get steamed together.

I did the first 1/2 and it looks like a quart of concentrated juice so far.

Dayum!!!!

bkisel · Sep 3, 2017

Never before heard of this method. The juice looks pretty awesome.

joeswine · Sep 3, 2017

Steam jicing had been around a long while.

montanaWineGuy · Sep 3, 2017

I'm thinking to juice as much Elderberries as possible and store it in the several old Pickle Jars (96oz) for making wine come spring time. Save me freezer space and take advantage of this loaner steamer.

montanaWineGuy · Sep 3, 2017

bkisel said:
Never before heard of this method. The juice looks pretty awesome.

It tastes pretty awesome too. The folks that loaned it to me process berries for the anti oxidants properties.

Kittycat · Sep 4, 2017

Isn't that how u make apple juice?

montanaWineGuy · Sep 4, 2017

Kittycat said:
Isn't that how u make apple juice?

Probably. One way at least. I always thought Apples were more crushed/pressed then steamed.

For me this is all about dealing with the vines. I just got an email from my generous friends. This steamer is being offered to me for $10, as they already have one, and this was purchased at a garage sale because it was such a bargain. :db

montanaWineGuy · Sep 4, 2017

Today I found a new and the best yet source of Elderberries. Rest of the day is processing these berries before going back for more.

montanaWineGuy · Sep 6, 2017

My first steamed Elderberry Juice has been fermenting along nicely -- in the fermentation bucket. I thought the bucket was primarily to extract the juice from the fruit, but since I skipped that step in steaming, why bother with the bucket. Fermentation is quite active even though it no longer has the natural yeast off the berries.

I'm just not sure. I have to move to a carboy today, I guess I will leave a good head space and see what happens with the foam/bubbles, whether or not they will breach the bung.

montanaWineGuy · Nov 8, 2017

Coming along. Racked the three batches, and lost only a gallon. The sediment was thick. Took a lot of flushing and shaking to get it all out. Super cold here, so I have now resigned myself that this will be bottled maybe sometime in April/May of 2018.

montanaWineGuy · Jan 16, 2018

After 2 months I did the last racking. Wow! Of the three 6 gallon carboys 2 were nearly perfect in taste. The 3rd a bit of sugar was added. I'll bottle this in a couple of months, but the question of steaming has been answered. I questioned about not fermenting with the berry skins and how that might effect the end product. Answer: No negative, in fact this is the best Elderberry I've made yet. :db

mikewatkins727 · Jan 17, 2018

montanaWineGuy said:
I'll bottle this in a couple of months, but the question of steaming has been answered.

So . . . montanaWineGuy, what was the question and what answer did you get about steaming?

Scooter68 · Jan 18, 2018

mikewatkins727 said:
So . . . montanaWineGuy, what was the question and what answer did you get about steaming?

Don't see a question - He was just sharing an experience for the rest of us to learn from or provide responses to if we have something to contribute.

Nice to hear what people are up to and results of new or different methods of producing wine.

Thanks MontanaWineGuy. I may not be a big fan of steaming or heating fruit juices for me but great to hear it working for you. Fortunately my wine production quantities are much lower than some so juice extraction is a lot easier for my wine making batches. (At present)

montanaWineGuy · Jan 18, 2018

The question was "What will be the wine quality, if the fermentation was done without the berry skins?".

I also added some plum wine to the last batch of Elderberry to fill the carboy space. The plum wine is a bit weak by itself, but might be just the thing to round out the strong Elderberry flavor. I pretty much have 3 six gallon carboys and they differ in strength. When it is time to bottle I will experiment in mixing the 3. If I can get one six gallon batch that stands above the others it will be set aside for aging for up to 3 to 4 years.

Another Evolutionary Step

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

montanaWineGuy

Senior Member

bkisel

Junior Member

joeswine

joeswine

montanaWineGuy

Senior Member

montanaWineGuy

Senior Member

Kittycat

Junior

montanaWineGuy

Senior Member

montanaWineGuy

Senior Member

montanaWineGuy

Senior Member

montanaWineGuy

Senior Member

montanaWineGuy

Senior Member

mikewatkins727

Well beyond middle age

Scooter68

Fruit "Wine" Maker

montanaWineGuy

Senior Member

Similar threads

Latest posts

Another Evolutionary Step

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

Senior Member

Junior Member

joeswine

Senior Member

Senior Member

Junior

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Well beyond middle age

Fruit "Wine" Maker

Senior Member

Similar threads

Join the conversation!

Join today and get all the highlights of this community direct to your inbox. It's FREE!