Elderberry Wine from Juice

[blt65toth]

Hey guys! I have a friend that was clearing out his freezer and was going to toss out about 2 gallons of Elderberry juice from last years harvest (making room for this years bumper crop). I'm never one to turn down anything free let alone fruit or juice I can make wine out of. I found recipes (Kellers) for Elderberry wine, but everything is in pounds. Not knowing how many pounds makes a gallon of juice, I'm at a bit of a loss. Does anyone know what the typical juice yield is per pound or have a straight juice recipe? I would like to get at lease a 3 gal batch going (empty carboys make me sad).

 

[blt65toth]

Did some digging on some other sites and one said 25# of berries = 7qts of juice. So if my math is correct...if I make the 3 1/2# recipe I will only need 1 qt of juice. That seems a little low to me. I would probably double it anyway since Jacks recipes are usually a little light on fruit. Thoughts?

 

[pjd]

You should be able to make a 5 gallon batch with 2 gallons of elderberry juice. it depends upon what you are wanting. if you are looking for a full bodied wine with lots of tannins, you might only want to make a 3 gallon batch. If you want something lighter then the 5 gallons will work,

 

[blt65toth]

Thanks pjd! I'll shoot for a 5 gal batch.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Cant you ask your buddy how he made this juice? If it was steam juiced or pressed makes a big difference, you might have enough for 3 gal of great wine or 5 gal of diluted but ok wine. Have you tasted it yet, is it overpoweringly strong, then 5 gal might be good, but if its not then 3 might be the better wine. WVMJ

 

[ffemt128]

Historically when I steam juice I can get 1 gallon of juice from 10-12 lbs of berries. I have 130 lbs in my freezer that I need to start processing. I'll make a full bodied version then I'll take the skins and make a 2nd's run from those which will be more of a blush.

 

[blt65toth]

So it gets a little more interesting. He boiled the berries then squeezed them through a cheese cloth. They also added apples during the boil to add pectin to the juice. So it's anyone's guess how this is going to turn out.

Might just play it safe and make a 3 gal batch just in case it was a little watered down to start. Worst case is that I get a very full bodied wine that tastes like a mouth full of Elderberries. Since there is minimal cost to me, it will be an interesting experiment.

Thanks for all the feedback guys! It's greatly appreciated!

 

[Kraffty]

You can always blend it back some if it's too strong. 3 gallons sounds like a good call.
Mike

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Blending in some apple cider later an option later if this is to strong, if they were making jelly they might have used a lot of fruit or added a lot of water, hard to tell, make sure you add some pectinase. WVMJ

 

[blt65toth]

That's exactly what they were doing. Thanks guys!