Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Eating and Drinking => Homebrew => Topic started by: David. on June 08, 2007, 17:05
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My wife wants to make elderflower champagne, but when she showed me recipes from books, they all seemed wrong for some one used to making beer & cider:
1) No yeast!
2) Add 1lb 8oz of sugar and put in bottles after 24 hrs - (if there is natural yeast on the flowers) the bottles will surely explode! I suggested at the very least using plastic bottles, releasing pressure occasionally and (just in case) keeping them in a large fermenting bucket with the lid snapped on.
3) Why not ferment in a bucket, then demijon and prime with sugar in the normal way? Is it just an old recipe that has never been changed, or does
'elderfower champagne' (more like elderflower beer?) need to be prepared another way?
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im no expert ,but i would make the same way as elderflower wine but use champagne yeast instead of wine yeast.
we done this with gooseberries and it was lovely
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im no expert ,but i would make the same way as elderflower wine but use champagne yeast instead of wine yeast.
But 'elderflower champagne' is a beer strength 2 week brew, and not like a sparkling wine.
It is only this specific brew that I am interested in.
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There's different recipes, most on the net seem to be for the weak version you mentioned.
This is the one I make (its a proper strength fizzy wine):
gallon water, 2 1/2 lb sugar, 1/2 lb raisins 3 lemons juice, 1 pint of elder flower (without stalks)
start it of in bucket like normal wine, after a bit get it in a demijohn keep an eye on fermentation when the SG suggests there is very little sugar left i.e. 1000-990 bottle it and add a teaspoon of sugar for every pint in a bottle making sure not too full.
The Most Important Things:
1) Use suitable bottles that can take the pressure like proper champagne bottles with wires, I use the Becks bottles with the clamp-down sealing tops
2) When bottled don't shake or allow to become warm until you think fermentation has stopped
The reason these things are the most important things is that they help avert explosions
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whoops forgot to mention, you need to add champagne yeast
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Woke up to the sound of breaking glass one night a few years ago. Thinking we were being burgled, made my way gingerly into the spare bedroom, blunt instrument in hand, only to discover one of the brewing bottles of elderflower champagne had exploded. It wasn't just that the cork had popped out, oh no that was still wired on securely, the glass had actually given way. Terrible mess and as you can imagine it took ages to get the smell out of the carpet.
It's a fantastically powerful brew to make and tastes delicious. I would however advise, during the fermentation process perhaps standing the bottles in a bucket with another bucket over the top, and maybe something heavy on top of that - just to be safe!
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Elderflower Champagne sounds wonderful. I'm still waiting for that invitation to the home brew party David. :wink: