used this recipe:-
Elderberry Wine Recipe
Ingredients:
· 2½ lb 1.13398kilos elderberries
· Campden tablets
· 2½, 2¾ or 3 lb sugar
· Wine yeast
· Nutrient
· Water
Method:
1. Strip the elderberries from the stalks and wash well.
2. Put into a fermenting bin and crush. Pour on 4 pints of water. Add 1 campden tablet, crushed and dissolved in a little warm water.
3. Boil half of the sugar in 2 pints of water for 2 or 3 minutes and, when cool, mix into the pulp.
4. Add the yeast and nutrient and cover and allow to ferment for 5 days, stirring daily.
5. Strain and press and return to a clean fermenting bin.
6. Boil the rest of the sugar in 1 pint of water for 2 or 3 minutes and, when cool, add to the rest.
7. Cover again and leave for 3 or 4 days.
8. Pour carefully into a gallon jar, leaving as much deposit behind as possible.
9. Fill up the jar with cooled, boiled water to where the neck begins.
10. Fit a fermentation lock and leave until fermentation has finished.
11. Rack, as necessary, and add 1 Campden tablet after the first racking.
12. Syphon into bottles
At stage 8 (It was 4 gallons in a bucket initially). I expect I had waited 6 days not 3-4. The fermentation had fully stopped?? when checked the gravity was 0.990 with a taste to match. I had added yeast again after about the 7th day as the fermentation had stopped.
I have put it in demijohns and added 100 grams of sugar per demijohn but no more yeast. I have bought a port yeast but it did not arrive till I had started so used bog standard young's wine yeast on both occasions.
First can I still add the port yeast? Is there enough sugar in there? And why did it ferment so quick and so far??
AND I did not at any point up until putting it into the demijohns ever check the gravity? so no point asking me that!
At the moment it has not started fermenting again but I only put it in the demijohns an hour ago. Need to know all the latter as have left a fair bit of room in the demijohns to add sugar if needed before topping up with water. Thank you for your time JB