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Elderberry Wine

Ingredients

  • Elderberries (stripped from umbels) – enough for primary (approx 1.5–2 kg)
  • 3.8 L (1 gal / 5 L) boiling water
  • 1.36 kg (3 lb) granulated sugar (initial)
  • 225 g (8 oz) chopped raisins
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Juice of 1 orange
  • 1 vitamin B tablet (crushed)
  • 1 tsp yeast nutrient
  • Wine yeast (claret style)
  • Additional sugar: 110 g (¼ lb) per demijohn top-up (approx)

Instructions

  1. Place stripped elderberries in a sanitised primary fermenter with raisins, lemon juice, orange juice, crushed vitamin B tablet, and yeast nutrient.
  2. Pour boiling water over fruit; stir well. When cool enough to handle, crush berries (gloved hands) to extract juice. Cover and infuse 24 hours.
  3. Add 1.13 kg (2½ lb) of the sugar; stir to dissolve. Pitch activated wine yeast. Cover and ferment 3 days, stirring daily.
  4. Strain liquid into demijohn(s); top up with remaining 230 g (½ lb) sugar dissolved in a little boiled water and, if needed, additional cooled water to shoulder.
  5. Ferment at 18–24°C (65–75°F) until activity subsides. Rack off lees into clean demijohn when bubbling slows and sediment forms.
  6. Rack again after ~6 weeks. When clear and stable, bottle into dark glass. Age at least 6 months before drinking (improves with longer maturation).