Image via Wikipedia

It seems that my grandfather had a great taste for elderberry wine but as he got to be older he was no longer able to go out into the back lot and pick the elderberries, so was a kid that got to be my job.  It takes 3 pounds of elderberries to make a gallon of wine. Grandpa had a 5 gallon keg that he wanted to fill with wine this meant I had to pick 15 pounds of ripe elderberries, a two day project.

Elderberries are a small dark-colored berry that grows on a shrub like plant of the Sambucus family of which over thirty species exist. We had the one that was called Black Elderberry because the berries were black. The berries grow on bract so there over one-hundred berries per bract. After they were picked then you had to remove them from the bract being sure none of the bract was picked with the berries otherwise it would ruin the flavor of the wine. When it’s finished elder berry wine tastes exactly like wine that is made from grapes you can hardly tell the difference.

Once all the berries and then picked every move from the practice then we went about making the actual wine. This part of the process grandfather supervised while I did most of the work. This is what you’re going to need to make 5 gallons of wine.

15 pounds of black elderberries picked from bracts.

10 pounds of fine sugar

17 1/2 quarts of boiled spring water (Do not use tap water it gives the wine a bad taste.)

10 teaspoons of acid blend

5 teaspoons of yeast nutrient

2 ½ teaspoons of pectic enzyme

5 crushed Camden tablets

1 package wine yeast

The last five items in this recipe can be bought from a shop specializing in winemaking supplies. I don’t know where my grandfather got the stuff because I wasn’t with him when he got it. All I know is a grandpa had his contacts. You’re also going to have to buy an air lock at the same time.

If you divide the ingredients by five that is enough to make 1 gallon of elderberry wine.

Just remember that when you’re making wine everything has to be absolutely clean and sterilize with hot water. Do not let anything that is not sterilized come anywhere near the winemaking process.

Wash the older berries and pick them from the bracts and throwaway any that are not any good. At the same time you can boil the water and dissolve the sugar in it while it is still hot. Grandpa used an old pillow case That was tied shut to hold the berries. He then put the berries into a separate container and with a sterilized stick that was about 3 inches in diameter and about 2 feet long he proceeded to mash the berries until most of the juice had run out.

Once this was done he then poured the sugar water over the top of the berries. Then he covered the container and waited until it was lukewarm, then he added the acid blend along with the crushed Camden tablets and the yeast nutrient.

Grab them and set the container aside after recovering it and just let it set for 12 hours. Then he stirred in the pectic enzyme. Then he covered the container again and allowed it to set another 12 hours. He then stirred in the yeast.

He then allowed the covered container to set for 14 days stirring it once a day, and with the sterilized mashing stick squeeze the bag holding the elderberries thoroughly every day. Then he picked the bag right out of the solution and just let it drip without squeezing while still being held on the end of the stick. He racked the wine into a separate container and fitted it with an air lock.

The container of wine sat aging in a cool dark place for two months then he would rack it into another container, top it off and refit the air lock. This was repeated two more times before he finally bottled the wine.

After the wind is racked for the last time alone to stabilize for 10 days and sweeten it taste with sugar and put the finished wine into bottles.

Making wine is like going to church just remember the cleanliness is next to godliness.