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This blog is a record of the wine that I make and drink. Each flavour made and each bottle drunk will appear here. You may come to the conclusion that, on the whole, I should be drinking less.

Sunday 23 August 2020

Elderberry Wine 2017 - Ninth Bottle (A6), 16th August 2020

Sunday was one of those days where I felt that I had done very little with it. I am rarely bored - or more accurately I rarely have boring moments, though recently have had whole weeks which are dull - but Sunday was a day of tedium. At one point I forced myself to get away from the computer and go for a walk. Big mistake. I have rarely been so wet when fully clothed. The deluge was so extreme that all I could do was laugh. Three days later and my trainers are still damp. Anyway, we had a bottle of elderberry wine in the evening, which had lumps, and watched 'Line of Duty'
The weather (and this only hints at it)

2 comments:

  1. Hello Ben, partner interested in making elderberry wine. Is it a good 'un & do you have a recipe? He followed your blackcurrant recipe. Also I have a query about blackberry gin. Seen recipes which use different amounts of gin, I suppose one is for a flavoured gin that you use with a mixer & the other for one you'd drink in your own like a sloe. So you have a preference & any recommendations? Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. Hello - I will come back to you about Blackberry Gin (that is very much Claire's department), but elderberry wine is definitely worth doing. My Stat Counter tells me that you are local-ish, so come elderberrying with me in September! Anyway, for 6 bottles of wine, you need 3 lbs of elderberries, 3 lbs of sugar (maybe a bit less) and 6-and-a-half pints of boiling water. Strip the elderberries from their stalks (a dull task), mash them in your bucket, add the sugar, boil the water and pour over. Wait until cool and add the yeast, pectolase and nutrient. Proceed as normal.

      It was my first ever wine, and I have made it every year since. The wine benefits from aging - so whilst you can drink it the year after making, it is better to leave it two years. But it is one of the classics, and is the red wine that is closest to real wine.

      Let me know how it goes

      Ben

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