Elderberry Wine

Elderberry wine

when there is nothing to be done at this period of epidemic it's the perfect time to enjoy a glass of elderberry wine 🍷.

Patience is required for this recipe. Like red wine grapes, elderberries are high in tannin and so the wine needs time to mature.

Ingredients

• 2½ lb elderberries
• Campden tablets
• 2½, 2¾ or 3 lb sugar (use the lowest amount of sugar for a dry wine, next for a medium dry wine and the higher sugar for a medium sweet)
• Wine yeast
• Yeast nutrient
• Water
• Gloves - particularly when handling the berries as they can die your skin purple!

Method

1. Strip the elderberries from the stalks and wash well
2. Put into a fermenting bin and crush, either using gloved hands or a potato masher
3. Pour on 4 pints of water
4. Add 1 Campden tablet, crushed and dissolved in a little warm water to kill off any wild yeasts
5. Boil half of the sugar in 2 pints of water for 2 or 3 minutes and, when cool, mix into the pulp
6. Add the yeast (6g) and nutrient and cover and allow to ferment for 5 days, stirring daily
7. Strain and press and return the liquor to a clean fermenting bin
8. Boil the rest of the sugar in 1 pint of water for 2 or 3 minutes and when cool, add to the liquor
9. Cover again and leave for 3 or 4 days
10. Pour carefully or syphon into a gallon jar. Try and leave as much of the sediment behind as possible
11. Fill up the jar with cooled boiled water to where the neck begins
12. Fit a fermentation lock and leave until fermentation has finished
13. Rack your wine (which means to move your wine into a fresh container) adding a Campden tablet after the first fermentation
14. Syphon into bottles
15. Enjoy!