Dried Elderberries - how to prepare ?

[Roddy]

Afternoon all,

I'm planning to put on a red wine based WOW tonight probably, and last time I made it using elderberries, I just tipped them in from the bag straight into the FV....

I was thinking today, should I be boiling them up first, to release the flavour better etc....

any opinions fine people ?

 

[MikeM70]

I just add them to boiling water and ferment for about 4 days in the bucket before straining to a demi john, never boil them. Be interesting to see other people opinions, but it always makes good wine (well, it makes me fall over, so can't be all bad).

 

[Tau]

I just add them to boiling water and ferment for about 4 days in the bucket before straining to a demi john, never boil them. Be interesting to see other people opinions, but it always makes good wine (well, it makes me fall over, so can't be all bad).

You could simmer and not boil, but boiling water over them and allowed to cool should be fine to extract a lot of flavour.

 

[Roddy]

Boiling water in bowl sounds like a winner, cheers chaps 😀

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[GDog]

i use them a lot, i rinse first (they stink) thoroughly, and sit them in a bowl of boiled water for a good few hours. They plump up, and I squish them, keeping the liquidfor the brew.

I've added a campden tab after this, and left the yeast until a day later for fear of dried bug eggs, but I've also done without, and haven't noticed any difference.