"Paul E. Lehmann" wrote in message
...
Pavel314 wrote:


"Luc Volders" wrote in
message

...
Last year I wrote a web-log entry about
elderberries which drew a lot of attention.

The method I use is as follows:

Pick the berries and pour then into a bucket
with water. The ripe ones will have sugar and
therefore submerge. The unripe ones are lighter
and will float.

Look for photos on my web-log:

http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2007/0...on-ik-had.html

There was a lot of contravery about me saying
to boil the berries.
Elderberries have sambunigrin which may cause a
lot of trouble so I will always boil them.

Me port-style recipe is also on the same
web-log page.

Besides all this:
I make about 20 to 30 batches every year from
differet fruit and ederberry wine is still the
best.

luc


Luc,

Very nice website, thanks for the reference. I
see you make rose wine; I make mead flavored
with rose petals, about one quart of fresh
petals per gallon of must.

Paul

I have some rose petals in the freezer from last
year. Have you ever made mead with rose petals
stored in this manner?

Yes. Most of my berries and petals end up in the freezer until ready to use.
Nature doesn't obey my schedules, unfortunately, so I use the freezer to
coordinate things.

I have a batch from last year which combines Concord grapes, elderberries
and blackberries, all of which ripened at different times. I suppose I could
have made three separate batches and blended them after secondary
fermentation, but it seemed much easier to freeze the first two until the
final fruit was ripe.

Paul

Paul,

Thanks for the compliment !

Indeed I have made wine with rose petals.
It is possible to freeze them just like dandelions !!!
Longest time they were in the freezer was about 8 months.
Pick them and freeze them until you will have enough to make
a batch, or save them for later use.

Luc

Pavel314 wrote:


"Luc Volders" wrote in message
...
Last year I wrote a web-log entry about elderberries
which drew a lot of attention.

The method I use is as follows:

Pick the berries and pour then into a bucket with water.
The ripe ones will have sugar and therefore submerge.
The unripe ones are lighter and will float.

Look for photos on my web-log:

http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2007/0...on-ik-had.html

There was a lot of contravery about me saying to boil
the berries.
Elderberries have sambunigrin which may cause a lot of trouble
so I will always boil them.

Me port-style recipe is also on the same web-log page.

Besides all this:
I make about 20 to 30 batches every year from differet fruit
and ederberry wine is still the best.

luc


Luc,

Very nice website, thanks for the reference. I see you make rose wine; I
make mead flavored with rose petals, about one quart of fresh petals per
gallon of must.

Paul

--
http://www.wijnmaker.blogspot.com/

I've got a question. I have several wild elderberries growing here. I
have read that some are poisonous. How do you know if they are
poisonous or not?

On Apr 2, 9:35*am, wrote:
I've got a question. I have several wild elderberries growing here. *I
have read that some are poisonous. *How do you know if they are
poisonous or not?

Apparently the other parts of the elderberry plant are somewhat toxic
(calcium oxalate), but the berries and flowers are not. Those are the
parts that are used for winemaking, so if you stick to those, you
should be OK. The toxin is the same as found in rhubarb leaves and in
the houseplant Dieffenbachia ("dumb cane"), as well as a number of
other common plants. You want to avoid it, but occasional exposure to
trace amounts of it are not a health hazard.

Doug

I guess you missd my post in this thread a few posts back:

Look for photos on my web-log:
http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2007/0...on-ik-had.html

There was a lot of contraversy about me saying to boil
the berries.
Elderberries have sambunigrin which may cause a lot of trouble
so I will always boil them.

wrote:

I've got a question. I have several wild elderberries growing here. I
have read that some are poisonous. How do you know if they are
poisonous or not?

--
http://www.wijnmaker.blogspot.com/

"Luc Volders" wrote in message
...
I guess you missd my post in this thread a few posts back:

Look for photos on my web-log:
http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2007/0...on-ik-had.html

There was a lot of contraversy about me saying to boil
the berries.
Elderberries have sambunigrin which may cause a lot of trouble
so I will always boil them.

I used to boil mine when I first started using them but then changed to
using them raw without any problem. I wonder if there's a difference between
the sambunigrin content of American and European elderberries.

Paul