Elderberry Wine

[winemaker81]

Last time I made apple wine, I ran a bushel through a juicer, fermenting only the juice. Then I made a second run off the very moist pulp. If I have capacity this fall, I'll make another batch as the both the apple and apple 2nd run were good.

 

[akron]

Long time ago I made a red elderberry wine. It took a while but several years it turned out great. I only made one gallon and wish I had more. Anyone do this with Red Elderberry very often? Results?

 

[winemaker81]

Long time ago I made a red elderberry wine. It took a while but several years it turned out great. I only made one gallon and wish I had more. Anyone do this with Red Elderberry very often? Results?

I had to search on this -- I have never heard of red elderberries.

This site says the ripe, deseeded, cooked red elderberry is edible, but notes that other sources state both are edible and not edible. In reading about blue elderberry, I seem to recall other sites saying essentially the same thing.

It is noted that every part of the plant except the berries is poisonous, and that the unripe berries may be poisonous.

From what I read on several sites, it appears that red elderberry is as safe as blue for wine making. However, I suggest you do some searching on the topic before doing so.

And make sure you are using only very ripe berries. One trick with berry wine is to pick today's ripe fruit and freeze it until you'rd ready to start the wine.

One last thing:

This site makes a statement that I find oddly amusing: "The dark blue/purple berries can be eaten when completely ripe but are slightly fatal in their unripe state."

I have no idea what "slightly fatal" means ... but I I'm not going to experiment to find out!

 

[hounddawg]

Long time ago I made a red elderberry wine. It took awhile but several years it turned out great. I only made one gallon and wish I had more. Anyone do this with Red Elderberry very often? Results?

i got red elderberries all over 40 acres of hill woods pasture N.E. Arkansas, these will kill you, now i ain't a clue about european elderberries, but in the states a redelder/red elderberry fruit hangs like a grape cluster, poison strychnine, both in the fruit and bark, a black elderberry also has a minute amount, you can take little ball of fruit eat it and you'll taste it whew but it won't kill you but for some reason you can make jam, syrup, wine and all's good, i have heard of white and blue from europe i think that are safe, on elderberries make sure the fruit looks like a umbrella, that's safe, hang like a grape cluster = poison
Dawg

 

[hounddawg]

i got around 40 black elderberry plants/canes, a group of canes makes a bush, i hope to make 24 to 30 gallons this year
Dawg

 

[hounddawg]

Long time ago I made a red elderberry wine. It took a while but several years it turned out great. I only made one gallon and wish I had more. Anyone do this with Red Elderberry very often? Results?

now black elderberry makes a red wine, but takes years before it is , so good,
so if your wanting a red wine from elderberry make sure the fruit cluster is umbrella shaped, any elderberry hanging like a small grape cluster are poison.
again black elderberry makes a killer good red wine but takes years, me i like 8 to 10 years, but 4,5,6 are drinkable ,,
Dawg

 

[akron]

This is where latin names are helpful. To be clear, the species I’m talking about is Sambucus Racemosa. In reading some sites it is iffy to consume although cooked, boiled seems ok. I wonder if fermentation is similar to cooking? Anyway, I’m alive from drinking it. I bottled a dozen 375 ml bottles and drank one a year to try it out. I still have one left. (unlike me to be so patient!)
I may pass on making more of this...as I recall there was a terrible mess and scum from these berries.
Winemaker81..I never heard of “partially fatal”. Sorta like “sorta pregnant?”

 

[hounddawg]

This is where latin names are helpful. To be clear, the species I’m talking about is Sambucus Racemosa. In reading some sites it is iffy to consume although cooked, boiled seems ok. I wonder if fermentation is similar to cooking? Anyway, I’m alive from drinking it. I bottled a dozen 375 ml bottles and drank one a yeayr to try it out. I still have one left. (unlike me to be so patient!)
I may pass on making more of this...as I recall there was a terrible mess and scum from these berries.
Winemaker81..I never heard of “partially fatal”. Sorta like “sorta pregnant?”

they hang like a grape cluster? like i said outta arkansas i no clue, but all elderberry in usa carries different amounts of strychnine, and yes on the blacks wine. cooking and jams and syrups are all good, but you want to get fancy with latin names , just PM me, with your address and i'll send you more red elderberries, for novel uses only than you can every use, will be more the happy to send you many pounds but only for novel uses only,
Dawg
Dawg

 

[hounddawg]

i looked em up. them are not native to arkansas, totally different then our red elderberry, seem the have a red that don/t kill. but ours in arkansas, will put a end to you, no bird, deer, or any other animal will not eat our redelders, as for fancy latin names , i guess my great grandma never bothered reading any books since both her and my grandma were full blood cherokee, north star tribe of the cherokee nation...
Dawg

 

[hounddawg]

This is where latin names are helpful. To be clear, the species I’m talking about is Sambucus Racemosa. In reading some sites it is iffy to consume although cooked, boiled seems ok. I wonder if fermentation is similar to cooking? Anyway, I’m alive from drinking it. I bottled a dozen 375 ml bottles and drank one a year to try it out. I still have one left. (unlike me to be so patient!)
I may pass on making more of this...as I recall there was a terrible mess and scum from these berries.
Winemaker81..I never heard of “partially fatal”. Sorta like “sorta pregnant?”

i see no reason to pass them are not the same that grows here,
Dawg

 

[winemaker81]

This is where latin names are helpful. To be clear, the species I’m talking about is Sambucus Racemosa. In reading some sites it is iffy to consume although cooked, boiled seems ok. I wonder if fermentation is similar to cooking?

