Elderberry Wine

Ripe Elderberries

Elderberry Wine Recipe - Makes 6 Bottles of wine

Another 'hedgerow wine' favourite. It's mid September and the Elderberries are in abundance in the hedgerows! A friend picked me 3lbs Elderberries and froze them for me as I wanted to see if it made any difference from using them 'fresh'.
(If Elderberries are out of season one can use Dried Elderberries which come in 500g bags.)

I must admit I had no idea how much juice would come out of them when I started defrosting them. Luckily they were in a plastic bag and also in a large bowl, this was just as well as when they started defrosting it was carnage with juice leaking everywhere....and it stains! So take heed :o)

A lot of the riper berries fell off the stalks with little encouragement. I emptied these into a sterilised fermentation bucket.

3lb Elderberries (Ripe/no red berries)
1.6kg VinClasse Brewing Sugar
1 Tsp VinClasse Citric Acid
4.5L Boiling Water
1 Sachet VinClasse Sherry/Port Yeast
1 Tsp VinClasse Yeast Nutrient 


Day 1
Once the berries were defrosted and the stalks removed (you can use a folk to do this) I gently crushed the Elderberries with a potato masher being careful not to crush the seeds as apparently they can be bitter and placed them in a sterilised 25L Balliihoo  Fermentation Bucket with tap. You can obviously use a smaller one for this 6 bottle recipe but I had this one to hand and  there are measurements on the side.

Elderberries with Stalks removed

I added 4.5L boiling water to draw the juice out  of the berries and stirred gently for 5 minutes.

I then added 1.6kg VinClasse Brewing Sugar and stirred until this was completely dissolved.

I added 1 Tsp VinClasse Citric Acid to enhance the 'fruity flavour' and left to cool as it needed to cool to approx 21°C before I could add the yeast. 

I added 1 sachet VinClasse Sherry/Port Yeast (5g)  and 1 Tsp VinClasse Yeast Nutrient and stirred well.

I took an hydrometer reading (OG = Original Gravity) The Original Gravity is the specific gravity measured before fermentation. It was 1100 and the temperature was 21°C. The colour of the must was a rich , dark red.


 I placed the fermentation bucket in our fermentation fridge (see other post re fridge) to achieve a constant temperature of 22°C to aid fermentation.

Day 2

I checked the must and it was like a 'berry crust' on top where the juice was bleeding from the berries and the berries had floated to the top. The temperature on the LCD strip on the bucket indicated that it was 24°C . I turned the thermostat down as I did not want the must to over heat as this would kill the yeast off. I carefully stirred the must/berries and could hear a slight 'fizzing ' sound as fermentation was taking place.


Day 3

Fermenting Elderberry Crust

The 'berry crust' was still on the surface and the 'fizzing' quite audible now, fermentation was well under way :) I gave another gentle stir to help release the juices. Left over the weekend undisturbed  in the fermentation fridge.

Day 7

I strained the Elderberries and must through a 'Large, Fine Straining Bag' into a
Large 5L heavy duty jug. squeezing as much juice a possible.

I then decanted the juice into a sterilised 5L Glass Demijohn  and filled to the bottom of the neck so that there wasn't too much airspace but enough to allow continuing fermentation. The remaining must went into a spare, clean plastic demijohn to use to top up if required.

I added a bored bung and airlock (half filled with water) and moved to a warm place to continue fermentation. 

Day 8


When I checked it it was bubbling away gently and I left it for 4 weeks. I then took an hydrometer reading once the bubbling ceased and the Final Gravity Reading was 996 on 3 consecutive days. 

I entered the OG 1100 and the FG 996 into the Homebrew Alcohol Calculator (on the Balliihoo Website) to calculate the Alcohol content of the wine and it came out at 14% ABV


I then racked it off into a clean glass demijohn with a solid cork bung and placed in a cool dark place for several months until I was ready to rack off into bottles.

