Damson Wine Recipe – Rich & Perfect For Aging
Damsons or the Damson plum as the name suggests are a close relative to the plum and a member of the Rose family. They are a common tree to find in many gardens and wild throughout the UK which means many people have a glut of them in early autumn and don’t know what to do with them.
If you do have a glut or you have found a few trees growing wild then one of the best things to do with them is to make wine, this Damson wine recipe is a really nice wine and one that will get better and better over the space of a year or two.
Damsons a similar in shape and colour to plums but the flavour is definitely a bit different. Damsons are rarely eaten raw or straight from the tree and if you have tried you will know why. There is a level of acidity and tannin that makes eating them raw a challenge rather than a pleasure.
The high levels of tannin and the tartness provided by the acidity, however, is what makes Damsons so good for making wine. Rich full bodied red wines are the result of the naturally high tannin content. Many fruit wines require the addition of tannin to boost levels but with Damsons, there is enough already present in the skin of the fruit to not need to make any additions.
The high tannin level is also what makes the resulting Damson wine age so well. Astringency in wine needs a little time to balance itself out. At first sample, a Damson wine can seem too bitter and this can be a time when people are tempted to back sweeten the wine. If you hold off on this temptation however and bottle the wine and set it aside for a year, the results can be truly remarkable.
Table of Contents
Preparing Damsons For Making Wine
Damsons, like plums, have a stone. This will need to be removed before making wine as the stone will introduce far too much bitterness. The best way to prepare the damsons is to wash, destem and remove any bad fruit, cut them in halves and remove the stone.
The prepared damsons can then either be used straight away or what I prefer to do is freeze them. Leave them in the freezer for a few days or as long as you like. When you come to make the wine take them out to defrost and you will find all the juices will release themselves. This is perfect for winemaking, freezing the damsons breaks down their structure meaning we can extract a lot more juice, sugar and flavour a lot quicker. Be sure to save all the juices as the damsons thaw and add them to the wine.
What You’ll Need To Make Damson Wine – Makes 1 gallon / 4.5 litres
You will only need a small amount of equipment to make this wine. We can supply winemaking equipment if you don’t already have it, check the online shop here.
- Small Fermenting Bucket
- Demijohn
- Large Pan
- Syphon
- Fine Straining Bag
- Potato Masher
- Airlock & Bung
Damson Wine Ingredients
- 1.5kg Damsons (prepared as above)
- 1.2kg of Sugar
- 3.9 litres of Water
- 1/2 tsp Acid Blend
- 1 tsp Yeast Nutrient
- 1 tsp Pectic Enzyme
- 1 Campden Tablet
- 1 sachet of Yeast (we recommend Lalvin EC-1118)
Damson Wine Method
- If you have frozen your damsons then get them out of the freezer ahead of time so they have thawed before you start.
- Place the damsons in a wine straining bag in a sanitised fermenting bucket. Take a sanitised potato masher and begin to mash the damson to release the juices and break down their structure.
- Put the sugar and half the water into a pan and begin to heat to a boil. Be sure all the sugar dissolves and doesn’t catch on the pan. Once boiling remove from the heat and pour over the damsons in straining bag. Give the must a good stir and then add the remaining half of cool water which will help bring the temperature down. All to cool to room temperature.
- Once the must has cooled to around room temperature add the Campden tablet, stir and leave for 12 hours.
- After 12 hours add the acid blend, pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient and mix thoroughly, leave for another 12 hours.
- After this time has elapsed add the yeast by sprinkling onto the surface of the must. Leave to ferment for 7 – 10 days stirring each day.
- After at least a week lift out the straining bag and what is left of the damsons. Allow all the liquid to thoroughly drain back into the fermenter. Leave the wine to settle for the next few days and you can take a hydrometer reading at this point if you wish to.
- Once signs of fermentation have slowed down or stopped, rack the wine into a demijohn and fit a bung and airlock. Leave the wine to condition and settle, you may need to rack the wine to a clean demijohn after a month as the sediment builds up. Rack the wine as necessary until it is completely clear.
- Once cleared it is advisable to let the wine bulk age for at least 3 – 6 months before bottling.
