Which Yeast For Elderberry?

[Longtrain]

My wife want a batch of Elderberry and I am planning a 3 gallon batch using Vintners Harvest Juice. Any tweaks for this basic recipe and which yeast will produce the best results?

Thanks,

Tony

 

[Turock]

Actually, we use cuvee on elderberry. Have also used Montrachet. Elderberry doesn't need tweaking as it already has a lot of tannin in it.

 

[ffemt128]

I've always used D47 for my Elderberry.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Lalvin's D-47 or EC-1118 are great yeasts.

Doug has made numerous elderberry batches. Excellent.
I have made an elderberry and just bottled an elderberry blush (used sediment and added sugar water). It too turned out good.

 

[Longtrain]

Thanks all, what would you top off Elderberry with after racking (assuming you don't have any Elderberry)?

 

[ffemt128]

I would make about a 3 1/2 gallon batch so that you have elderberry left over after bucket fermentation for top ups. Just put in in 1.5 liter or 750 ml bottles with an airlock.

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

The vitners juice can be a little thin, if you want to add some body bannanas are good as even a little extra light dried malt extract. A nice tweak is a little toasted oak. To give it a little nose add about 5 pounds of strawberries right at the end of the primary and remove before racking, just a couple of days is good. Pasteur Red and K1V1116 also work very well. Another good tweak is to add honey instead of sugar to bring the alcohol levels up. Another very good tweak is to get a blackberry, plum or cherry Vitners and combine it with the elderberry in a 5 gal batch. It all depends on what your wife requires to make her happy and let you make a bunch of other batches and put your carboys in her living room! WVMJ

 

[Longtrain]

So far, so good, Elderberry finished .996. Cleared, added SO2, 1st rack done, 1/2 oak rod added. The pH is 4.0, is this ok or should I add a bit of acid blend?

Thanks,

Tony

 

[Julie]

yes, add some acid blend, I would get ph around 3.4 - 3.5

 

[Longtrain]

Ok, I got the pH adjusted, the wine has cleared, degassed a bit with an "Allinonewinepump", topped with some extra Elderberry that I saved, also added 1/2 stick of oak.

My recipe was a can of Vintners Harvest Elderberry concentrate, 1 liter of red grape concentrate, water to 3.5 gallons and the additions recommended on the Vintners instruction label along with D47 yeast. I anticipate probably racking again and definitely additional degassing prior to bottling.

Now, how long should I age this wine before bottling? Thanks.

 

[BernardSmith]

The longer you can age it the better it will get. I made a batch of elderberry using the VH liquor (no added grape juice) and it continues to improve in flavor even after I bottled it. My preference is to age bulk but I know that not everyone agrees that that makes for a significantly better wine and not everyone has the carboy to allow for bulk aging.

 

[byathread]

I would encourage you to age it in the carboy as long as you can (just keep the airlock topped up, or use a solid bung so long as its fully fermented to dry). Personally, I'd say minimum of two months from completion in secondary/degassing with another racking or two to ensure clarity.

 

[Longtrain]

Ok, thanks, may go six months before bottling. Appreciate the suggestions. Tony

 

[Tenbears]

I personaly do not recommend a solid bung while bulk aging. Unless the wine is completely degassed. It just makes no sense to me to whip O2 into a batch of wine in an attempt to remove CO2 gas, then place a solid stopper in the carboy which will prevent further off gassing, If one is going to bulk age, why not simply allow the wine to off gas naturally and reduce the O2 exposure and work? keep that airlock on and filled.

 

[chasemandingo]

How about one of those new fangled waterless airlocks?