Home Distiller

im sure this has bin asked and discussed before but i couldnt find anything on it i was recently given 3 gallons of some really cheap white wine i have a 5 gallon ss pot still would it be worth running it or would it even amount to anything im not for sure on the abv of the wine

Welcome to HD.

Using a vinometer, you can buy one from your homebrew store, will give you an approximation of the abv your wine contains to within a 2% tolerance.
Another option is to do a stripping run to take the alcohol off.

Heres a vinometer.. Hope it helps...

Hi...My first post on this site...i find it very handy to confirm ideas or to learn new ones. I am a keen wine maker/distiller(distilling is legal here in New Zealand but you cannot sell your product).I have a 50gallon barrel of elderberry wine which i put down in february 2012, it has ended up very bitter so am running it thru my reflux still. i put in 26 litres of wine as wash and am extracting between 4.5 and 5 litres of 90 percent distillate.Better than emptying the whole deal out onto the ground im thinking!...cheers.

I would definitely give it a go moondoggy, sometimes a cheap wine can turn into an I interesting brandy.

Oh, almost forgot.

welcome to HD moondoggy and tal,

you might consider going to the welcome center and giving us a proper intro. It's kinda traditional and gives us all a chance to say hey.

Tal wrote:Hi...My first post on this site...i find it very handy to confirm ideas or to learn new ones. I am a keen wine maker/distiller(distilling is legal here in New Zealand but you cannot sell your product).I have a 50gallon barrel of elderberry wine which i put down in february 2012, it has ended up very bitter so am running it thru my reflux still. i put in 26 litres of wine as wash and am extracting between 4.5 and 5 litres of 90 percent distillate.Better than emptying the whole deal out onto the ground im thinking!...cheers.

Hi Tal & welcome to HD

elderberries you say...what did the distillate taste like?

Are you aware that elderberries are one of the main ingredients in black sambuca like this one?

Hi...sorry about the long delay in getting back to you...yes, Elderberries. We have the "Australis" variety here in Canterbury,NZ and they grow wild which makes them easy to get if you can beat the birds that is! Normally i get mine about the 18th of Feb(summer here)
when they are nice and plump. I use a pair of snips and take the wholebunch as they grow in "umbrells", like an upside down umbrella. I find if i add sultanas to the mix it creates a nice wine. If you leave the berries too long b4 you can start making the wine, they will start without you!!not ideal!.Mind you, i have 100 kilos of them so takes a while to process...cheers.

ahh, The distillate is tasteless as i use a reflux still which strips any flavour...just add my rum flavour or boubon and im sitting down having a nice rum and coke...80 proof so very pleasant...