- The wine can be sampled and checked to see if you want to back sweeten it. Damson wine is a good candidate to have slightly sweet but do be cautious as when the wine is young it can seem slightly astringent. After aging, it becomes mellower. Use this method if you intend to back sweeten.
- Bottle the wine and set aside, the longer the better. This damson wine really comes into its own after a year and only gets better after this.
I want to make 5 gallons – do I follow recipe times 5.
Yes, that is correct. You will not need 5 Campden tablets, however, 3 will be enough.
Thank you so much.
So 5 packets of yeast??
Depending on the yeast you are using 1 – 2 packs should be enough. The recommended dosage should be written on the pack. Lalvin yeasts, for example, are capable of fermenting 4.5 – 25 litres if wine per sachet. Sorry for not being clearer.
Hello Neil – there are Lalvin EC-1118 · Lalvin ICV K1-V1116 · Lalvin 71B · Lalvin ICV-D47 which is best for damson wine. thank you VJ
I like EC1118 or 71B for damson or plum wines. You can take a look at the descriptions on Lallemands website here https://www.lallemandbrewing.com/en/united-states/products/home-wine-yeast/ which will give you a bit more information on each of the variaties.
Hi, I’ve just began to make 2 gallons using approx 2.8kg frozen damsons… I’ve doubled up on the Campden tablets, yeast nutrient, acid blend but have only put one sachet of lavlin in and one small bottle of pectic. Should I be adding more of these?
Plus sugar was only about 1.35kg…will that just affect the strength?
Thanks for the recipe and help! Our tree was so plentiful this year couldn’t believe it!
One sachet of yeast will be enough for 5 gallons so no problem here. The sugar will result in a lower ABV and affect the flavour somewhat in the sense of a wine below 12% or so won’t taste that familiar. Hope this helps.
Hi, what sort of strength wine will this make? I’ve encountered issues taking an OG reading when there is a lot of pulp in the must.
The sugar addition in this wine at 4.5 litres will give a specific gravity of 1.090 which will give you an ABV of approx. 12%. There is also sugar in the damsons but it is hard to measure exactly how much sugar. In my experience, the damsons contain enough sugar to raise the ABV to around 13-13.5% ABV.
Hope this helps.
We figured out this year that we have a Damson Plum tree in our orchard of our new house. We have been picking, washing, pitting and freezing them, not knowing what kind of plums they were. You can imagine the excitement when we figured that out. 🙂 Thanks for the recipe. Can Damson Plums make a Madeira style wine?
Hi Debora, Madeira is a fortified wine so it is possible to make a wine similar to Madeira by adding a spirit to the wine like brandy. The brandy increases the ABV and fortifies the wine.
Hi, I made 2 gallons of damson wine from this recipe in September. I put into 2 demijohns on 24th September, fermentation went well & eventually stopped. I have not yet racked again the reason I have been unwell. I have just noticed the one has started bubbling & can see it in wine, haven’t seen the airlock move. I was going to rack this week, what could have caused this new activity & what should I do next. Thank you for any advice appreciated as I am new to home brewing. Marilyn
Hi Marilyn, there will still be residual carbon dioxide dissolved in the wine from the initial fermentation. This carbon dioxide makes its way out over time and racking to a new vessel will help this process. Some winemakers use degassing tools which agitate the gas out of solution but they are not really necessary if you leave the wine to condition for a month or two. There is no need to worry and I would just rack to a new vessel as normal the CO2 will dissipate with time.
Hi Neil, Thank you for your reply. I have done as you advised today, also I added a Campden tablet to each gallon. I will leave for 2 – 3 months to condition & will taste & back sweeten as I’m sure it will need it.
Thanks for your advice it has reassured me.
Started this wine September 2018. Just tried a bottle
( impatient ) !
Tastes great . Leaving the rest for six months then will try another .
Must say I would definitely degas with some sort of tool .
Takes forever to degas naturally . I made one from a cut off plastic coat hanger , heated the end in boiling water and shaped into a question mark . Works great with a drill , although a bit tedious .
Will be making 15 litres using this recipe when next crop ready .
