Elderberry and apple wine

I have just completed racking my first batch of elderberry and apple wine. This is an exciting step further into the unknown! I have taken all of the understanding gaining by brewing up a storm all summer and autumn, and have developed my own recipe for an apple and elderberry wine.

Elderberry wine has been so forgiving to my mistakes as a beginner brewer. I am hoping that if it starts to go wrong, taste problems will be ameliorated by this magical berry, the berry of the elder.

I have remembered to add the pectic enzyme to prevent ropiness, and what I thought was the right amount of sugar to make a dry wine.

So far, so good;

Last day of ferment

Crucial note taking processes

Remembering all the steps

First rack

The results:

Original Gravity: 1.050

After the second rack I have remeasured the gravity and the new result is 1.030, it is still really sweet.

Using the C.J.J Berry Method for determining the alcoholic content of a wine (ABV = (O.G – S.G) / 7.36) I get 2.71 ABV. I need to wait a year after bottling, but it appears I am on course to make a very weak, too-sweet wine.

If it has a very low alcoholic content, my alternate as a substitute in any recipe that calls for a red wine base.

Also…

Potatoes! The two grow bags yielded about a month’s worth of potatoes for the household.

Digging the potatoes out of the growing bags

Yeah, spuds!

Related:

ACV: Making Apple Cider Vinegar at home

Brewing Elderberry Wine

Making Rosehip Wine