Elderflower champagne??

[bushcraftbob]

I made a large batch last year for the first time. I made a fatal mistake of too much sugar aswell. It was drinkable but VERY sweet. Im going to be making some after the wkd and will be reducing the sugar aswell.

I put yeast in last year, but thid year I really want to try it au natural and just use the yeast that is naturally present in the flowers.

Also made the mistake last year of bottling up in plastic cola style bottles, and had a few explosions when opening the lid so this year I have the proper glass / lever lid bottles.

 

[Stanleythecat]

Does anyone know how long you can keep elderflower champagne?
and isn't the sugar part of the fermentaion process... sugar turning to alcohol etc (definitely want it to be midly alcoholic at least!

and I read in one recipe that you are supposed to release the pressure slightly (occasionally)...? but I have visions of being covered in the stuff!

Leo

 

[Arth]

Hi Iona

Here where I get my wine making stuff from http://www.eastgrinsteadhomebrew.co.uk/ Just down the road in Lingfield.

Making some Elderflower wine at the moment smells beautiful

 

[Iona]

Thank you kindly Sir!

Most exciting, I always intend to buy wine making gear, but being on a bit of a budget has meant that other priorities always suplant it... However, I've reluctantly decided to sell my double bass in order to turn the money into bushcraft/camping type equipment and Garden/allotment stuff. I think I could spare a bit for some booooze making kit too


Will give it a go...

You another local then? There seem to be a few of us round these parts, we keep talking about meeting up, if only for a drink or a bit of foraging company, if you're about

 

[Nagual]

My first attempt at making elder flower wine / champaign last year didn't work out at all, far too sickly - so down the sink it went and not down the hatch. This year I've used much less sugar, much much less. Been making it in roughly 4 litre batches, with half a kilo of sugar and a lemon, which I think, is about right, just had a wee taster from a batch only a few days old, and it's not too bad. Hopefully make another 6 litres or so to top up the 8 already there.. Fingers crossed.

 

[hiho]

my first batch is doing whatever it does in the spare bedroom ( smells a bit too )

 

[Arth]

You another local then? There seem to be a few of us round these parts, we keep talking about meeting up, if only for a drink or a bit of foraging company, if you're about

Yep we spoke about it a while ago. I up for it just PM me when there is a date.

 

[Arth]

The hardest part of wine making is leaving it to mature for a year. Not yet achieved it.

 

[badgeringtim]

Probably re-itterating what a lot of people here have said.
I used the river garden cottage recipie (making sure to make sure you modify it for the type in the quantity of water - just look in the forums).

We fermented it out for a little longer than sugested, and i would actually have done it for a little longer as it was a tad sweet, but gorgeouse!

Use plastic bottles - several glass ones exploded (at a friends house, whew..) and yes releasing the pressure for this brew is a good idea.
I dont believe there is a need to 'age it' - the victorian recipies usually refer to it as elderflower Fizz. Reflecting the relatively low alcohol content, giving it a couple of weeks in the bottles is enough to build up the fizz and if its been fermented for 3/4 days then there wil be booze in it. I think keeping it for too long will increase the chance of it popping and since its relatively low alcohol it will go off at some point..?

I would hearitly recomend it - but would bottle in 1 ltr plastic fizzy drinks bottles and keep an eye on them - when they go white in the bottom corners and ping like a drum skin open slowly, possibly with it in a bag in the bath.....

But do make it its soo good!

 

[Iona]

Oh my, mould again (if only a tiny bit) on batch 2, and I used a different recipe!

Also no fizz as of yet it's been going about 3/4 days. Was thinking of adding a bit of cheats yeast and straining out the flowers etc to disuade the mould.

Any advice from more experiences elder flower peeps welcome

Oh and Arth, sorry! So many bushcrafters, such a frazzled memory! When I've freed up some funds I'd be glad of an old hand to give me some advice on what I'd need from the shop, re: wine supplies... Let me know when you're going, and I'll tag along?

 

[Arth]

Oh and Arth, sorry! So many bushcrafters, such a frazzled memory! When I've freed up some funds I'd be glad of an old hand to give me some advice on what I'd need from the shop, re: wine supplies... Let me know when you're going, and I'll tag along?

Ok will do. They sell cheap plastic demijohns, so it shouldn't break the bank.
Most likely be going down there when the blackberries and elderberries are ripe.

 

[Iona]

Cool I want to make oak leaf wine...

 

[Iona]

have strained and added yeast a couple of days ago and it's looking good... so now my question is this:

If I leave it to ferment out a bit longer before I bottle it, do I have a better chance of it being more alcoholic and less sweet? Or will this process occur in the bottle if I leave it a while?

Goodness, after all these hurdles, I'm going to be a master by the time it's done!

 

[hiho]

mines all bottled up, has given my brew bucket a nice stain though :S

 

[Javapuntnl]

Made my first elder flower champagne 2 years ago in France, absolutely delicious! Tried it again last year here in the States and although there where plenty of elders around I couldn't find any that had anywhere near the same level of fragrance and the resulting brew was pretty bland... Are there different species of elders? or could it have been something else?
I'll go out tomorrow again to have another go at it. The flowers just started popping up here in the last 2 or 3 days.

 

[Arth]

have strained and added yeast a couple of days ago and it's looking good... so now my question is this:

If I leave it to ferment out a bit longer before I bottle it, do I have a better chance of it being more alcoholic and less sweet? Or will this process occur in the bottle if I leave it a while?

Goodness, after all these hurdles, I'm going to be a master by the time it's done!

If your making wine I leave it in a bucket for 10 days then strain and pour into a demijohn. I wait until it stops bubbling for about 2 weeks.Syphon into a bucket and taste if it's sweet enough Boil some water and add some sugar until the right sweetness have been achieved. Then bottle. Take care that it doesn't start to ferment again. Otherwise, Boom!

 

[durulz]

Has anyone tried replacing the sugar with honey?
My gut instincts tell me this would work fine, and give an extra dimension to the flavour. Has anyone ever done this?

 

[badgeringtim]

Arth, i think thats a different thing, you wouldnt be getting a fizzy light drink. It would be still, not that thats a bad thing nesesairily but not what a lot of people are making.

If you put a reasonable amount of sugar in i would be suprised if fermentation had been completed in 10 days without some nutrient is that somewhere really quite toasty?

I have heard quite a few people this year have the cordial start to ferment and explode - kinda funny but then a sticky floor with glass in is a bit of a bummer.

Honey should work fine - the fermentation may start slightly slower although what quantities to go with i am not sure. If a gallon has just over a k of sugar then probably 1 1/3 k honey?
Im trying to do some condensed cordial at the moment to freeze and brew later to save having it stored - apparantly the taste declines over time.

 

[durulz]

Well, I've just finished making a batch of elderflower champagne. It's actually the first time I've ever made it (although I've brewed many other things before).
Had problems finding enough elderflowers. As you drive about you still see loads but when you get up close to pick them you can see they've started turning brown. If you haven't made some yet, then time's desperately running out.
Smells really nice. Hopefully it will taste really nice as well.
I'll let you know how it went in a couple of weeks.

 

[daveO]

I just bottle 15 litres of the stuff The elderflower season is 2-3 week behind up near me which hasn't helped.

Smells great though and I added some fresh ginger to give it a bit of kick. It smells so good!