 

1 Gallon Elderberry Wine

Rhubarb Wine

 I have now made 4 different wine kits with suprisingly pleasing results. It's now time to make wine from natural, free 'hedgerow' ingredients ('hedgerow wine').This can be anything that can be naturally sourced, from Elderberries to Rhubarb (the list is endless.) If you have friends with gardens or alottments, even better as the main ingredients are going to be free! I have found the promise of a free sample bottle of homemade hooch  will do the trick :o) I actually made this wine back in June 2013 and it is ready for bottling now. So this is like time lapse photography with all the photos and methods, bang up to date............bar the bottling.

Rhubarb Wine -  (from Juliets' garden) - Makes 6 bottles of wine

The perfect time to start making your hedgerow wine is when that particular fruit is in season, fresh and in abundance. If you are not ready to make it you may freeze it until you are.My friend (Juliet) has given me some fresh Rhubarb from her garden. It is a good idea to have a recipe to work from as a basis. It is up to you what little extras you add for flavour.....

• 2.3 kg Rhubarb (fresh or frozen)
• 1.4 kg VinClasse Brewing Sugar
• 285 ml Strong, cooled black Tea
• 2.8 lt  Water
• 2 tsp VinClasse Yeast Nutrient
• 5g sachet All Purpose White Wine Yeast 
• 1 x Cinnamon Stick (optional, I like cinnomon)
• 1 x Campden Tablet  (for after fermentation has finished)

 Day 1

Have nice cup of tea with friend then 'acquire' fresh rhubarb from her garden. Wash and cut the Rhubarb into 1cm lengths and place in a clean/sterilised fermentation bucket. If you are going to freeze your Rhubarb it would be good to do it at this early stage so that it is fresh when you freeze it.

Fresh Rhubarb - Washed and Cut

 Add the 1.4 kg Brewing and Wine Making Sugar to the Rhubarb and stir in well to coat all the Rhubarb. Add the Cinnamon Stick. At a glance it is hard to see how this mixture will transform into a syrup as it looks dry and powdery .......

                                                      

Rhubarb, Sugar and Cinnamon Stick

 I covered this for 3 days, stirring daily to incorporate the Rhubarb and Sugar and release the juices.

Day 2 

Day 2 - Rhubarb and Sugar

I lifted the lid and noticed the sugar was starting to draw the juice from the Rhubarb and was fizzing slightly. Gave it a stir ......


Day 3

Day 3 - Rhubarb and Sugar

There was now a nice, sweet smelling, pink syrup !!! Ready for straining ......

Day 4

My Rhubarb syrup was now ready for the next stage of making into wine....

I sterilised the following equipment:

• 10lt Bucket and lid (you can use your 25lt bucket if you wish)
• Long handled plastic spoon
• Small, fine straining bag
• Small jug (for the tea)
• Trial jar and Hydrometer
• Glass bottle (in the absence of a rolling pin)

I used the sterilised bottle to crush the Rhubarb to extract the remaining juice before straining. I strained the juice/syrup into the clean bucket using the small straining bag, squeezing the bag to extract as much juice as possible.

Day 4 - Strained Rhubarb Juice

 I added 2.8lts boiling water and stirred well to combine the syrup and water. I then allowed it to cool to room temperature (around 18°c) I placed the bucket in a sink full of cold water to speed the process of cooling. At the same time I made up the 1/2 pt of Black Tea and allowed to cool to the same temperature.

Once both were cooled I added the tea and stirred.

I

Day 4 - Rhubarb Juice with added Back Tea

I placed some of the juice into a trial jar and took an Hydrometer reading. It is important to do this as you need this initial reading (Original Gravity Reading or OG) to establish later on if your fermentation has stopped and the alcohol content of your wine. You need to take the OG reading before adding yeast, nutrients etc.




The OG was 1065

I then added the 5g sachet 'All Purpose White Wine Yeast', 2 tsp Yeast Nutrient and stirred.

Day 4 - Rhubarb Wine fermenting

I placed the lid on the bucket and inserted the 'handy airlock' into the lid (containing a little water) At this stage the temperature on the LCD strip (on the bucket) was 22°c. I placed the bucket in our temperature regulated fridge and set the thermastat to 20°c to keep it at a constant temperature.

I left it there for 5 days to ferment. Checking it daily.........

Day 7


I checked on its progress and the must had tiny bubbles on the surface and around the edge.

