The correct way to make elderberry?

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Jim Karr

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For years, I've tried to make a decent elderberry wine. All I've ended up with is a horribly astringent, puckery wine that gives the drinker panic attacks a few hours after drinking.
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I've since been told that the common method of fruit wine which is crushing or preparing the juice at room temperature is dangerous with elderberry, because of some toxic substances that remain.

Anyone familiar with the "approved"method of elderberrying?
 
I've never tried making it, for exactly the reasons you mention. One point many recipes make is to remove all of the stems, then crush & heat the juice. Any wax that forms when it cools should be removed. But, you still end up with an astringent product, just not as bad. You'll probably have to use campden and sweeten the final results.

Herbalists use elderberry for wound cleaning. The pucker power is a good thing then!
 
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