DRIED Elderberry Wine?!

[jamesbsmith]

Has anyone had any good results with making wine from dried elderberries?

I made some once and it came out terribly, then made some with fresh and it was fantastic!

It may have been down to me method: I boiler 250g and 1.25Kg sugar in water for a bit, cooled and pulp fermented for 10 days, strained, and fermented to dry. Maybe the boiling and pulp ferm, extracted too much tannin, although I thought Id be safe with just 250g / Imperial Gallon?!

I have found another recipe / method, and wondered whether this would be better?

Dried Elderberry Wine Recipe.

For 1 Gallon (UK Imp.).

Expected Alcohol: 13.6 - 14.0% ABV

Starting SG 1095 (Absolutely must not be higher than 1100 or lower than 1090)
Final SG 0.992


Elderberries 250g
Raisins 250g(Soak Raisins over night then rinse to remove any oil, then mince in a blender)
White Granulated Sugar 900g
Soft Light Brown Sugar 400g
Pectolase 2 Level Teaspoons
Yeast nutrient 1 Level Teaspoon
Red Wine Yeast – 1 Sachet

RECIPE

Place Elderberries, Sugar Syrup, & Minced Raisins directly in a brew bucket and cover with water, and add one crushed campden tablet per gallon. Leave for 24 hours.

Add Pectolase, yeast & yeast nutrient.

Cover and leave in a warm place (or use brewbelt etc.) to ferment for 3-4 days only. Over this period stir and push down the cap three times a day.

Strain off the liquid into secondary and fit a bung and airlock. When SG reaches 992 and / or fermentation has ceased add one Campden tablet per gallon (also add fermentation stopper at this point if desired). Leave to settle for the rest of the month. Rack. Leave for two months. Rack to storage. Can be drunk 3 months later or left to mature. Tanin profile gradually subsides after the first year but the wine is perfectly drinkable after the initial 3 month ageing.

It would be great to make a cheap red wine all year round?!

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

See my elderberry page in my sig. One of our favorites, we put in more berries for less time and do simmer them, even better to make a melomel out of them. Did you drink your first one to young, did you save any of it to age a little and retry, you may have tossed one of the best wines you ever made out the door because you wanted to drink it to quickly??

 

[FTC Wines]

I've made a lot of dried Elderberry, from EC Krause berries & recipe. We really enjoy it. Had a bottle this week from 2010, still good but slightly oxidizing. Will try putting some absorbic in it next time to see if that helps. But 4 yrs is a good length of time for a berry wine. Roy

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Actually berry wines can last as long as any other wine, you have to build it right from the start. Our elderberries are the last thing to oxidize. WVMJ

 

[spunk]

See my elderberry page in my sig. One of our favorites, we put in more berries for less time and do simmer them, even better to make a melomel out of them. Did you drink your first one to young, did you save any of it to age a little and retry, you may have tossed one of the best wines you ever made out the door because you wanted to drink it to quickly??

I mad the dried and loved it. Now I just bottled the blk elderberry dessert wine it is fabulous cannot wait till it sits a year.WVmountaineerjack lov your recipies!

 

[salcoco]

reduce the dried elderberry to 100grams

 

[FTC Wines]

As our previous post we love dried Elderberry Wine. Haven't made one in a few years. But as I type this we are drinking a Elderberry Wine made from concentrates from Home Winery, it's a 75% Elderberry - 25 % Cab. Our blend, it's our New House Fav!!! Roy