Making Elderflower "Champagne", the bounty of nature (a pictorial record)

silliegillie

Guys, I have just about half an Plastic bag of Elderflower so What is the recommended Volume of Flower to Water ?Also, Do I need to wash the flowers first, A few crawlies on them

hamsterboy

Well the champers has been transferred to 2 demijohns and will be awaiting bottling in about a weeks time......


Watch this space...

HB

poppyfields

Hi there, very interesting thread. This is my third year to make Elderflower and over here in the West they have just about come to the end of the season. I've been using Coopers ox-bar 500 ml bottles. I hope they can take the pressure as I had exploding sparking water bottles from lidl last year and a two year old trying to lick it off the ground!

I came across these two interesting variations. One is a sparking lime elderflower champagne which I tried last year and is lovely and sharp.Perfect in gin cocktails. The other is rhubarb champagne which I came across yesterday while looking for recipes to use it up. That's brewing away at the moment

http://summer-recipes.suite101.com/article.cfm/elderflower_with_lime_sparkling_drink

http://www.cheap-and-easy-recipes.com/individual-recipes/rhubarb-champagne.htm

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Degsy wrote: »

Well the verdict is just in..my brew tasted better than Des's by an overwhelming majority decision.
I'd like to thank those who voted so sensibly and my thoughts are with des..maybe next year he will produce a better brew

Tell the truth Degsy. :rolleyes:

Your first batch was such an embarrassment you wouldn't even bring it down to the house, instead bringing the sneaky second batch you'd made. It goes like this;

1. Des Batch 1
2. Degsy Batch 2
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500. Degsy Batch 1

Degsy

Des wrote: »

Tell the truth Degsy. :rolleyes:

Your first batch was such an embarrassment you wouldn't even bring it down to the house, instead bringing the sneaky second batch you'd made. It goes like this;

1. Des Batch 1
2. Degsy Batch 2
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500. Degsy Batch 1

Well i ts all about the beer now aint it..havnt tried yours yet!

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Degsy wrote: »

Well i ts all about the beer now aint it..havnt tried yours yet!

We sampled it the other night

Degsy

Des wrote: »

We sampled it the other night

Oh yeah so we did..mine was better as i recall.

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Degsy wrote: »

Oh yeah so we did..mine was better as i recall.

Keep on topic please, before I ban you

ellejay

Hi

I ony got around to making my brew last night, but I forgot to buy some White wine vinegar.

Can I add it tonight? What is it for?

I have balsamic vinegar and cider vinegar at home, but don't no if I can use that instead?

THanks,
Lj.

BaZmO*

ellejay wrote: »

Hi

I ony got around to making my brew last night, but I forgot to buy some White wine vinegar.

Can I add it tonight? What is it for?

I have balsamic vinegar and cider vinegar at home, but don't no if I can use that instead?

THanks,
Lj.

I would imagine that the White Wine Vinegar is there to balance out the sweetness, in much the same way that hops are used to do the same (among other things like flavour, preservative, etc.) in Beer.

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Here it is!

silliegillie

Anybody trying this year ? I had a go last year and it was quite pleasant.

Degsy

silliegillie wrote: »

Anybody trying this year ? I had a go last year and it was quite pleasant.

I'm gonna get some flowers early next week just before they pass their peak,this year i will probably make quite a large batch and experiment with adding some apple or pineapple juice too.

Found a couple of bottles in my wardrobe from last year's batch the other day..god knows how i forgot about em!

sharingan

Made some last year - about 22 litres. Still have some in grolsch bottles. Early brews were a bit rough, and it was my first attempt, and a few beginners mistakes. But when I left it age it was smashing. People keep commenting on it, and its nice to have some mature stuff for summer BBQs.

Going to make more now that I have located a few elderflower bushes close by.

It will be interesting to see how I learned my lessons from last year.

evolving_doors

sharingan wrote: »

It will be interesting to see how I learned my lessons from last year.

Hi hoping to try this late next week if im not too late... any advice on what mistakes to avoid...?

Degsy

Armelodie wrote: »

Hi hoping to try this late next week if im not too late... any advice on what mistakes to avoid...?

The main one is to ignore recipies that call for it to be bottled inside three or four days.

Make sure its finished fermenting even if it tales a fortnight..otherwise it'll gush out of the bottles when you go to open them.

And i'd get a move on if i were you the flowers are already turning into berries!

sharingan

Degsy wrote: »

The main one is to ignore recipies that call for it to be bottled inside three or four days.

Yeah, that was a mistake I made. The elderflower taste got overpowered by the lemons.

I ordered a fermenter so that I can let it ferment away. Also it might give me better options when it comes to removing sediment - my brew has a lot of sediment. One of my bigger mistakes.

You can top it up with bread yeast according to many recipes, but I would be more inclined to activate the natural yeast with warm water first.

Degsy wrote: »

Make sure its finished fermenting even if it tales a fortnight..otherwise it'll gush out of the bottles when you go to open them.

And i'd get a move on if i were you the flowers are already turning into berries!

If you are bottling, use carbonated drinks bottles if using plastic, and drink them young. If you want to mature some, use swing top bottles (like grolsch/flensberger).

Depending on where you are, there are plenty of elderflower bushes about, know where to find them, and harvest quick. I would brew on the day you harvest. Plan on having at least 25 good heads of elderflower for every 10 litres of water.

I would recommend brewing a large batch if you have good stock of bottles to let it mature in. It does improve with age a lot. You will only get one chance this year with elderflower. Its a short season.

poppyfields

I've been making it the last few years and I made 200 litres last year. I drank the last bottle last week. My top tips are always pick on a sunny day and always pick in the morning. I think the flowers always smell like cats wee on rainy days or in the afternoon.

