Turning Your Elderberry Harvest into Wine

For those people out there who have an abundance of fresh elderberries, you might consider using the surplus to make a gallon of elderberry wine. The following recipe is fairly simple for those familiar with the winemaking process. Most of the steps are the same as making wine from other fruit with a low acid, high pectin content.

One word of advice that is elderberry specific: preserve the color of the finished wine by placing your secondary fermenter in a dark place and bottle the wine in dark bottles.

Ingredients:

3 pounds elderberries
2 1/2 pounds sugar
3 1/2 quarts water
2 tsp acid blend
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1 crushed Campden tablet
wine yeast

Dissolve sugar in boiling water. Put elderberries in nylon/muslin bag and place in fermenter. Wearing rubber gloves (sterilized), crush elderberries. Pour in boiling sugar water. Once cool, add acid blend, yeast nutrient and crushed Campden tablet. Cover, let sit for twelve hours, then stir in pectic enzyme. Cover, let sit twelve hours, then add yeast. Cover, stir daily, and gently squeeze the bag of berries. Wear gloves to prevent staining hands. Allow two weeks for initial fermentation. Take elderberries out and allow to drip drain without squeezing. Add drippings back into juice and let sit overnight. Rack the wine into a secondary fermenter and affix an airlock. Store in a dark place and rack every two months until no sediment is present. Bottle the wine and store it in a dark place for a year before opening.

Warning: This article is for informational use only and it's not something you should try doing. There is no guarantee the recipe is correct either.

Wine Coolers - Review Wine Racks and Wine Coolers
Uncorking the Mystery of Wine Coolers