Glad it tastes great. I love Damson wine myself too but find it difficult to get damsons every year.
I have damson coming through my ears and squirrels feast on them . Anyone wants they can contact me next year
Is the 1.5kg before removing the stones or after removing the stones?
Total weight of the fruit. The stones can be removed after weighing.
Hi Neil
Having read all of the above I have realised a mistake I made by putting whole damsons in should I take them out and put them in a bag for a few days or just leave it now, learn by experience and not do it to the next batch? Thanks in advance
The stones are usually removed to prevent off flavours that may make the wine bitter or astringent. I am not sure how the wine will turn out, it could be great. If it were me I would put it down to experience and see how it turns out.
Cheers
Neil
Hello! Is it ok to leave the the musk in the fermentation bucket for 20 days instead of 10 (with the damsons removed) before racking to demijohns?
Many thanks,
Luke
It shouldn’t be a problem as long as the fermenter is airtight. If there is oxygen present it can cause mould issues if left too long, in a sealed bucket this is not likely to be an issue.
Cheers
Neil
Wow! I made 5 gallons using your recipe and have racked it for the second time today. I just had to try small glass. It already tastes amazing! I’m looking forward to next year when it’s matured. Should be worth the wait. Thank you!
I’m glad you enjoy it. Damson wine is one of my favourites and always seems to do well every year for me.
Hiso when you have added the yeast to the bulk bucket of damson wine. I need to put a sealed lid on..
Yes, fit the lid with an airlock.
Hi, I am also new to wine making. wondering what do you do with the leftover after racking from the fermentation vessel??
I don’t really use the leftover fruit for anything myself. I suppose you could cook with it but a lot of the sweetness and flavour will be gone.
I have just started this recipe, the smell from the fermentation is wonderful! Looking towards the bulk aging, what conditions would you use? I would normally leave my brews in the garage (out of the way to keep the wife happy). Would this be suitable?
You want to keep the temperature around 20-25c ideally or it will slow the fermentation
Hey there,
I used some yeast and just realised it was out of date. I’ve ordered more but may be be a while before it arrives. Will it be ok for 10days before I get new yeast? Nutrients, acid blend and enzyme have all gone in and it’s airtight.
Thanks,
Hi Toby, as yeast ages it loses viability, however, there may still be enough viable yeast to start fermentation.
You may find by the time your new yeast arrives the wine has actually been fermenting.
With what is going on in the world at the moment you can’t really do much. I know a lot of brew shops have a lot of back orders and are really busy.
My advice is to check the wine for signs of fermentation after 2 or 3 days, look for yeast, bubbles or use a hydrometer if you have one. If nothing has happened add a campden tablet if you have one and this will keep things stable until your new yeast arrives.
Fingers crossed that the yeast was viable enough to have already started fermentation.
Thanks Neil.
Yeah I had some damsons in freezer I picked last summer ready to get going, making 5 gallons this time as I did this recipe in a smaller batch couple years ago and came out great. Lock down starts, I get everything ready and everything added then see the best before date on the packet is couple years old. D`oh.
I’ve already added the first campden tablet in stage 4 of the recipe, should I add more or is this enough to keep it all stable? If the old yeast doesn’t get started, will it affect the flavour after I add the new yeast?
Cheers,
I know your recipe is for 1 gallon of wine but if I want to make 5 gallons do I times it by 5 ?
Thanks.
Yes, you just need to multiply the ingredients by 5 to make that amount. The yeast may be the only exception. If you check the packet it will state the amount that one sachet can ferment.
Thanks. One more thing what temperature should the wine be kept at while fermenting and how best to keep it at that temperature eg wrap it in a blanket ?
Hi. I’m following your recipe, making 5 x the volume … I’ve been advised to use lemon juice in place of the acid blend (as apparently you can’t but it anymore?). How much lemon juice would you use? And also, would you keep the liquid under airlock all the way through. Thanks in advance
Yes, keep an airlock on throughout. You can buy acid blend at all home brew shops and online, it is easier to measure and contains a group of acids rather than just citric acid. I would probably add the lemon juice after fermentation in this case and sample before and after adding to see how balanced the wine is.
