Hi,
Can I make a elderberry extract for late additions to wine or mead ? I had to blend a grape mead with a elderberry wine I made that finished dry and harsh. Unfortunately it lightened the elderberry wine . After I blended the two I stabilized the mixture with k meta and k sorbate. Can I add a vodka based dried elderberry extract to darken and add elderberry notes to a finished wine/mead?
You can, but I strongly advise doing bench trials to see how it’s going to affect the outcome before you dose the whole batch. Get a measuring cup based in millilitres and a syringe, which will be in cc’s, but that’s the same as ml.
Make up 5 or 6 100 ml cups, and then dose each one with your extract: 1 ml in one, 2 ml in the next, 4 ml in the next, and so on. Taste 'em all, and when you think you’ve hit the right amount, do the math and dose the whole batch.
Hi Tim,
Thank you for the reply. I felt the extract would be possible being sanitized by the vodka but getting it to work was my concern. Your suggestion of bench trials is a great idea. Once I put the extract in I cannot take it out. As a first time beer brewer, that turned into a family get together…has expanded to mead/wine. Thanks again!
Cheers!
Hank
