Berry heaven

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lazybloke

Considering a new username
Location
Leafy Surrey
A heavy crop of fat elderberries this year, and the blackberry harvest has already been going for 5 weeks. The freezers are already full and there's only so much crumble I can cope with.

Is it time to bring out the demijohns and "hedgerow wine" recipes?



A reasonable spread of sloes too....
 

simonali

Guru
I made sloe gin last year without adding any sugar. It tasted great, much better than the syrupy nonsense I've done in previous years.
 
OP
OP
lazybloke

lazybloke

Considering a new username
Location
Leafy Surrey
Dig out the recipes. Elderberry wine is lovely.
Still got demijohns.but need to order.some chemicals off amazon, as all the local homebrew shops went ages ago. I'd appreciate any recipe recommendations?
 

Bazzer

Setting the controls for the heart of the sun.
Still got demijohns.but need to order.some chemicals off amazon, as all the local homebrew shops went ages ago. I'd appreciate any recipe recommendations?
Elderberies 1.5kg
Chopped raisins 225g
Water 4.5l
Sugar 1.1kg
Citric acid 10ml
Yeast and yeast nutrient
Campden tablet 1

Strip the berries from their stalks*, wash and put into fermentation bin. Bring the water to the boil, adding the sugar so that it dissolves, then add to the fruit. Mash with a wooden spoon, or better still a potato masher, to burst the fruit. Add the raisins and allow the mix to cool. Get your yeast mix started and when the fruit mix is cool, add the yeast, nutrient and citric acid. Cover and leave for 5 days, stirring daily. * This can be a PITA job, made easier by using a cutlery fork.
Strain through a fine mesh bag. - If you give the pulp a good squeeze you get more of the juice from the berries.
Put in a demijohn, fit an airlock and leave it to ferment in a warm place. IME modern yeasts tend to get this process over with fairly quickly. A couple of weeks is not uncommon for me. If you have a hydrometer you could check the specific gravity at this stage, to see what the final alcohol level is likely to be, (bearing in mind some fermentation will have already taken place in the fermentation bin). Fermentation should have ceased when the specific gravity is 1.000. But if you haven't a hydrometer I shouldn't worry. I brewed for years without one. Just make sure all fermentation has ceased because elderberry makes a hell of a mess if a bottle explodes. DAMHIKT. :whistle:
When fermentation has ceased rack off into a another demijohn, add the Campden table and allow it to clear. You could use finings to help this process.
When the wine is clear, bottle, preferably into dark bottles and forget about it, for 12 months minimum. 18 months would be better.
 
OP
OP
lazybloke

lazybloke

Considering a new username
Location
Leafy Surrey
Elderberies 1.5kg
Chopped raisins 225g
Water 4.5l
Sugar 1.1kg
Citric acid 10ml
Yeast and yeast nutrient
Campden tablet 1

Strip the berries from their stalks*, wash and put into fermentation bin. Bring the water to the boil, adding the sugar so that it dissolves, then add to the fruit. Mash with a wooden spoon, or better still a potato masher, to burst the fruit. Add the raisins and allow the mix to cool. Get your yeast mix started and when the fruit mix is cool, add the yeast, nutrient and citric acid. Cover and leave for 5 days, stirring daily. * This can be a PITA job, made easier by using a cutlery fork.
Strain through a fine mesh bag. - If you give the pulp a good squeeze you get more of the juice from the berries.
Put in a demijohn, fit an airlock and leave it to ferment in a warm place. IME modern yeasts tend to get this process over with fairly quickly. A couple of weeks is not uncommon for me. If you have a hydrometer you could check the specific gravity at this stage, to see what the final alcohol level is likely to be, (bearing in mind some fermentation will have already taken place in the fermentation bin). Fermentation should have ceased when the specific gravity is 1.000. But if you haven't a hydrometer I shouldn't worry. I brewed for years without one. Just make sure all fermentation has ceased because elderberry makes a hell of a mess if a bottle explodes. DAMHIKT. :whistle:
When fermentation has ceased rack off into a another demijohn, add the Campden table and allow it to clear. You could use finings to help this process.
When the wine is clear, bottle, preferably into dark bottles and forget about it, for 12 months minimum. 18 months would be better.
Many thanks! In a tent in Somerset currently, but will take a good look at this when I get home this weekend.
 
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