I remember reading some people here have made wine from Elderberries. But I saw this earlier (
So I'm wondering if people always cook them before making wine, or what?
I have made wine from elderberries without cooking them. I left them in the freezer with blackcurrents and when ready I was ready to use them, I poured boiling water on the berries this helped to release the juice.
I never "cook" elderberries before starting to ferment them. From the freezer I let them defrost and then treat them with a solution of metabisulphite and then start the fermentation. Cooking any fruit gives the wine produced a totally different flavour which is why kit red wines are still never as good as white kit wines. To obtain the colour extraction from the grapes for kit reds a "heat treatment" is necessary -- i.e. they get cooked!
Hi
I have 5 gallons (25 litres) of elderberry and beer wine brewing just now. I think it will be really good. The most potent wine to date is Carrot which blows your socks off but tastes very good. My favourite is Banana. I am using a very old recipe and it turns out like a very smooth spirit rather than a wine.
I have been told that the best wine is Elderberry and Stout. Do you guys in US know what Stout is?
Good newsgroup I will certainly visit again regards Peter
Evil Paul (are you really?), there are many kinds of elderberries -- some edible and some not. For eating, they ARE better cooked than uncooked, but NOT for wine. Please go to
Jack Keller, The Winemaking Home Page
hi
The recipe book I use is over 30 years old. It has no less than 13 Elderberry recipes from Elderberry on its own to Elderberry and Runner Bean. Some suggest pouring boiling water over and leaving for 24 hours (my chosen method) to simmering for 30 minutes before straining after the liquid has cooled. The main issue appears to be that every last stalk, even the small ones must be removed otherwise the resulting wine may have a bitter taste. Although my wine is not yet finished fermenting, should be another week or so, it already has a lovely taste and should be superb by the time it is ready to drink.
Regards
Peter
Hi Jack I went to your site. It looks great, good stuff. I will use it on a regular basis. thanks for the effort you have obviously put in. however, I am a little confused. You replied to Paul's post as below and yet you have 120 recipes for elderberry wine. Please explain.
regards
Peter
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