Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Eating and Drinking => Homebrew => Topic started by: Cazzy on May 16, 2010, 01:13
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I'm thinking of trying this for the first time this year.
Have any of you made this?
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Yes
And very nice it is too :)
Used the recipe on Hugh Whisis-hisname from River Cottage, which was on C4 website. IIRC
Put the results into 2l coke bottles and put them in the fridge in the garage to chill, usually open the first batch in August for my Son's birthday... :D
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I would certainly want to prepare this year. But i have problems
1. I dont know where to spot elder flower, and to make sure that is elderflower
2. the recipe (can get it here or by googling)
have the elder flowers appeared already?
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I have very fond memories of elderflower champagne. When I was a lad, a few decades ago, my Dad made some from a recipe he found in a very old book. It was beautifully refreshing to drink, but somehow, a few bottles got misplaced, and when tidying up the garage a year or three later, we found four bottles of the stuff secreted away below a pile of junk. They were in old brown cider bottles with the vulcanite screw tops.
The first three we tried to pick up, the bottoms had cracked around with the pressure buildup inside (surprised they hadn't actually exploded :blink: ) and as soon as we picked them up the bottoms fell out and we lost the lot. The fourth one we were prepared for, and picked it up carefully from the bottom, and safely got it to the garde where we sat in the glorious hot sunshine and imbibed the sweet - and seriously strong - nectar. Not bad at all for something that was SUPPOSED to be non alcoholic :lol: (and me being such an innocent child - whatever were my parents thinking? :D ).
But what I always remember with a smile, was how those poor wasps that wandered into the empty glasses to drink the dregs were just totally incapable of flight by the time they had taken their fill - classic :lol:
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We used Hugh's recipe last year and will again this year. We found that if left it gets stronger and stronger but by Christmas it had just pipped past the point of being good to drink.
This year will make sure it's all gone by halloween! :D
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The elder flowers have not quite flowered yet. I have a tree hanging over my fence from next doors I made cordial last year and will have a go at champagne this year.
Diane
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Hugh's recipe it is then.
Prakash_mib, I have only ever picked elderberries and wish i'd marked the trees now. I have a fair idea of what the flowers look like but as you say, its making sure that it is the right thing. Google images should help.
The flowers haven't bloomed just yet up here but shouldn't be long. Here is the recipe
http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/elderflower-champagne-recipe_p_1.html
ex-cavator, thats a brilliant story :lol:
dig4victory, Its a shame it doesn't last till Christmas, I wonder if the flower heads could be frozen for a while.
Thanks for all the input.
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I also made this last year and it was fantastic. One thing that I would stress is that it is very lively and I wouldn't risk putting it into glass bottles personally. I put it into sterilised 2ltr coke / lemonade bottles and unscrewed the tops slightly a few times a week to keep the pressure down a bit, otherwise when you open it, it will overflow the bottle.
I tried to rely on the natural yeast of the flower but had to put a small pinch of brewers yeast in after a few days to get it going.
I will be making a bigger batch this year - it was that good :)
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Top Tip,
If you use plastic bottles when you release the pressure during fermentation the sediment will rise to the neck of the bottle, give the bottle a squeeze and it will overflow out and you can top up from another bottle.
This gives a cleaner wine when you tighten the cap for the final time.
Got a glass of last years elderflower champagne here now, very nice it is too. :D
Ps sugar 75p a kilo at Iceland , have you found cheaper ?
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8Doubles, my Mum managed to get sugar from Farmfoods at 50 odd pence, now it may well have been 59p but still a great buy. She picked me up a couple of kilos for jam but I'll not mention champagne is first on the list :ohmy:
I was going to use grolsh bottles, would you advise against that?
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Hi Cazzy.
One of the main problems with elderflower champagne is too much fizz, if you use grolsh flip top bottles most of it will hit the ceiling when you open it. Plastic screw top bottles can be opened slooowly and you get to drink 90% rather than 30%. :)
The farmfoods sugar sounds a good buy, i will stock up if i`m near one. :)
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Then plastic it is.
