Sun Extracted Elderberry Wine
An easy elderberry wine with just four ingredients, brewed in the sun.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 4 quarts loosely packed elderberries (be sure they are dark ripe)
- 2 quarts boiling water
- 6 cups cane sugar
- 1 cup of chopped raisins
Instructions
- This recipe is made in stages. In stage one, you steep the elderberries in water; in stage two, you add the sugar and raisins.
- Remove elderberries from stems and pack in a gallon glass jar. Bring two quarts of water to a boil. Make sure your jar is warm to prevent breakage. Pour the boiling water over the elderberries. Leave a healthy inch of space at the top, because they will swell and expand.
- Make a plastic liner for the metal cover. Put the cover on loosely (enough to keep the bugs out, but loose enough that it can vent). Set in a sunny place outside for three days.
- After three days, strain the berries through a jelly bag or flour sack towel, squeezing out as much of the liquid as possible. Pour juice back into the glass jar or one gallon crock. Stir in the sugar, making sure it is all dissolved. Add chopped raisins. Cover loosely and keep in a warm place indoors to continue fermentation for three more weeks.
- At the end of this time period, strain the wine. Use several layers of cheesecloth, or a flour sack towel or old cotton t-shirt. Transfer the wine into a one gallon carboy with airlock.
- Let the wine age in the carboy for six months. Siphon the wine the wine into bottles and allow to age until it is at least a year old. Unlike most fruit wines, elderberry benefits from longer fermentation.
Find it online: https://commonsensehome.com/how-to-make-elderberry-wine/