ok we bought my wifes grandfathers house 5 years ago, in the basement there are small bottles of wine, with screw on caps that are labled " elderberry wine 1968". should i throw away cause of the screw top bottles?
please don think im an idiot, im new to brewing. is it ok to drink? do i have a gem here? im afraid of the fact that it is only in bottles with just screw caps on it.
Nothing can survive in the wine that could make you sick or die. At worst, it could taste bad. At best though, it might be the most awesome thing you've ever tried.
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Exactly! It might taste fantastic, it might be terrible. But it won't hurt you no matter what.
I have a friend who made plum wine over 25 years ago. It was really high alcohol, not very good, and he sort of forgot about it. Last summer, he found it. It has "madeirized", but it's actually good. By "madeirized", I mean it oxidized so that it picked up notes of madeira, or sherry. That's usually not desirable, but in this high alcohol plum wine, it's wonderful! It actually tastes a bit like brandy, so he calls it "plum brandy". He gifted us with the last jug. I have it in the basement with a screw top on it. And I plan on drinking it, and sharing it, like a liqueur in small glasses after dinner.
So, if it's oxidized because of the screw cap, you might find it even better than you thought! If it tastes sour or otherwise bad, you're not out anything at all by trying it. No known pathogens can survive in a high alcohol environment, so don't worry about getting sick. (unless you drink way too much of it- then you may get a bad hangover).
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Sounds like it did oxidized over time (brown color) but what's your opinion of it? Do you like it?
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yooper put it best, its like a sipping brandy. i like it, it is very sweet. my wife is going nuts over the smell cause it reminds her of the way this house used to smell when she came here when she was little. she says the whole house used to smell like it.
elderberry wine from 1968
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