Thanks :)
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oh no.....i've got 2 crates of grolsch bottles, which i've been drinking with a view to the wife filling with elderflower champers
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oh no.....i've got 2 crates of grolsch bottles, which i've been drinking with a view to the wife filling with elderflower champers
No point in drinking any more grolsch then. :D
Lemonade for you. :D :D
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dont get me wrong...........i dont mind :D
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For Elderflower Champagne, 1ltr white grape juice, 900g sugar, 6 large elderflower heads(not mousey), 1 tsp yeast nutrient, 1 sachet champagne yeast.
pour 2ltr boiling water over elderflower heads, add sugar and cool, strain into demijohn, add grape juice and water to 1 gal, add yeast and nutrient, ferment until clear, siphon into clean demijohn, add 4tsp sugar, bottle in cider/champagne bottles and store cool for 6 months, chill well, open carefully and enjoy.
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This sounds great and something I want to have a go at. So, are elderflowers the flowers that appear on an elderberry bush before the berries arrive or are they the white flowers that I see growing under trees that look similar?
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Yes the elderflower is the one you want, the white flowered plant growing underneath is probably cow parsley or hemlock.
Hemlock is very poisonous so best avoided.
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Yes the elderflower is the one you want, the white flowered plant growing underneath is probably cow parsley or hemlock.
Hemlock is very poisonous so best avoided.
Oops, good job I checked then! Thanks for that.
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Advice I'd like to give to people trying this out for the first time is that on River Cottage, Hugh snips off whole elderflower bunches when collecting. If you do this you'll miss out on the elderberries that follow a month or two later 'cos there's nowhere for them to grow!
Whenever my Dad and I go elder-foraging we wait until midsummers day, when you can put a bucket under each head and all the flowers fall off after a quick shake, leaving the fruiting-stalks be. This way you can get two wines/cordials/jams from the same plant.
Do try and give the plant a rest every other year though so it can go forth and multiply. :)
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Advice I'd like to give to people trying this out for the first time is that on River Cottage, Hugh snips off whole elderflower bunches when collecting. If you do this you'll miss out on the elderberries that follow a month or two later 'cos there's nowhere for them to grow!
Whenever my Dad and I go elder-foraging we wait until midsummers day, when you can put a bucket under each head and all the flowers fall off after a quick shake, leaving the fruiting-stalks be. This way you can get two wines/cordials/jams from the same plant.
Do try and give the plant a rest every other year though so it can go forth and multiply. :)
You do not need many flower heads for a batch of champagne and you need to pick them when their scent and nectar is at its best. If the flowers are falling off you have left it too late.
The average elder tree which we have a huge amount of here in Hants will still have plenty left for the birds.
Ps welcome to the forum riktor. :)
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I have just finished making a double batch of this using the HFW recipe. 12 litres sat in the corner of the kitchen. The only thing I didn't have was muslin so I have draped a teatowel over the bucket instead. Hope this is ok!
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How do you sterilise the plastic bottles?????
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How do you sterilise the plastic bottles?????
I use VWP cleanser which you can get online - possibly in Wilkinsons. I get mine in a local Homebrew shop.
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two days after bottling the champers, and two grolsch bottles out of twelve have burst, lucky we did twice as much and put the rest in lemonade bottles
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Im gona make some now as this sounds great, Hughes recipe sounds nice and easy but Ohbeary's recipe sounds really really nice , i might make both :)
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Has anyone tried doing anything with the variety "Black lace"? (V. dark foliage, pink flowers.) I've never seen berries on ours, but that may just be the birds! The flowers are just out though, and I do wonder if it might produce pink champagne...
