Elderberry Wine Recipe

Clean and sanitise the equipment

Wash away all visible dirt first. Prepare the sanitiser according to its label, then sanitise the fermentation bucket, lid, small coarse straining bag, spoon, measuring jug, thermometer, hydrometer, trial jar and anything else that will touch the cooled must.

Prepare the elderberries

For fresh fruit, use only fully ripe dark purple-black elderberries and remove every stalk, leaf and unripe berry. For dried fruit, weigh out 250g and remove any stray plant material. Rinse the fruit briefly.

Heat the fruit

Put the elderberries in a large saucepan with about 2.5 litres of water. Bring to a gentle simmer for 10 minutes, stirring and crushing the berries lightly. Do not boil hard, blend the fruit or grind the seeds.

Add the grape concentrate and first sugar addition

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the full 250ml red grape juice concentrate and 750g brewing sugar until completely dissolved. If you are omitting the concentrate, begin with 900g brewing sugar instead.

Transfer and cool the must

Transfer the fruit and liquid into the sanitised fermentation bucket, keeping the fruit inside the sanitised small coarse straining bag. Add cool water until the liquid level is roughly four litres, then allow the must to cool below 25°C.

Add the Campden tablet

Crush one Campden tablet to a fine powder, stir it into the cooled must and fit the sanitised lid. Leave for 12 hours.

Add the pectolase

After 12 hours, stir in one teaspoon of pectolase. Replace the lid and leave for another 12 hours.

Drain the fruit temporarily

Lift the fruit bag with sanitised hands or utensils and let it drain over the bucket for about 10 minutes without wringing it. Place it in a sanitised bowl while the must is measured.

Set the initial liquid volume

Stir the liquid thoroughly and add cool water to bring it to approximately 4.2 litres. This leaves room for any small sugar solution needed after the hydrometer reading.

Take the first hydrometer reading

Make sure the must is close to the hydrometer's calibration temperature, normally 20°C. Use a well-mixed, pulp-free sample and read the hydrometer at eye level.

Adjust the sugar only if needed

Aim for a final starting gravity of 1.085–1.095. If the reading is low, dissolve 50g brewing sugar in about 40ml boiling water, cool it below 25°C, add it and stir thoroughly. Retest and repeat only as required, using 25g portions when close to the target.

If the gravity is slightly high, the final water addition will lower it. Do not keep adding sugar simply to use the full 1kg packet.

Make the final volume 4.5 litres

Return the fruit bag, then add cool water to make the total batch exactly 4.5 litres. Stir thoroughly and take one final reading. Record it as the original gravity, or OG.

Add acid, nutrient and yeast

Stir in one teaspoon each of acid blend and yeast nutrient. Prepare the Gervin GV2 according to the sachet instructions and use the full sachet. Keep the fermenter at 18–22°C.

Manage the first 5–7 days

Fit the lid and airlock. Once or twice each day, sanitise the spoon, gently push the fruit beneath the liquid, stir briefly and replace the lid immediately.

Remove the elderberries

Remove the fruit on day five if vigorous fermentation has clearly slowed. Leave it until day seven if it remains very active, but do not leave the fruit in for longer than seven days. Let the bag drain and avoid squeezing it hard.

Transfer to the demijohn

Syphon the wine into the sanitised demijohn, leaving the thickest pulp and sediment behind. Avoid pouring or splashing. Fill to around the shoulder, then fit the sanitised bung and airlock.

Let secondary fermentation finish

Keep the demijohn at 18–22°C and out of direct sunlight. Begin checking the gravity after fermentation has clearly slowed, usually a couple of weeks after the fruit is removed.

Confirm fermentation with two readings

Take a hydrometer reading, then repeat it at least 48 hours later. Fermentation is complete only when the readings are identical and normally between 0.990 and 0.998. If the gravity is above 1.010 and does not move, do not bottle it.

Rack and begin bulk ageing

Once the gravity is stable, syphon the wine into a clean, sanitised demijohn and leave the sediment behind. Minimise splashing, refill to the shoulder and replace the airlock. Leave it somewhere cool and dark for at least six to eight weeks.

Check that it is ready to bottle

Bottle only when the gravity is stable, the wine is clear and no meaningful new sediment has formed for at least two weeks. Elderberry wine benefits from extra bulk ageing, so there is no advantage in rushing.

Bottle without splashing

Sanitise the green wine bottles, syphon tubing, corks and corker as their instructions require. Syphon gently into each bottle and cork them. Keep them upright for the first 24 hours, then store them somewhere cool and dark.

Mature before drinking

Allow at least six months from brew day before judging the wine. Nine to twelve months normally gives a rounder, better-integrated result and softens the firm tannins found in young elderberry wine.