Making wine from elderberry must have the same result as cooking, else there'd be an awful lot of dead people.

My mom made elderberry pie once, but it was so full of seeds that it was unpleasant to eat -- way to crunchy. Probably not a bad thing in retrospect, as the seeds are supposedly not good to eat.

I have an attachment for a KitchenAid mixer that removes seeds -- if I had access to elderberries, I'd use it. I did some research and it appears elderberries grow in the North Carolina (USA) mountains, probably 5 hours drive from me.

Winemaker81..I never heard of “partially fatal”. Sorta like “sorta pregnant?”

I was thinking exactly the same thing when I read it!

 

[winemanden]

Just for info. The elderberry we have in the UK is Sambucus Niger, black or purple-black. Different to the ones you have in N. America. Is it any better or poorer, I can't say, but made properly it makes a very good wine after it's aged. One difference from from the N. Amican elderberry is that we don't get the dreaded green goo.

Never had elder pie, but have had elder jam, very nice it was. Just bought some Rhubarb jam from M&S and one of the ingredients is concentrated elderberry juice.

 

[hounddawg]

Just for info. The elderberry we have in the UK is Sambucus Niger, black or purple-black. Different to the ones you have in N. America. Is it any better or poorer, I can't say, but made properly it makes a very good wine after it's aged. One difference from from the N. Amican elderberry is that we don't get the dreaded green goo.

Never had elder pie, but have had elder jam, very nice it was. Just bought some Rhubarb jam from M&S and one of the ingredients is concentrated elderberry juice.

according to most internet searches says sambucus racemosa is a european variant, only one site that i found claimed it was American, but the rest said grows great here, same with blue and white and a different type of black, all mine are native to arkansas, i was extremely surprised that there was a red eatable , the ones in arkansas (red) are very high content of strychnine, but all elderberries have low levels of strychnine, but cooked, fermented syrup, jam all become benign, except for the red elders in my local, at times i have boiled red elder fruit, bark and leaves, down to straight strychnine, and keep rats out of all my sheds, but sambucus racemosa, fruit don't hang like a grape cluster, best rule of thumb, if birds, deer don't eat it, then it is best left alone,
Dawg

 

[winemanden]

according to most internet searches says sambucus racemosa is a european variant, only one site that i found claimed it was American, but the rest said grows great here, same with blue and white and a different type of black, all mine are native to arkansas, i was extremely surprised that there was a red eatable , the ones in arkansas (red) are very high content of strychnine, but all elderberries have low levels of strychnine, but cooked, fermented syrup, jam all become benign, except for the red elders in my local, at times i have boiled red elder fruit, bark and leaves, down to straight strychnine, and keep rats out of all my sheds, but sambucus racemosa, fruit don't hang like a grape cluster, best rule of thumb, if birds, deer don't eat it, then it is best left alone,
Dawg

We've got a TV antenna at the side of our house. When there are purple black droppings on the path below, I know the Elderberries are ripe and ready for picking.

 

[hounddawg]

We've got a TV antenna at the side of our house. When there are purple black droppings on the path below, I know the Elderberries are ripe and ready for picking.

really, dang mine the flowers just left and they are just starting to make little green fruit, just checked them all this morning, if i dont hit them as each cluster ripens the birds leave me zero,,,
Dawg

 

[winemanden]

Didn't mean to say that the elders are ripe, same as you Dawg, they've not long finished flowering. they won't be ready until end of August. Depends on the weather. When we get the purple crap, then we'll know.

 

[hounddawg]

Didn't mean to say that the elders are ripe, same as you Dawg, they've not long finished flowering. they won't be ready until end of August. Depends on the weather. When we get the purple crap, then we'll know.

whew i was like dang mine are way behind,, lol ,,
Dawg

 

[NoQuarter]

Its the seeds in the American red elderberries that are toxic. Other parts, leaves bark, even little stems on fruit clusters are toxic on all elder bushes.
I have made jelly with red elderberries. MUST BE NO SEEDS. De-seeding is hard, (cant even crush the seeds) so not worth the risk.
I also grow chaya and cassava, both toxic. even morels are toxic till cooked. It's all in the preparation.

 

[winemaker81]

MUST BE NO SEEDS. De-seeding is hard, (cant even crush the seeds) so not worth the risk.

I'm wondering if the KitchenAid de-seeding attachment crushes the seeds. It doesn't matter to me, as I don't have access to fresh elderberries of any sort, but for others it may be of interest.

 

[hounddawg]

I'm wondering if the KitchenAid de-seeding attachment crushes the seeds. It doesn't matter to me, as I don't have access to fresh elderberries of any sort, but for others it may be of interest.

using my AOL from Steve i filter racking, ever degassing even when bottling, now i use polypropylene and nevery paper filters , the poly does not infer off flavors, on the post i've read paper seems to infer a soapy taste now and then

Dawg