I’ve got what appears to be elderberries growing beside my place and if they are, I’d like to make wine out of 'em. If they ain’t, I don’t wanna make wine out of 'em (at least none that I’ll be drinking 
). Anybody know of easy way to identify them?
The elderberry bush is easy to recognize. It is a tall,many stemmed shrub, sometimes taking on a tree like appearance. The bush varies in size from 5 to 15 feet tall. It is easy to identify by the flat-topped clusters of white flowers in June and July, and the pale blue fruit in late August and early September. The leaves turn yellow in the fall. They grow opposite on the stem and are oblong or crescent shaped. The stems are brown and glossy. The elderberries grow in umbrella shaped cluster of pale powdery blue fruit. The berries are small and tart.
Ripening Season
Late August - early September. Elderberries are generally completely ripe after the first frost, and are considered a fall harvest.
Habitat
Elderberry bushes can be found in moist to wet soil along streams in meadow woods, and open areas. Blue elderberries are more prevalent along roadsides and openings in the pondersa pine and Douglas-Fir stands at lower elevations, while black elderberries are native to the higher elevations.
Common Uses of Elderberries
Elderberries are used quite commonly for wine, jelly, and juice. Elderberry fruit lacks acid, and it is best to combine them with lemon juice, rhubarb, or apple in pies.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/helena/recreation/identification/berries.shtml
Well, they do look like that (well, they’re black, not blue), but aren’t there plants which look like elderberries, but are poisonous?
Here’s a good picture
http://www.allnatural.net/herbpages/elderberry.shtml
There are two types of elderberry, a black and a blue one, both are edible, it seems. Stay away from the red elderberry, it is toxic:
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/Sambupu.htm
I don’t think there are any other plants that look quite like an elderberry - just make sure the leaf pattern and the berry cluster matches the picture.
If it’s any consolation, most poisonous berries in North America are also inedible.
Do they smell like your father?
attempts to repress j.c. for saying that
If you wait till next spring you can also make a very good wine from the blossoms of the elderberry bush. This has a very distinctive and pleasent taste , akin to some German Rhine wines.
Here is a recipe for Elderflower wine :-
Elderberries gather once a week to discuss business concerning all the berries.