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For Elderflower Champagne, 1ltr white grape juice, 900g sugar, 6 large elderflower heads(not mousey), 1 tsp yeast nutrient, 1 sachet champagne yeast.
pour 2ltr boiling water over elderflower heads, add sugar and cool, strain into demijohn, add grape juice and water to 1 gal, add yeast and nutrient, ferment until clear, siphon into clean demijohn, add 4tsp sugar, bottle in cider/champagne bottles and store cool for 6 months, chill well, open carefully and enjoy.
Can someone please explain what 'not mousey' means , as ive picked some today and dont want it to be 'mousey'
cheers
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Sorry Sarah, i've never heard of it, give it a try and let us know how it goes.
I started mine on Sunday and had to add some 'optional' yeast this morning, as it just wasn't doing anything. The smell from the bucket is heavenly though.
I didn't have muslin either and have just placed the bucket's lid on top without clipping it on, just had a peek there and still no activity (a bit like myself in this heat).
I was hoping to bottle it soon as there are plenty of flowers in bloom and I think I want to do another batch or two but we'll see what tomorrow brings.
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mine is brewing is well Cazzy i also just out the plastic lid on. Not added any yeast tho yet.
maybe i should sprinkle a bit on :unsure:
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Well done MoreWhisky, if its brewing well I wouldn't bother putting any yeast in although I don't know that it would do any harm.
I've just had another peek at mine and there are tiny wee bubbles starting to break the surface every now and then :D
I'll need to go check the recipe again, I've forgotten how long it should stay in the bucket now
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I have had to add a bit of yeast to mine to get it going I covered it with some net curtain. I have also picked some more flowers and put them in the freezer for later in the year well if you don't try it you wont know if it works!
Diane
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Let us know how freezing them goes. I imagine they would be fine and how lovely would it be to have some for Christmas and new year........ easter and every other saturday :lol: :lol: :lol:
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another option to freezing the flowers might be to do what I do with my apple glut.
For my cider, I have frozen the extracted juice and even 12 months later (after defrosting) adding some yeast, it makes perfect cider.
So option might be to follow a recipe up to the point of adding the yeast, and then freeze the liquid for later?
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Sounds like a great idea Jim, unfortunately I don't have the freezer space to store all that liquid.
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I am collecting a load of flowers tommorow, we have loads at the bottm end of the site I work on.
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My 'brew' is starting to smell real nice :D
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I have just put mine into plastic tonic water bottles do I need to turn the cap and release the air regularly or leave them be
Diane
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I have just put mine into plastic tonic water bottles do I need to turn the cap and release the air regularly or leave them be
Diane
As far as i'm aware you should do that daily Diane but i'm not at that stage yet.
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I have just put mine into plastic tonic water bottles do I need to turn the cap and release the air regularly or leave them be
Diane
As far as i'm aware you should do that daily Diane but i'm not at that stage yet.
Two or three times a day will be ok if you have the opportunity. You will see the air pocket at the top get bigger as the pressure increases, just ease the cap open slowly and after a while tighten back up a touch.
Don`t worry about losing all the fizz as you can tell when the yeast is slowing down and tighten the cap down firmly and end up with plenty of bubbles.
If you do not ease the pressure off you have to re-decorate. :)
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Just started mine off this evening (A more productive time than watching the over paid lady boys AKA So called England football team!)
2 x 5L batches made, only difference is one is in the open bucket covered with a cloth and will be bottled off in about 6 days.
Other one is in a bucket with lid on but air lock in and will be left until fermentation is basicaly finished, and then bottled off.
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Thanks Cazzy and 8doubles I have just done that there was a lot of fizz in them.
Diane
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Does anybody know how strong this brew will be?
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2 - 8% depending on how long you leave it for
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2 - 8% depending on how long you leave it for
oh that weak, best leave it a while then. Cheers.
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I also started some of this off yesterday, but have a couple of questions as I've never had a go at making any kind of wine before. ???
First, the recipe I found said if it wasn't doing anything after a day to add 'a pinch of dried yeast'. Is this specifically brewer's yeast that other people have mentioned or can it be any kind of dried yeast?
