Topic: It's that Elderberry wine time again

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Beat You, Beat You , Beat You ! Ten Gallons on the go.  I don't use demi jons for such a large ammount.  I use large (five gallon) food grade plastic buckets in which the Mayonnaise arrives at work for your 'Party eggs'.  I cut a hole in the lid and jamb the rubber bung and bubbler assembly in there, sometimes I have to resort to wrapping insulating tape round the loin to ensure a good seal :P.  There is a school of thought that the larger the quantity of wine brewed in one container, the better.  Off to track down some Rosehips this weekend.  Cheers, Tony. ;D

[Doris_Pinks]

Good idea that Tony, will have to track some down!   10 gallons, lucky you! ;D One of mine is a runner bean and elderberry, interested to see what it tastes like!

[derbex]

We've got masses of hips (or haws?) at the top of our hedge -not sure if they're rose hips though- and I'd need one of those lampost platforms to get at them.

I did make rosehip wine once and it tasted very good -just about killed my mums Kenwood crushing them though.

Jeremy

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I.m not too sure about mixing fruit and vegetable in the same recipe (runner bean and elderberry) but if it is drinkable, it is a success!  Let me know how it turns out.  Hips are the 'fruit' of the wild rose, haws are the fruit of the hawthorn,  as I said to the old Gent who had a chat while I was collecting them " You always find a few good old haws along the canal towpath".  He went away sniggering!  Cheers, Tony. ;)

[Doris_Pinks]

Nearly caught up with you Tony, another 2 1/2 gallons on the go! We need a bigger house, or a garage! :o  Will let you know how the runner bean and elderberry tastes!  DP

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You know when you 'may be overdoing it' when you walk through the kitchen to the kettle for you early morning tea and have difficulty breathing due to the overabundance of C02!  Cheers, Tony.

[Doris_Pinks]

Our house smells like a brewery and I have several ladies round Friday morning for a coffee morning! :o  :o
BTW, does anyone else think that Elderberry has a fast fermentation rate? Some of mine have slowed to a snails pace and they are on a heating pad! DP

[derbex]

How long's it been going Doris? Mine's been going 10 days and it's still bubbling well -although starting to slow down a bit -and the room feels quite cool. 2-3 weeks normally does it for me.

Jeremy.

[Doris_Pinks]

Hmmm bout 2 1/2 weeks! So I guess we are normal.......well, if you can us normal, you know what I mean! ;D

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I have two five gallon containers of the stuff and when the pressure builds up enough to get through the bubbler it sounds like a central heating system with a terminal problem.  I believe long and slow fermentation is the way to get better results (rather than a quick thrash).  I've never known a wine with such a 'crust' to break up as on the top of Rose Hip.  Cheers, Tony.