JUICE + SUGAR + YEAST = ALCOHOL + CARBON DIOXIDE

These bubbles are produced by carbon dioxide (a by-product of yeast when fermenting) It keeps oxygen away from the must and wine by acting like a blanket and protects it.

The must continues to ferment on Day 8.

Day 9 - 5th Day of Fermenting

The must appears to have stopped fermenting as there are no tiny bubbles rising. I transferred some of the must into a sterilised trial jar and took another hydrometer reading. You do this when you think that fermentation has stopped and it is called a Specific Gravity reading or SG. The SG was 998 This reading indicated that the wine was ready to transfer into the demijohn.

Day 9 - Rhubarb Wine - Specific Gravity reading using a Trial Jar and Hydrometer

When I transferred my Rhubarb wine into the sterilised demijohn it came up slightly short therefore I added a mixture of brewing sugar and boiling water (mixed in a clean jug) and stirred well until it disolved and left to cool before adding to the demijohn. I filled it just below the neck to leave a gap between the wine and the bung (when it was inserted) I shook the demijohn to ensure that the sugar solution was thoroughly mixed in. I also took another hydrometer reading and with the added sugar solution the reading went back up to 1008.

I inserted a 'bored cork bung' with a 'handy airlock' and added an LCD temperature strip (to monitor the wine is kept at a constant temperature)

Day 9 - Rhubarb Wine

 I placed the demijohn in our temperature controlled fermenting fridge to increase the temperature to 22°c to promote fermentation. I aimed to leave it there for 1 month checking daily and decreasing the temperature to 18°c.

It continued to bubble away vigorously at 18°c with tiny bubbles fizzing to the surface and a peach coloured froth.

Day 25

Fermentation appeared to have stopped and I took another hydrometer reading to confirm this.

Day 26 

I syphoned the Rhubarb Wine into a clean/sterilised demijohn, taking care to leave most of the sediment behind.

I added 1/2 tsp 'Fermentation Stopper' - (1/2 tsp per gallon, dilute in a little cool boiled water) I shook it to mix in a 'see saw' motion. I repeated this for 3 days.I also added 1 crushed 'campden tablet' to inhibit bacterial contamination during the aging process (optional)

I inserted a solid bung and placed on a shelf to mature for the next 6 months........

The Rhubarb wine was looking quite translucent now compared with the opaque, peach coloured must of a couple of weeks ago.

Note:  Whilst I was making my Rhubarb Wine, my colleague also decided to make some. We used practically the same recipe bar he froze his rhubarb and didn't add a cinnamon stick.......
For some reason his wine didn't clear as well as mine and he added some wine finings.

I guess the proof is going to be in the tasting :o)

My Fourth Wine Kit - VinClasse Italian Red - 7 Day - 23lts

This is another 30 bottle (23 Litre) kit from the 'VinClasse' range as before. However, this time a 'Italian Red' rather than the previous 'Riesling' white wine. The 'Vinclasse Italian Red' requires 4kg of Sugar to be added.

Day 1

I sterilised all my equipment as before:

• 23Lt/5 Gallon Fermentation Bucket (with lid)
  
• Bubbler/Air lock
• Hydrometer
• Long handled plastic spoon
• new jiffy clothe for wiping down equipment

 I kept the sterilising solution as before in a spare container  just in case other equipment needed cleaning or if I'd forgotten something!

I started by adding 4kg Vinclasse Brewing & Wine Making Sugar to the 23Lt Fermenting Bucket as instructed.  I then dissolved it in 5 Lts hot water and stirred well. The consistency looked very similar to that of icing sugar before you ice a cake . . . if you've ever iced a cake!? Smooth and creamy . . . 

Day 1 - Rosso Classico - 4kg Sugar

 I then added the grape juice as instructed and topped up with a mixture of hot and cold water to 23 Lts to 28°C ( instructions suggested between 25°C - 30°C) I stirred it well again as with a previous kit I hadn't stirred the juice in well enough and got a low hydrometer reading!

Once stirred well I took an hydrometer reading for a starting point. This is referred to as an Original Gravity Reading or OG Reading

OG Reading: 1072 Temperature: 28°C

This reading appeared quite low therefore I added an extra  ½kg sugar to the must and stirred in well, then took another hydrometer reading: 1080

Note: I think it's worth mentioning if I haven't already that it's really usefully to write everything down eg. dates, hydrometer readings, temps etc. I keep a little book and have already started comparing results.