And second when I come to bottle it, do you fill the bottles right up to the top without a gap or do you leave a gap?!
Many thanks.
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Hi I used a wine yeast they say brewers yeast gives it a funny taste. I didn't leave a gap but found I should have done as it fizzes up quite a bit when you release the pressure :ohmy: :D
Diane
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I used screw top glass bottles for mine last year and they made quite a mess when they all exploded in the kitchen. :ohmy: Don't underestimate the pressure that can build up, it can be enormous, especially if you do what I do and over-estimate the amount of yeast you need. This time I'm going with a demi-john and an airlock and leaving it in the shed for a couple of months before bottling.
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I used screw top glass bottles for mine last year and they made quite a mess when they all exploded in the kitchen. :ohmy: Don't underestimate the pressure that can build up, it can be enormous, especially if you do what I do and over-estimate the amount of yeast you need. This time I'm going with a demi-john and an airlock and leaving it in the shed for a couple of months before bottling.
Now u got me worried was gearing up to bottle on wednesday. suspose it be ok if i release the pressure daily?
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You should be okay if you check and release pressure daily. I left mine blithely assuming they'd be okay and woke one night at 3am to the sound of shattering glass. I'm not taking the risk this time, there is not much less fun to clean up than broken glass and sugary half fermented brew dripping down the backs of kitchen cabinets in the small hours of the morning. :(
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Hello the bear is back in town, just to set a few minds at ease, "mousey" is the smell and taste of some elder flowers, it carries on into the wine which tastes like wee!, the bad taste is less obvious in the berries but stil there and the berry wine will take years to be drinkable! :(, just smell a bunch of the flowers if its nice use em.
Exploding bottles, Elderflower "Fizz" recipies can be hit and miss unless you get them right to the N'th degree, temperature, gravity and the right yeast, wild yeast can be very random and is generally not worth the bother, as for using vinegar!!! :wacko:, NAH!, please dont :D, just make a simple elderflower wine as weak or strong as you like but above 12% will taste watery and may not condition well, SG1040 = 5.1% - SG1080 = 10.6%, ferment to dry and clear, rack/siphon into clean DJ prime with 4tsp sugar and bottle, PET bottles are good but Cava/Champagne bottles are better, a 5% wine should be safe in Grolsch bottles.
As for Hugh Fearlessly Eatsall, "Ma!, person th' shotgun theres a varmint on th' loose!" ;)
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As for Hugh Fearlessly Eatsall, "Ma!, person th' shotgun theres a varmint on th' loose!" ;)
Not great for those of us who have used his recipe ???
Hopefully mine will turn out nicely as some others on here have tried the recipe and seem to have been happy with the results. I will let you all know :D
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Hello I'm new on here :)
I am reading this thread with interest - I am just off out to collect my elderflowers to try this for the 1st time.
I have read HFW's recipe and he seems to use alot of flowers? I have got a book called 'Wild Food' and that suggets only 4 flower heads for 2 litres. So not sure what to do.
I am trying to worK my way through four 2 litre bottles of lemonade so we can use the bottles! Hope it's worth it! :D
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In the end I did not follow HFW, did not like the sound of the vinger.
Was given the following by a regular champ of elderflower champagne. My is not in a large beer brewing keg with an air lock in bubbling away niceley.
3 pints of elderflowers...no stalks
3lbs sugar
2 oranges
2 lemons
1 gallon water
champagne yeast....or wine yeast
Strip the flowers from the stalks (I found wilting them slightly and use a fork the best way) Add to the water and bring to the boil, simmer 15 minutes. Add sugar, thinly peeled rinds of oranges and lemons, boil another 15 minutes, strain into fermentation jar, when lukewarm add juice of oranges and lemons and yeast.
