Elderberry suggestions please.

[photoguy]

Made some elderberry wine this year for the first time. Used 25 lbs. Fruit and ended up with 19 l.carboy. it's throwing big amount of sediment so I will need something to top it up with after racking. Trouble is I have no idea what it's saposed to taste like. I would like to use like wine or juice not water. Anyone have suggestions? I have all sorts of fruit and grape wine I can use. Thanks guys!

 

[Scooter68]

Safe bet would be a generic white wine. Based on most comments about the strength of Elderberry fruit in wine - you went in with 5 lbs of fruit per gallon which is a very hearty amount for elderberries. So a little thinning out with white wine is not likely to hurt the flavor at all. The alternative is to down size to a 4 or 3 gallon batch and then blend with white wine shortly before bottling. That way you can see how strong it turns out.

 

[photoguy]

Safe bet would be a generic white wine. Based on most comments about the strength of Elderberry fruit in wine - you went in with 5 lbs of fruit per gallon which is a very hearty amount for elderberries. So a little thinning out with white wine is not likely to hurt the flavor at all. The alternative is to down size to a 4 or 3 gallon batch and then blend with white wine shortly before bottling. That way you can see how strong it turns out.

Thanks for your suggestion Scooter.

 

[Sailor323]

Concord grape wine is a good choice, its acidity would be a welcome addition to the elderberry and its fruitiness a good match

 

[Scooter68]

Be careful about adding any additional sugar especially to top off - Grape Juice would certainly add sugar and unless you have added K-Sorbate, you could create a fermentation restart. Better to go to smaller containers or top off with a finished wine rather than grape juice with sugar in it.

 

[photoguy]

thanks for the suggestions and i always use sorbate when sweetening due to prior experience Lol!!!!

 

[winemaker81]

White wine or concord are good choices. However, if necessary pretty much any dry wine will work with elderberry, given the strong flavor.

 

[photoguy]

thanks. as soon as it's settled i"ll rack it and top it of with something

 

[Scooter68]

If you have smaller carboys to use, you don't have to top off now. You could move it down in serveral 1 gallon carboys, or a 3 gallon carboy and some smaller glass containers. (1/gal, 1.5 liter etc) That let's you take time to make a decision. The longer the wine ages the better you can tell what sort of changes you want or need to make. I would just suggest NOT introducing any sugar in the form of juice right now. That could potentially change the wine in several ways.

 

[photoguy]

If you have smaller carboys to use, you don't have to top off now. You could move it down in serveral 1 gallon carboys, or a 3 gallon carboy and some smaller glass containers. (1/gal, 1.5 liter etc) That let's you take time to make a decision. The longer the wine ages the better you can tell what sort of changes you want or need to make. I would just suggest NOT introducing any sugar in the form of juice right now. That could potentially change the wine in several ways.

Thanks for your reply. I was hoping not to split it up but keep it in one carboy. since i did not want to use water but wine for topping up i came here for help. Good point to use white wine. i do have several dozen of reisling,moscato,pinot grisio....So far its still active with lots of little bubbles. Mabey one more week . As they say - patience is a virtue . Good thing i have bunch of other wine to play with while waiting lol.

 

[photoguy]

Just a update. I racked of my elderberry wine yesterday. It has a gorgeous ruby colour. Gave it a little taste and it reminds me of choke cherry wine . Little bit of the astringency there but not too much. It shows promise and I'm happy with it. It took 3 bottles of white to top it of too.

 

[hounddawg]

Made some elderberry wine this year for the first time. Used 25 lbs. Fruit and ended up with 19 l.carboy. it's throwing big amount of sediment so I will need something to top it up with after racking. Trouble is I have no idea what it's saposed to taste like. I would like to use like wine or juice not water. Anyone have suggestions? I have all sorts of fruit and grape wine I can use. Thanks guys!

when i make my country wines i make extra to fill several smaller airlocked jugs, allowing me to top off my wine with exactly what i am making,
Dawg

 

[photoguy]

Thanks for the response. I too try to do that also but sometimes I miscalculate and have to resort to other ways to cover my mistake.

 

[Scooter68]

Comes with the territory - especially when trying a new fruit variety with different sediment qty's

 

[photoguy]

Comes with the territory - especially when trying a new fruit variety with different sediment qty's

Totally agree. I was shocked the amount of sediment this prodused. Never had this much before.

 

[Scooter68]

I found that using frozen blueberries from my stored home-grown blueberries vs using fresh blueberries - I get a lot more residue from frozen berries. They don't seem to break down as well as fresh ones. Guess it's something to keep in your mind or notebook as to what fruit produces what amount of lees along with your source of fruit (canned, fresh, frozen, pre-prepared commercially - Like Raw Apple Cider.

 

[photoguy]

Yes I used frozen .picked some,froze some,picked some more and froze some more, till a had enough. It's what I usually do with fruit as it becomes ready to pick.