Day 1 - Rosso Classico

 I placed the lid on the fermentation bucket with an airlock and placed in the 'Fermentation Fridge' (mentioned in previous blog) with a view to keep it at a constant  between 28 - 30°C .

Day 4

The must had been left to ferment over the weekend and when I got into work on Monday morning I checked it's progress and Oops ! . . . . It had exploded . . . well not literally, but there was plenty of mess. The lid had actually buckled under the pressure, yeast scum had overflowed down the bucket and splattered the sides of the fridge, impressive but a pain to clean up!

Day 4 - Rosso Classico - Fermentation Frenzy!

°

Day 4 - Rosso Classico - The Clean Up!

I reduced the temperature slightly in the Fermentation Fridge to hopefully slow down the process or at least make it less aggressive. It was currently 28°C so I reduced it to 26°C on the thermostat.

Day 5

I checked the must and it had blown the lid and spilled over again, however not so violently this time. Again I cleaned it up and reduced the temperature to 24°C on the thermostat. The must was still fermenting and hadn't appeared to slow down.


I checked daily and fermentation continued . . . . .

Day 11

Fermentation had stopped and I took an hydrometer reading: 997 Temperature: 18°C as I had removed it from the 'Fermentation Fridge'  the previous day.

Calculated ABV : 11.1 % by using the Homebrew Alcohol Calculator

As per instructions I racked the must off into a clean/sterilised 23Lt bucket using a 5/16" Syphon Tube and Rigid Syphon Tube (Can also be referred to as a Racking Cane) on the end . The 'Rigid Syphon Tube'  has 2 small holes drilled 10mm from one end with bung at that end. This allows you to syphon the must without sucking up the sediment.

Once this was complete I added the 'Stabiliser' sachet, mixed well and then 'Degassed' using a 'Wine Whip' (as described in a previous post) This was repeated a couple of times as suggested in the instructions. Each time the result was a pink, frothy head on the must.

Day 11 - Rosso Classico

I then added the 'Finings' (A) Sachet, stirred well and left over night. 

Day 12

I added 'Finings' (B) Sachet plus the Extract Sachet as directed and gently stirred in, then left to settle for a day before racking off. They suggest placing on a table or work surface at this stage so that the sediment is not disturbed before racking off . . . which makes sense.

Day 13

I racked off into another sterilised 25 litre bucket, using the lever tap, which left the sediment behind. I carefully tilted the bucket to capture any remaining wine into a small jug and added it to the clean bucket also. 

For extra clarity I racked it off again back into the sterilised lever tap bucket using a 'vinbrite wine filter kit mkIII' , I have used this before and like the results. I had to use 2 filter pads as the first started to slow the filtering to a snails pace, but once changed, filtration sped up again. I find it worth the extra time taken.

Vinbrite Filter Kit - In order it's assembled

I thought it worth taking a photo, as when I put it together for the first time I assembled it the wrong way! :o)

Vinbrite Filter Kit

 Once this was completed I left overnight to bottle/bag tomorrow.

Day 14

I decanted the wine into 'Bag in a Box' bags (sterilised and re-used from previous homebrews) using the lever tap on the fermentation bucket . . . .  Clean, quick and easy :o)

This is now the 2nd 'Vinclasse 7 Day Wine Kit' (23litres) that I've made. The 1st (Riesling) was a 'no sugar' to add kit. They were both quite straight forward to make. However, the 'Rosso Classico' did erupt quite impressively and I'm wondering whether the temperature was too high? Or it could be something to do with the extra 1/2 kg of sugar added on Day 1?

I'm yet to do the 'taste test' but as soon as I've tested it on my colleagues I shall post some reviews . . . 

Taste Reviews

Rachel:   "Fruity aroma and smooth taste. It was worth cleaning up the mess of the 
                fermentation eruption :o)"

Brad:      "Light and Fruity (not much body) but really easy drinking! Pleasantly suprised at
               the quality given that this was a 'budget kit' !"

Declan:  "Smooth, Fruity and very drinkable!"