Ferment to a finish and allow to clear...racking off until clear. Siphon into champagne bottles and add a scant teaspoon of sugar to each. Cork and wire the corks down. Leave a few weeks to finish re-fermenting. Don't shake the bottles.
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As for Hugh Fearlessly Eatsall, "Ma!, person th' shotgun theres a varmint on th' loose!" ;)
Hehe... Are you married? If not, do you want to be? :D
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Bottled mine tonight in 3 2ltr plastic bottles, looks and smells lovely.
Think i'll pick some more flowers tomorrow for another batch, I like the idea of adding orange or maybe lime along with the lemon.
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Please everyone be really careful with this. I took the advice on here and used 2ltr plastic bottles and one of them just exploded! Yes, a PLASTIC bottle exploded with the pressure that had built up. Remember to release it even if you are using plastic and be really careful!
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we had a plastic bottle explode this mornig, never heard anything like it, was just glad there was nobody in the same room
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im bottling mine tomorrow , worryed now :(
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WOW!
Were you both 'degassing' and they still exploded?
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This really proves the point the a more controlled tradional fermentation via air lock, and then a controlled addtion of final sugar on bottleing is the way to go.
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I am going for plastic bottles...Gulp! ??? I can't afford to buy proper bottles.
Although looking at it this afternoon, nothing seems to be happening. According to HFW if it doesn't appear to actively fermenting after a couple of days I need to add some brewers yeast. So looks like i'll have to do that.
I assume it should have bubbles appearing at the top?
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I used that recipe and nothing started til yesterday (made it on sat) all the elderflwers have risen to the top and look a bit frothy with mould patches (very small) and it smells yeasty rather than gone off, so am not going to add any yeast, will rpbably bottle this weekend but not screw lids on tight to try and avoid the explosions ;)
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Mine are doing well, I'm degassing three times per day but i'm thinking of either putting them under airlock and cork or into the bath with a shower curtain around them :ohmy:
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, I'm degassing three times per day
I would see a doctor if it is that bad :tongue2:
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I used that recipe and nothing started til yesterday (made it on sat) all the elderflwers have risen to the top and look a bit frothy with mould patches (very small) and it smells yeasty rather than gone off, so am not going to add any yeast, will rpbably bottle this weekend but not screw lids on tight to try and avoid the explosions ;)
That sounds just like mine! I'm planning to bottle mine this weekend, also with plastic bottles, but I'm a bit nervous now with all the explosions!!! :ohmy: :lol:
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Ive just bottled mine. tasted nice but flat. So does it build uo the 'fizz' in the bottle then?
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i was going to bottle tonight in plastic but think i'll wait till tomorrow, bring some plastic crates home and stand in shower :) :)
An long time brewer let me have some off his elderflower wine last winter is was gorgeous!!!
The recipe he gave me starts as jimbeekeeper said plus a grated cube off ginger, ferment on yhe pulp, transfer to demijon with airlock, when fermentation over transfer to another DJ when settled bottle up without adding any sugar.
Now for the bad part :D
Wait 9_12mths and enjoy :D
i've got both on the go, hope i do both the recipes justice,lol
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, I'm degassing three times per day
I would see a doctor if it is that bad :tongue2:
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Morewhisky it does build up the fizz in the bottles, last year I made mine with a different recip, it was flat when it was bottled, as it was first year of making wasn't convinced it would be fizzy but when I opened one a month later it was fizzy!! Apparently it carries on fermenting in the bottle, hence the need for degassing ;)
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sterilized my plastic bottles tonight and was just about to bottle >:( :( :( :mad:
how much space do i need to leave in the bottle :wub: :wub:
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I've left about an inch
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thanks!! give that a go now while the bottles are clean
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I've bottled mine tonight - there is fizz building up already!
V excited :D
I am storing them in the shower cubicle - just to be on the safe side :D
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Ive only got 2 bottles left :(
They go down great at the BBQs we been having ;)
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Bottled mine off on firday just gone. approx 5 L into beer bottles and 6L into 2 x 2L fizzy pop bottles.
