elderflower wine yeast

[the big lebowski]

hi , i didnt want to highjack the other thread but bernie mentioned that yeast is important to the taste of elderflower wine , im looking to make some this year and im thinking of using lavin EC-1118 yeast does anyone else use this or tried it ? also if you dont what do you use ?

https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk...2ehtml#SID=212

also i use white grape concentrate in my elderflower wine too , this place seems pretty good value , i use 1 liter in a 25 liter batch , its alot cheaper than wilko , ive not tried this before so cant recomend it but thought id put up the link it`ll soon be time to get brewing

https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk...2ehtml#SID=139

any thoughts welcome cheers

[Jimny14]

Good yeast choice dude, doesn't give off too much flavour, especially if you keep the fermentation temp down the lower end. Don't know about the juice but I've used lots of youngs products and they've all been good

[nickdub]

Back in the day when we used to make elderflower champagne we didn't add any yeast, just used whatever the flowers had on them naturally - my brother used to keep it in old screw top pop bottles in the cellar - used to be a bit of a test of courage to go and fetch one, as they would sometimes explode unpredictably :-)

[Kirk]

From an old list I had the following are mentioned in respect of flower wines. Occasionally even sau Elderflower.

Lalvin ICV-D47
Lalvin 3097
Vinter's Harvest CY17
Vinter's Harvest SN9

Link might work Winemaking: Strains of Wine Yeast

[burnie]

https://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk...nge_Yeast.html

I think this is now one of the better ones, also try it with the dry sugar rhubarb wine as well, works better with wines that you drink young.

[the big lebowski]

i picked all the elderflowers i need for 3 batches yesterday and my grape juice and yeast turned up so i started 2 batches , 1 more to make today ,then ive got lots of bottles to wash and get ready ,antone else started theirs yet ?

[burnie]

Believe it or not Elders are quite rare round here, not found a bush yet, Rowan seems to take their place up here.

[SarrissUK]

Lots around here, and quite a few are starting to flower! Best buy lemon and sugar, then get started!

[the big lebowski]

i just did my 3rd batch , i got an SG of 1.090 ,the bottle washing starts tomorrow , gl sarriss

[burnie]

Don't forget you need bottles that won't explode, most old bottles that had something fizzy in it will do, you don't have to have Champagne bottles.

[the big lebowski]

yeah thx , ive made it before ,ive only ever had a few explode (and tbh it was prob my own lazyness that caused that ,not checking gravity properly) the bottles i have are just normal green 750 ml wine bottles , i got them online and have been ok so far ,ive used them for over 5 years and not had many probs ,cleaning thems a pain but its worth it

[the big lebowski]

hi all , ive just taken another reading and the gravity is now at 1.040 , ive nearly cleaned all my bottles things are going well

[the big lebowski]

hi all , i bottled 2 batches yesterday , 58 bottles in total ,pleased with that , ive got 1 more to do today , ive been reading stuff on 2nd fermentation and temps , i was going to put them in the cupboard where the fv`s were ,i was thinking if the temp was good enough to ferment the 1st bit then it would be fine to do the 2nd bit but ive read the temp needs to be higher ? does anyone have any thoughts on this ? i could move them up the shed and the daytime temps would be much higher but the nights would be colder ,any thoughts welcome ,cheers

[ohbeary]

BL, Temperature fluctuations are not ideal, a nice steady 18-20C will see you right and please don't use ordinary wine bottles, best bet is to use 1 or 2 litre pop bottles, extra priming sugar is not needed but the secondary fermentation and conditioning will take a little longer, chill well and decant before serving.
A cautionary note! not all sparkling wine bottles are pressure safe as the cheaper ones are a) light and b) the wine is stabilised and carbonated before bottling.
PS EC1118 is ideal as the sediment compacts well.