Cheers Neil. Is it best left inside house or outside in a shed for ageing?
Hi iv got a batch in the 5th day of fermentation when iv stirred the wine it becoming a bit less trothy each day now I’m still to get the damsons out of the bucket with the next 2days but when would I transfer to the demi John
I would usually leave the fruit in for 7 to 10 days. Lift it out and then let the wine settle for at least 24 hours before racking to a demijohn.
Never made wine before so be patient. Going for the 5 gallons as have the equipment. If I am making 5 gallons, do I need 2.5 tsp Acid Blend, 5 tsp Yeast Nutrient and 5 tsp Pectic Enzyme. Saw the answers re yeast and campden tabs.
Also, instead of using demi-johns, can I leave it in the big buckets with the air-lock on the top instead as we have a couple of those and would have to buy demi-johns.
Many thanks in advance 🙂
Yes, those quantities look correct. You can use buckets throughout the process but you will probably still want to rack the wine offer the sediment as you would normally. Best of luck.
Hi Neil,
Thanks for writing up this recipe. We have just prepared the damsons and have frozen them while we wait for our kit to arrive.
First time wine makers!!!
Quick question on step 4, 5 and 6, does the lid need to be put on the fermenting bucket after each step?
Thanks
Ben
Hi, yes the lid should be kept on the vessel throughout the process and an airlock used throughout fermentation. Best of luck and hope it comes out well.
Hi Neil,
Firstly, thank you so much for taking the time to share your recipe. Every year we have way more damsons than we know what to do with and there’s only so much jam one can (or should) get through. This will be my first foray into wine making so, wanting to understand a bit more about what I’ll be doing, I googled (dangerous!) the purpose of campden tablets. I’ve come across a few postings that suggest a second tablet before the first racking and a final one before bottling. Is there any merit to adding either of these tablets?
Thanks again,
John
Hi John, I have written a bit more about Campden tablets here which may help. The reason to add at racking and before bottling is that they help to remove oxygen that will effect the wine as it ages. They are not strictly necessary but it can help the process if you find your wines don’t age all that well.
Fermentation in bucket has ceased. Fruit removed yesterday & will rack tomorrow. What temperature do you recommend keeping the racked Demi johns at?
Thanks
Hi Neil, currently into day 6 of fermentation following your recipe. Was wondering should I be adding another campden tablet at the end of fermentation? I also wanted to add a bit of glycerin for extra body, would you advise this and at what point should I add it? Thanks, Ben
You don’t need another Campden tablet. You can add one but only after the yeast has completely finished which would be after the wine has cleared.
You can add glycerine if you want. I would sample the wine closer to the end or even before bottling and then decide whether or not it is necessary.
Hi Neil,
I first racked the wine at the end of October and have done it numerous times since but still can’t get the wine to clear. Any suggestions?
Some wines will retain a haze. You can look at adding finings if you really want to clear the wine, take a look at this guide – https://homebrewanswers.com/winemaking-chemicals-additives/ I would recommend chitosan and kiesolol.
There is no problem with haze in a finished wine so you could still bottle it. The flavour will be exactly the same.
Ok I’ll probably just leave it then. Thank you.
Neil,
Do you leave the straining bag full of damsons submerged in the must?
Mike
Yes, that’s correct, then pull the bag out after around 7 – 10 days
Silly question. Is the must the fruit in the straining bag or the fresh liquid underneath?
Not silly at all. Must is the word to describe the unfermented wine. Must would be used to describe the liquid and fruit all together before the yeast finish fermentation.
Hi step 6 leave for 7-10 days I am fast approaching the end of however do I then leave the fruit in for an additional week or do I remove it now and then leave it for a week before racking? Many thanks Ollie
Remove the fruit now. A week is enough to extract all the flavour and colour you need from the fruit.
Tried this wine and it’s very promising two months into the process. What temperature would be most ideal though to store the bottled wine in for several months or years – cool (below 10 degrees Celsius) or room temperature (in my case, around 18 degrees C)?
Cool temperature storage will slow oxidation and the wine will last longer. Most wine cellars are temperature controlled at around 10-14 Celsius.