As I had done mine to full fermentation with airlocks, I added a bit of sugar to start secondary fermentation in the bottles for fizz.
Allready a slight pressure is noted in the plastic bottles.
But I do cider in them and have some from last year that are still rock hard.
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I know your not keen on the HFW method Jim but all i can say i degassed the pop bottles everyday for 2 weeks with no problems at all.
Put them in the fridge day before drinking and WOW
Im gona make loads next yr! The elderflowers round here at the momonet look a bit sad im afraid.
Top recipe and soo easy to!
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Enjoyed my first glass this evening - I too found the recipe very easy...no complaints here! ;) :D
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I'm with Jim, ferment to dry under airlock, no vinegar in mine and SG 1080, prime and bottle :D
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I made mine on Saturday. I was a bit worried that the flowers might be past their best, but we have hundreds of trees along the canal and the flowers were fine. Only problem is that I might have put in a few too many! I've made 25 litres so I'm hoping it'll be good! Nothing is happening yet, but reading some of the feedback here, I might just wait a couple more days before adding yeast (which I will need to buy off the internet anyway as we don't have a brewery shop anywhere nearby).
I have a mixture of glass and plastic bottles with screw tops, and was hoping someone might tell me how to sterilise the plastic bottles without having to use specific brewery stuff. I do have some sterilising fluid, but I'm worried that it will leave a taste in the bottles. Any advice appreciated?
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Theres no right or wrong way, but I am just used to doing it with airlocks.
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I made mine on Saturday. So far there is no fizzing so I think I might have to add some yeast, but there are definite mouldy patches on top. Is this ok?
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Sounds normal, the wild yeasts are often slow to get going which is why i put a pinch of packet wine yeast in. :)
I think homemade elderflower champagne will soon be banned as a gallon of it puts out more CO2 than the average jumbo jet flight.
Must go and ease the pressure again :)
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Mines now all gone :(
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and mine :(
doing it on an industrial scale next year :tongue2:
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I have a stash of frozen flowers ready to make an Christmas brew 8)
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Made elderflower champagne in 9x2litre plasic bottles 3 weeks ago. Drank 2. Degassed bottles every 2/3 days. Explosion in shed where the bottles are kept last night at 11pm! One bottle had blown dramatically! Immediately degassed the rest.
Q: how much longer do I have to keep degassing to prevent the rest exploding?
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Sorry cant help you as mine didnt last long enough :D
Im already looking forward to next yr just to collect more flowers :D :D
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Its now over a bonth after bottling mine, following the pre fermentation method.
On cracking the bottle cap, a very nice fizz, but no loss of product.
Very strong smell of the flowers, and quite a strong tast. But a few swigs in and very nice.
Cant wait to try my frozen batch of flowers for an xmass brew.
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Saw my first white flowers on my walk tonight :D , only a couple on the bushes but they have started flowering.
Will be gearing up to start production on Saturday. Cant wait im gona make loads more this yr. I can almost taste it now mmmmm.
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ive got half a carier bag in the fridge that i picked last night im gonna get some more tonight and set some off ive been choping and changeing a few recpies so when ive done the Champagne ill post it here
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Just had a look at the Hugh recipe on channel 4 to remind myself what has to be done.
http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/elderflower-champagne-recipe#comments-top
It says this is a slightly different recipe from last yr :mad: last yrs was perfect for me! did anybody write down last yrs recipe as i want to follow that one, i think it had more sugar and more flowers?
Also i cant remember if we primed the bottles with a bit of sugar?
I must remember to write recipes down , just saving the links is a bad idea.
Cheers MW.
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Well thats my first 'brew' on the go. im gona do about 5 this yr :D
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I've just read the whole of this thread and I just wondered if anyone could tell me - do you remove all trace of stalk? For example in HFW's recipe it says about 15 flowerheads but doesn't say whether to remove all of the stalk :)
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I have used 25 flower heads and more sugar, as that recipe has been 'diluted' this yr. As for the green stork i cut it down to the point where you still keep all the flower whole. Ive never had a problem with this bitterness.
