# elderberry



## Ted n Ms (Apr 25, 2008)

I have reading about making elderberry wine they all say 6 cups sugar or what ever the recipe calls for . Could i just sub. the same amount of honey.


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## Ted n Ms (Apr 25, 2008)

81 people viewed and nobody has an idea ?


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

It's been YEARS since I've brewed anything so my best advice would be to mix slow untill you got the specific gravity reading you wanted on your hydrometer


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

Sure. Read the stickied intro thread for a little more info on gravity and alcohol; it'll depend a lot on your yeast strain. Granular sugar (with zero water content) will lend a slightly higher gravity must than would honey, but you'll get a more meadlike product.


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## Bob J (Feb 25, 2013)

I would agree with Harley.... Add honey until your must hits the right OG for your taste.... My experience with regular elderberry wine is that it tended to be sweet like a sack mead but the nice thing about making it yourself is you can make it just the way you want it.... If there is any question undershoot it.... You can always backsweeten but if it's too sweet for your taste there is very little you can do to adjust it back down without ruining it....


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## Ted n Ms (Apr 25, 2008)

Good info. I like mine a little sweet with a good alcohol content.


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## John Davis (Apr 29, 2014)

Beemaid.com look for recipe converter


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## I'llbeedan (Mar 31, 2013)

Ted n Ms said:


> Good info. I like mine a little sweet with a good alcohol content.


 First you need to decide on the alcohol by volume, then decide weather you will use a residual sugar ferment, or back Sweeten. If the former you will need to find a yeast that has an alcohol tolerance close to your preferred alcohol by volume. and the amount of residual sugar desired in terms of specific gravity, then set the specific gravity to a point where after reaching the alcohol tolerance of the yeast the desired amount of residual sugar will remain. 
If choosing the later set the SG of the must to a point where the desired ABV will be reached at dryness., upon clarification and stabilization after bulk aging, Back sweeten with honey to taste


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## EvanS (Feb 27, 2015)

You may be better off finding an elderberry mead recipe and start from there. As far as SG/brix, what has been stated earlier sounds right. If you are trying to end fermentation with natural residual sugar and a normal ABV around 12%, you need to start with a higher sugar content and choose a yeast that dies off at that ABV. If you want a higher alcohol content then I would suggest a yeast like EC 1118 from Lallemand. It can withstand high alcohol before dying off. The other option, as stated by I'llbeedan, you can back sweeten after fermentation. Either way, if your alcohol is not high, ie 15% or higher, and you are shooting for a sweeter wine, you will want to be sure that you a make some type of addition to ensure you don't end up with refermentation in the bottle. With home brewing, the best bet to kill yeast is potassium sorbate and meta bisulfite. The meta is a standard addition for dry wines and the sorbate helps knock down the yeast before bottling.


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