Big idea... maybe

[Sunshine Wine]

Okay, so I have an idea. I have some elderberries in the freezer that I had used for elderberry syrup. I always save the remaining berries to use one more time to make jelly with. But they have a hint of cinnamon and clove flavor from the syrup mixture. Does anyone think that those berries might be a good idea for wine? Or should I just stick to the jelly? Lol...

 

[dralarms]

Absolutely, elderberry makes a wonderful wine.

 

[Sunshine Wine]

Absolutely, elderberry makes a wonderful wine.

But what about the cinnamon and clove flavor?

 

[Rice_Guy]

Food is hedonic, that means if YOU like the spices in jam you will probably like them in wine. The spices will not hurt or help the yeast in their work.

But what about the cinnamon and clove flavor?

As an after thought I have to wonder how one jalapeño and some ginger would be with elderberry. For me the standard is to run a bench trial with ingredients before I commit a carboy for a few months.

 

[Sunshine Wine]

Food is hedonic, that means if YOU like the spices in jam you will probably like them in wine. The spices will not hurt or help the yeast in their work.

Thank you! I may have my next batch to get started.

 

[Sunshine Wine]

Will it matter that they have been used for the syrup first?

 

[Rice_Guy]

Will it matter that they have been used for the syrup first?

We have second wines in grape. You are asking if there is enough flavor left. This is bench trial time, mix in a jar roughly the ratios water berry and taste. My elderberry has a backbone of concord grape so I am sure mine would be hedonic. ,,, and if on tasting I wanted more spice I can add that in after racking.

 

[Sunshine Wine]

We have second wines in grape. You are asking if there is enough flavor left. This is bench trial time, mix in a jar roughly the ratios water berry and taste. My elderberry has a backbone of concord grape so I am sure mine would be hedonic. ,,, and if on tasting I wanted more spice I can add that in after racking.

Sounds good!

 

[Sunshine Wine]

Sounds good!

So I would put equal amounts of water and berries? i.e. 4 oz berries to 4 oz water.

 

[BernardSmith]

How much water did you use to make the syrup? You want about the same richness of flavor for a wine than you would want if you were making a non alcoholic drink from berries. Many people aim for three or four pounds of fruit when they make one gallon of wine (so that might be 2:1 water to weight of fruit (since a gallon of water weighs 8 lbs). I tend to prefer to use as little water as possible (in my book adding water is called dilution) and instead express as much juice as I can from the fruit itself. If you have only a few ounces of fruit you may simply want to add the fruit you have to another batch of wine (say, hibiscus). I would also add pectic enzymes to break down any pectins and to allow the wine to clear bright, but the enzymes also help extract juice.

 

[Scooter68]

Based on several others recipes Elderberries seems to be VERY flavorful and I have seen several threads referencing recipes that used around 4 lbs per gallon or even less. So it sounds like a win-wine Situation for you there. Only concern would be what Bernard mentioned about the amount of water used initially - but again depending on if the berries were boiled or somehow lost some of their original water content. Keep us posted

 

[Sunshine Wine]

They were originally sim

Based on several others recipes Elderberries seems to be VERY flavorful and I have seen several threads referencing recipes that used around 4 lbs per gallon or even less. So it sounds like a win-wine Situation for you there. Only concern would be what Bernard mentioned about the amount of water used initially - but again depending on if the berries were boiled or somehow lost some of their original water content. Keep us posted

They were originally dried berries simmered up to just to the boiling point for about 45 minutes or so for the syrup. It calls for 2/3 cup dried berries to 3 to 4 cups of water. Then once they were simmered you pressed them to release the juices. When I make jelly from the remaining berries, it is still VERY good, even though they were used once.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Sunshine there are enough variables that you will have to go by taste intensity.

 

[Rembee]

How much syrup would you estimate you have to use?

 

[Sunshine Wine]

How much syrup would you estimate you have to use?

I usually do a triple batch and it makes about 4 quarts.

 

[balatonwine]

Interesting thread.

All our elderberry production now goes to my wife's jam making.

She has been so very successful at making wonderful jam that everyone seems to love, and plus her being so able at distributing it effectively, wine making seems pointless for us (and more people seem to like jam in the morning than wine in the evening). Ergo, I do not even bother making wine from elderberries anymore. And also fully to be true soon of our red and black mulberries. The only exception is our white mulberries. Those still go to the dryer.

 

[Rembee]

I usually do a triple batch and it makes about 4 quarts.

Great! So if you have 4 quarts then you can make a gallon batch. Check the SG and the ph and make adjustments as necessary to reach your starting target of the must.

 

[Rembee]

If the syrup has a SG of 1.050 or better then your good to go. Adding what little water you may need should not effect the SG that much.
If not then you can adjust with sugar. But at least with 4 quarts of syrup you will have enough to make 1 or maybe 2 gallons. It depends on how thick and the SG of the syrup.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I think you said you do a mulberry wine? What recipie?

And also fully to be true soon of our red and black mulberries. The only exception is our white mulberries. Those still go to the dryer.

 

[balatonwine]

I think you said you do a mulberry wine? What recipie?

I do not use a recipe. It is more a method and process. Varies yearly, and between batches. The basic fruit processing process can be found at one my blogs (side note: I only work from fresh fruit, I never cook the berries):

https://stcoemgen.com//?s=mulberry&search=Go
After that, it is about adding sugar and acids (added individually) to get things "about right" before pitching any yeast. That is arrived at by measurements, a lot of testing (pH, TA, Brix, etc), experience and taste (taste especially with acids, and especially with tartaric acid).

The results were very good. But... it is a lot of work. So much so that is one reason I am moving away from fruit wine making (for now ... but the future can change) and concentrating on my grapes only, which require no such fine level adjustments and TLC. Hope this helps.