Also i do add some champagne yeast (£1.20 packet enough for 2 brews). I use this yeast as it specifically for sparkling wines and withstands a higher temperature.
Oh and mine is smelling lovely.
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Thankyou for the quick reply - most of them around here are just coming into flower and so I am gonna have a stab at it - never made wine before or brewed anything else for that matter!
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Thanks to all this chat here, we've spent the morning wandering round every elder tree, sniffing the flowers...
I think I'll wait until the berries get going, then the fun starts...
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Thanks to all this chat here, we've spent the morning wandering round every elder tree, sniffing the flowers...
I think I'll wait until the berries get going, then the fun starts...
I personally prefer the flower champagne, but i do make jam with the berries.
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I have mine sitting in a plastic fermenter right now thinking about what to do next. Some of the flowers I used were a bit past it, so I added a few fresh ones today and a little more wine vinegar, a sprinkling of yeast, and God help me, acouple glasses of water. WTH am I doing? Goodness knows how it will turn out now! Never made it before!
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I went camping this weekend and took 4 litres.
This ended getting shared between three of us, I also took this out first while we where all sober so got a true feel of how strong it was. We certainly knew we have had a drink :D. and one of my friends didnt drink anything else all night. The only think commented on was that it was a bit sweet after a few glasses (not that this minor quib stopped anyone going back for more).
Ive only got 1 litre left now, so going to start the second batch tomorrow.
For any mathematicians out there who knows the recipe will notice that leaves a missing litre... well as i said i went camping with my friends for one night and i asked my wife to degass the two remaining bottles morning and night. She forgot to degass on sun morning and went out. As soon as i got back and opened the door i knew she had forgot to degass lol one pop bottle blew the lid off and there was champers all over the kitchen he he.
So tomorrows off to collect some more flowers from my favourite place, im going to cut the lemmons to 3 and only 1kg of sugar this time.
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MoreWhisky are you using the hfw recpie if so when completly fermented it will be arround 9% however the comments about sweetness sugest otherwise
*my recpie makes 2 gallons
120grams elderflower (when stripped from the stalks)
1100 grams sugar or 1500 if not using apple juice
1 liter apple juice pure (not form concentrate)
1 pkt champagine yeast
1 stp yeast nutrient
1 tsp pectic enzyme
3 or 4 lemons (juice and zest)
the methoed
clean and sterilise all equiptment
disolve the sugar in about 2 liters of boiling water then add the flowers and another kettle full of water
add the apple juice (if using) and the lemon juice/zest
top up the water to the 2 gall mark on your bucket
mix well and add the yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme
cover the bucket and leave for a week or untill the hydrometer (if you have one) reads below 1.001
syphon threw through a muslin bag into 2 demijohns and fit a airlock
important or you may end up with dangrously high pressure in the bottles
allow to ferment untill the bubbles stop passing through the airlock or the hydrometer reads less than .998
syphon into sterile bottles leaving as much of the sediment behind as you can and add 1 tsp of sugar for every liter of wine seal the bottles and leave in a warm place for a day or 2 then move to a cold place untill it is clear
if you wan perfectley clear wine the read this disgorging champagne (http://www.thewinepages.org.uk/disgorging-homebrew-homemade-champagne.shtml) altho i never really leave it for a year and dont mind a bit of sediment
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The annual holiday has crept up on me. . :ohmy:. . Do I have time in three or four days to get a batch of elderflower champers underway, or should I wait until our return and hope the flowers are still acceptable ? :wub: Cheers, Tony.
