Simple recipes for black and red elderberry wine

What kind of fruits and berries do not make homemade wine. Surprisingly, but the most delicious drinks are sometimes obtained from berries that do not seem to be of any value and grow under the fence under the guise of weeds. So, for example, elderberry wine is in no way inferior to grape drink in its taste properties. But it also has pronounced medicinal properties, because it concentrates all the benefits of the berries of this not too well-known plant.

Benefits of elderberry wine

Many people know about this plant except from a well-known saying. And they do not distinguish at all between black and red elderberry. And yet there are big differences. If black elderberry is a recognized medicinal plant, from the flowers and berries of which various preparations are prepared for the winter, then red elderberry berries contain frankly toxic substances. And making wine from red elderberry is not recommended.

Black elderberries have a rich and well-balanced composition of a variety of substances useful to humans: vitamins, minerals, catecholamines, tannins, essential oils and various acids.

Black elderberry wine will be very useful for:

• migraine, insomnia and nervous disorders;
• atherosclerosis;
• diabetes mellitus, because it has the ability to lower blood sugar;
• pancreatitis;
• diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
• a variety of viral and colds.

Judging by the reviews, black elderberry wine can help increase the amount of milk during lactation, and also have a tonic and restorative effect during periods of depression, loss of strength and exacerbation of seasonal infections.

Secrets of making elderberry wine

There are several basic ways to make black elderberry wine at home. To preserve absolutely all the useful substances present in the berries, wine is made from juice squeezed from raw berries. But there are nuances here. Raw berries hardly give juice due to the presence of a large amount of tannins in them.

If you use the preliminary heat treatment of fruits, then the juice is squeezed out much easier. In addition, many tannins and inorganic acids become more accessible to the body, and the drink acquires an additional aroma. True, some vitamins irrevocably disappear during heat treatment. Therefore, both cooking methods are good – each in its own way.

It is very desirable to collect elderberries in sunny, dry weather so that the so-called “wild yeast” responsible for the fermentation of the drink is preserved on them as much as possible. It is also necessary to wait for the period when the fruits are fully ripe and the juice content in them will be maximum.

A very simple recipe for black elderberry wine

This recipe is considered traditional when it comes to black elderberry. According to him, from the same number of berries, the largest yield of the finished drink is obtained.

You need:

• 10 kg of black elderberries;
• 6 kg of granulated sugar;
• 8 L of water;
• about 100 g of wine yeast (or raisin sourdough).

Manufacture:

1. Black elderberries, peeled from twigs and leaves, are placed in a saucepan, pour 4 liters of water, heat to a boil and, having made the most minimal fire, boil the mass for 15-20 minutes.
2. During cooking, the elderberry is gently kneaded with a wooden spoon or spatula, trying not to crush the bones.
3. Cool the resulting berry mass and grind it through a sieve.
4. The remaining pulp is poured again with 2 liters of boiling water and, covered with a lid, left in this form until cool.
5. The resulting infusion is filtered, the cake is thrown away. And the first and second decoctions are combined together.
6. At the same time, a syrup is gradually prepared from the two remaining liters of water and all the sugar. When it becomes homogeneous, mix it with both decoctions.
7. The entire berry mass is cooled to room temperature, wine yeast or raisin sourdough is added.
8. It is poured into a vessel, on which a water seal is placed or an ordinary rubber glove with a hole in one finger is put on.
9. The vessel is placed in a warm place (+ 22-25 ° C) from 5 to 14 days for primary rapid fermentation.
10. At the end of it, the drink must be carefully drained from the sediment through a straw and bottled, filling them almost completely.
11. Having tightly closed the bottles, they are placed in a cool place for two months for “quiet” fermentation.
12. After that, the wine can be tasted, previously removed from the sediment again, and poured into other bottles for permanent storage.
13. The final taste and aroma will appear in the wine after several months of storage.

Fragrant wine from elder flowers

Elder flowers are also good for making homemade wine. They will give the finished wine an unimaginable aroma and a completely different taste than berries.

You need:

• 10 inflorescences of black elderberry;
• 4 L of water;
• 1 kg of sugar;
• 1 medium lemon (or 6-7 g of citric acid);
• 100 g unwashed raisins (or wine yeast).

Manufacture:

1. Syrup is boiled from water and half of sugar for 3-4 minutes, be sure to remove the resulting foam.
2. Flowers are washed in cold water.
3. Pour elderberry flowers with hot syrup, add finely chopped lemon along with the peel, but without seeds.
4. Mix thoroughly, cool to room temperature under the lid.
5. Add yeast or raisins, cover with gauze and leave in a warm place without light (+ 20-26 ° C) to start the fermentation process. Once a day, the liquid must be stirred with a wooden stick.
6. After a few days, the wine semi-finished product is filtered through gauze, squeezed well.
7. Pour into a container suitable for fermentation, install a water seal or glove and place it again in the same conditions.
8. After 5 days add the remaining 500 g of sugar. 500 ml of wort is poured, sugar is dissolved in it and poured back again, not forgetting to install a water seal.
9. After 2-3 weeks, fermentation should be over. The wine is poured into bottles, corked tightly and left to reach another 2-3 weeks in an already cool place without light.

The strength of the resulting drink will be about 10-12%.

Elderberry and Lemon Wine Recipe

Approximately according to the same technology, homemade wine is made from black elderberries with lemon.

And the ratio of components will need approximately the following:

• 3 kg of black elderberry;
• 1 kg of granulated sugar;
• 3 L of water;
• 1 lemon;
• About 10 g of yeast (or raisins).

How to make spiced elderberry wine

Using the same principle, a very fragrant elderberry wine with spices is also prepared.

You need:

• 3 kg of black elderberry;
• 1 kg of granulated sugar;
• 2 L of water;
• 1 lemon or grapefruit;
• 3-5 buds of cloves;
• a few cinnamon sticks;
• 8-12 g yeast.

Manufacture:

1. To prepare the wort, elderberry is covered with sugar, mixed and left for several hours to form juice.
2. Then pour 2 liters of boiling water, put on fire, add all the spices and simmer on the slowest fire for about a quarter of an hour after boiling with active stirring.
3. Cool, add lemon juice and yeast. Covered with gauze, put in a warm place to start fermentation.
4. In the future, the technology for making wine is absolutely similar to that described above.

How to make elderberry wine with honey

Since the healing properties of honey completely disappear when it is heated, here is a classic recipe for making homemade wine from raw elderberries.

For 3 liters of black elderberry juice, you need only 2 cups of liquid honey. No other ingredients are required for this recipe.

Elderberry juice is obtained in the following way:

1. The berries are sorted out, removing plant debris, but not washed.
2. Grind into puree using a juicer, meat grinder or press and squeeze the juice, for example, through gauze.
3. The remaining pulp is poured with water so that it covers all the berries, and left to infuse in a warm place for 5 hours.
4. Then the pulp is squeezed again, and the resulting infusion is mixed with the originally squeezed juice.

Further, the cooking technology is not much different from the already familiar. The juice is well mixed with liquid honey and placed in a warm place to start the fermentation process.

The main fermentation process itself with a water seal can last from 2 to 4 weeks. Aging young wine before drinking is recommended for 2-3 months.

As a medicine, black elderberry wine is taken 100 g per day.

How to store elderberry wine

Store homemade elderberry wine in tightly closed bottles in a cool place without sunlight. The basement or cellar is best suited for these purposes. Under such conditions, the wine can be stored for 2-3 years.

Conclusion

Elderberry wine, prepared at least once according to one of the above recipes, will surely become a favorite drink in the family, which, in combination, will also act as a medicine.