Elderberry and the Green Goo.

[Bossbaby]

I spent an hour cleaning up piles of the green goop from two batches of a second run elderberry last night.i had to use a ton of vegetable oil to get my primary buckets clean and now wonder if the residual oil I cant completely clean out of the buckets will affect future wine,or do I use dawn dish soap, something I wouldnt normally my equipment with? The goop is way worse in a second run for sure I hope it's worth the pain, I will definitely throw away 3 fermenting mesh bags I used, not worth the hassle..

 

[Raptor99]

Last time I made elderberry wine I cleaned my buckets by rubbing them with vegetable oil and then washing them with Dawn. They cleaned up well. According to my understanding, the green goo is a wax rather than an oil, which is why Dawn by itself does not take it off. But it can be dissolved in oil, which can then be washed off with Dawn. Personally, I use Dawn to clean all my equipment. I rinse thoroughly two or three times, and have never had a problem with getting rid of every trace of the Dawn.

I have some elderberries in the freezer, so I am interested in what others have to say. My challenge is with cleaning my other equipment. If the green goo gets into a pH meter, how do you clean that? My old pH meter was never quite the same after using is on elderberry wine must. Next time around I am considering running the must sample through a coffee filter before pH testing. Anyone have other suggestions?

 

[bearpaw8491]

Yep, I've made many batches of elderberry and that's the best way to clean up your equipment. I generally pour the vegetable oil - maybe 1/2 cup or so - in the primary after racking and rub it all over the affected surfaces well. Let it sit for a few minutes and the wash with Dawn as Raptor 99 describes.
I've never had a problem with the goo getting INTO my pH meter. The amount of goo seems to dissipates significantly after the transfer from primary to secondary. The wine tends to be on the tannic side but is very good after several years in the bottle.
Hope this helps.

 

[BarrelMonkey]

I had my first run-in with the green goo this week. My stirring spoon got gooey and as noted above, it took some vegetable oil to get it off. I do have a tideline on my primary fermenter that will need to be cleaned but otherwise not too bad. And I'm hoping my pH meter will survive the few pH/TA measurements I made. Does anyone know if the goo only appears during fermentation, or will it emerge from just plain juice too?

 

[Rice_Guy]

My best way to clean goo is to spray with Pam (store brand) anti stick cooking spray. This family of product has lecithin in it which is a natural bipolar molecule, , is like soap. It solubilizes the goo well and is easy to get off the carboy with soap water.
tubing gets replaced after use on elderberry.

 

[Raptor99]

I had a lot of green goo in my primary fermenter. It was a bucket, so it was easy to clean with vegetable oil. Once it was in the secondary I had only a tiny bit until the next racking.

@Rice_Guy Tubing is the most difficult thing to clean! Do you think it would be helpful to add a bit of lecitin to the vegetable oil to clean green goo?

 

[Rice_Guy]

I don’t think that you would get it clean, ever. My tubing runs are hardware store vinyl at $.79 or polyethylene at $.39 or 3/8 PEX at ? a foot which get replaced when dirty so elderberry is when it needs to be done.
Lecithin is a food formulation ingredient, not a grocery store item. It is at Modernist Pantry on the web.

Tubing is the most difficult thing to clean! Do you think it would be helpful to add a bit of lecitin to the vegetable oil to clean green goo?

 

[Fitz]

I been thinking about making elderberry wine but with dried elderberry. Would I run into the same problem?

 

[franc1969]

I been thinking about making elderberry wine but with dried elderberry. Would I run into the same problem?

I had none of the goo residue issues with dried elderberry or syrup. There was a little 'tub-ring' around the primary with dried elderberry, but I let the berries macerate for a time, didn't really notice it. The ring washed right off when i cleaned.

 

[Fitz]

I had none of the goo residue issues with dried elderberry or syrup. There was a little 'tub-ring' around the primary with dried elderberry, but I let the berries macerate for a time, didn't really notice it. The ring washed right off when i cleaned.

Thanks!

 

[Happy Hoer]

I make cherry-elderberry wine. It's awesome. This current batch I'm making has 12 lb. cherries (sweet), 4lb. of elderberries. I have found with 2 lb. of elderberries no crud shows up, but with 4 lb. it does show up on everything. I only do one batch with 4lb because of the extra work to clean but it does a little nicer than the 2lb. batch. I am still picking more elderberries currently. Have 12lb. in freezer, all cleaned, destemmed ready to stir on the stove for half an hr. or so. Have made one batch (5 gal.) in the past of 18 lb. of elderberries Found i liked the cherry-elderberry combo better.

 

[BigDaveK]

That's an interesting observation about batch size and goo presence and seems to be true. This is my 2nd year with elderberries, multiple one gallon batches, and I've never seen even a hint of goo.

 

[wood1954]

If you want elderberry wine without the goo, buy dried elderberries they make an excellent wine.

 

[mikewatkins727]

@wood1954 : How much dried elderberry per gallon?

 

[Fitz]

@wood1954 : How much dried elderberry per gallon?

https://winemakermag.com/article/2-10-cant-miss-country-wine-recipes

This article by Jack Keller has a recipe for dried elderberry Wine.

 

[hounddawg]

https://winemakermag.com/article/2-10-cant-miss-country-wine-recipes

This article by Jack Keller has a recipe for dried elderberry Wine.

Jack Keller was a profishant winemaker, but Keller had a tendency to go way light on the amounts of berries,fruits ECT.
with that being said, IMHO, i'd at the very least triple the amount of fruits, berries ect. fresh or dried, of what he calls for,
but like i said,,, just my opinion...
Dawg

 

[BigDaveK]

Elderberries are about 80% water so multiply dried weight by 5 to get a rough fresh equivalent. Keller's recipe is equivalent to around 1.5 lbs, shy of the 3 lb fresh (or more) that many recipes call for.

But then, more elderberries longer aging. His recipe would be drinkable sooner.

 

[ChuckD]

If you want elderberry wine without the goo, buy dried elderberries they make an excellent wine.

I wonder if a guy could dry his own to escape the goo? Or is it something other than the dehydration in the commercial process that eliminates it?

 

[franc1969]

I wonder if a guy could dry his own to escape the goo? Or is it something other than the dehydration in the commercial process that eliminates it?

Several people around here say they dry the elderberry, have not complained about green goo at all. One who flavors her kombucha was entirely unfamiliar with the concept.
Unfortunately for me, I made jam and wine from the small amount I had fresh this yeat, and was very familiar with goo. The berries and pressings I put into vodka to steep had no goo at all. That may be a way to get around this, if the end product is what is wanted.

 

[hounddawg]

Elderberries are about 80% water so multiply dried weight by 5 to get a rough fresh equivalent. Keller's recipe is equivalent to around 1.5 lbs, shy of the 3 lb fresh (or more) that many recipes call for.

But then, more elderberries longer aging. His recipe would be drinkable sooner.

But IMHO a very worthwhile wait
Dawg