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pick them and freeze them better than risking them being past it when you get back
or if you could get a batch underway in d.j's instead of buckets then it would be fine and not need racking for at least 2 weeks and would probably be ok for up to a couple of month altho i would not recomend it as the flowers will start to turn and the yeast may die off to the point where once in the bottles you wont be able to prime it
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Thanks for those words of wisdom Mike. Trouble is no room in't freezer. :ohmy: Cheers, Tony.
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demies it is then lol that or do without elderflower champagne :ohmy: if it fails and you cant get a fizz in the bottles due to leaveing it too long and the yeast dieing then all is not lost as you will still have elderflower wine almost as good but not quite ;)
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is there any reason for using clear bottles?
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is there any reason for using clear bottles?
yea it means you can see wjen it has cleared theres no reason to not use coloured bottles tho
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is there any reason for using clear bottles?
yea it means you can see wjen it has cleared theres no reason to not use coloured bottles tho
or wait until its cleared lol
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thank you - i did mean clear glass and you answered my question - coloured glass bottles are cheaper. :)
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is there any reason for using clear bottles?
yea it means you can see wjen it has cleared theres no reason to not use coloured bottles tho
or wait until its cleared lol
tryed waiting last year and i left it too long couldnt get it to prime so i had to make a yeast starter
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how did you freeze the flowers? for future note. I think the readers should be told. :)
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You can freeze elderflowers open on flat trays, then bag once frozen in much the same way as you can freeze chunks of rhubarb or raspberries, for instance.
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how did you freeze the flowers? for future note. I think the readers should be told. :)
i leave them stalks and all on a tray i find its easer to remove the flowers when frozen
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thank you that is useful
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Just a quick o/t comment, I bought some Ritchies wine yeast a couple of days ago, and made up a starter bottle, expecting it to wait at least a day.
It got going within one minute! Yup, just a few seconds, which is unheard of in my experience! And it wasn't just initial fizzing, it went into a five gal container a couple of hours later and that just went like the clappers as well!
As an experiment, I'm trying a couple of pints of water, sugar and citric, with a half teaspoon, just to see if it is not a one off!
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most good wine yeasts will start off verry fast when presented with ideal conditions
as far as im aware the amount of sugar in your wine must will atcually slow down the yeast to start with due to some complicated process in wich the yeast cant rehydrate as fast ??? ive never heard of one take as fast as yours has the fastest one ive had was arround 10 mins and i was impressed with that
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Hi sugar 68p at home bargains. Might try the elderflower wine after reading this new forum.
i;m lucky enough to be looking at the flowers now.
pete
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Im going to be opening a bottle of batch 2 variety shortly :) i made a few tweeks from batch 1 so im looking forward to the results.
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That's interesting Mike. I think it's something to do with the yeast producing too much alcohol too early on in a fermentation, and 'choking' the matrix.
It is decidedly quicker that I think I've ever seen before, but we'll see how it finishes...
The conditions were as usual, warm water, not too much citric, no energiser, couple of tsps of yeast, so maybe this is the one that pops in early for a change!
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my batch tasted great but even though i put it in the right type of bottles etc the fizz had gone. why is this?
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my batch tasted great but even though i put it in the right type of bottles etc the fizz had gone. why is this?
could be a number of reasons first one to check is the recpie/methoed used if you had left it to clear in demijohns it may of been left to long and the yeast could of died off meaning that the sugar used to prime the bottles was not fermented (this could also be caused by improper rinsing if a sterliseing solution had been used on the equiptmeny or bottles)
2 if the bottle lids were losened to relese excess pressure mabey it was done to often (never heard of this happening but i think it might of
3 almost the same as above but if the lids wernt creating a proper seal then the c02 could of leaked leaving you with flat wine
could you let us know what recpoie/methoed was used and i will see if anything could be done to rescue it
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erm.. too late for rescue Mr aqua liked it.
it was the hugh f-w recipe
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Just to say that the mix we started with grape juice and cider, finished in 12 days, and tastes pretty good already!
I'm going to try the yeast again very soon, although the test bottle is struggling at 1.2500