Last year I put a vanilla pod into the brew and I had great results with that. There was a very nice faint taste of vanilla.

This year I was lucky enough to get my hands on 20 of the 1.5litre Grolsh bottles so that made my first brew so much easier to bottle. I've made 50 litres so far but it's been hard to get a sunny morning to pick the flowers.

I bring my sterlised fermenter with me when foraging so I cut the flowers off very carefully with a sissors and put into it so that means I get every bit of yeast on the flower.

Last years brew will be featured in an Irish addition of Come Dine with me so it will be interesting to see what they throught of it!

Degsy

Actually i've noticed there seems to be a delayed flush of elderflowers this year so there's still time to get em!

Mashtun

poppyfields wrote: »

Last years brew will be featured in an Irish addition of Come Dine with me so it will be interesting to see what they throught of it!

I'll keep an eye out fer that

Degsy

Following an impulsive decision to go a-gathering yesterday evening i decided to make two different brews using elderflowers.

Brew 1
Elderflowers
Lemons
Sugar
Pinapple juice
Strawberry syrup

Brew2
Elderflowers
Lemons
Sugar
Apple juice
Grated root ginger

Apart from the ingredients both brews were made identically although the brew with strawberry syrup had quite a few less elderflowers.

Just gotta wait and see how they turn out now!

wuben

hey des i followed your directions i see in pics you used norm sugar as opposed to brewing sugar. i put norm in myself but wud this not cause of flavours or anything? cheers

Degsy

wuben wrote: »

hey des i followed your directions i see in pics you used norm sugar as opposed to brewing sugar. i put norm in myself but wud this not cause of flavours or anything? cheers

Not in the slightest..as long as you use regular brewing yeast the flavour of lemons and elderflowers will drown out any off tastes

maryxyz

I often make elderflower cordial - not champagne - which I dilute to taste with sparkling water. HOWEVER - I find there are literally hundreds of really tiny little insects in the blossoms & you really have to shake them hard to get them all out, by which time the blossoms are going brown & wilted which doesn't improve the flavour. Has anyone had this experience ? Is there any better way of removing these insects ?

Maryxyz

Degsy

maryxyz wrote: »

I often make elderflower cordial - not champagne - which I dilute to taste with sparkling water. HOWEVER - I find there are literally hundreds of really tiny little insects in the blossoms & you really have to shake them hard to get them all out, by which time the blossoms are going brown & wilted which doesn't improve the flavour. Has anyone had this experience ? Is there any better way of removing these insects ?

Maryxyz

Maybe rinse the flowerheads under cold water to wash the insects off...otherwise dont bother,they wont affect you or the brew!

maryxyz

Thanks Degsy - but washing only makes the insects stick to the blossoms & as a vegetarian I definitely don't want insect juice in my cordial ! !

Will just have to keep shaking blossoms hard to get insects out !

I wonder if the myriads of insects are only in the blossoms of our elder tree or if other people making elderflower champagne etc just remove the visible insects like spiders or greenfly or blackfly & don't notice the hundreds of tiny insects hidden in the blossoms (they are a kind of long beetle shape not unlike a teeny micro earwig if you use magnifying glass !)

Maryxyz

evolving_doors

Ok Just made the soup a few hours ago ..Whats the story with alcohol content??

Basically following Des's/HFFW method (cheers Des) with ...

+Different type of elder flower I got in b&q yonks ago ..don't know if it's any different but looks nice with the normal elderflowers

+ rose petals (why not!!)
+pectolase
+500gm Brew sugar+500gm normal organic granualted
+Vanilla pods soaked in 3teaspoons of vodka for 4 months!!
+ Champagne yeast EC 118

Main question is on Alcohol content

Pitched in the yeast 3 hours and hydrometer reading is 1020... from a cider and beerkit brew the initial gravity was much higher at the start.. should this value be increasing as the sugars in the plant begin to break down?

BaZmO*

Armelodie wrote: »

Pitched in the yeast 3 hours and hydrometer reading is 1020... from a cider and beerkit brew the initial gravity was much higher at the start.. should this value be increasing as the sugars in the plant begin to break down?

The gravity reading should decrease as the yeast munches away on the sugars. Using your starting gravity and final gravity readings you can calculate the final alcohol content.

Just checking aswell, are the elderflowers that you're using for your ok to use? I'm sure they are but you'd want to be 100% sure before you drank them.

evolving_doors

BaZmO* wrote: »

The gravity reading should decrease as the yeast munches away on the sugars. Using your starting gravity and final gravity readings you can calculate the final alcohol content.

Just checking aswell, are the elderflowers that you're using for your ok to use? I'm sure they are but you'd want to be 100% sure before you drank them.

Elderflower 'black lace' seems fine as it's practically the same except for different colour flowers..(others have made it on the net too and can't find any warnings so thats good enough for me)...

My main worry is the need for more sugar.....
If the calculation for the alcohol content the exact same as the beer formula then...

My initial reading (original gravity [O.G.]) = 1.021
My final reading will probably go by other recommendations = .995
Subtracting final from original. 1.021 - .995 = 0.026
multiply this figure by 105. > 0.026 x 105 = 2.73% a.b.w.
multiply % a.b.w. by 1.25 to get a.b.v. = 3.4%

Seems Pretty low to me for a champagne at 3.4%
when you prime the bottles will this up the alcohol content by much if anything? Is it too late to add a bit more juice or sugar now

Any advice greatly appreciated

Loobz

Hi all,

I decided to give this a go. I used Degsys recipe as a base. But i added rose petals (that smell like yellow bob bons!), honeysuckle blossoms and a small drop of apple cider vinegar.

Its frementing as we speak, however I forgot to take a gravity reading to work out the abv!

Can I still work this out or is it too late?

Thanks.