Elderflower Champagne... time to get going!

[shirlthegirl43]

I've just sipped my very first batch. It was lovely but a little too sweet and had a slight yeasty-ness about it. To make it less sweet should I just add less sugar? (I'm using 1 kg for about 8 litres -I think) And would that yeasty smell fade if I left the bottles alone for a bit? One last thing, does anyone know what the white wine vinegar does in the whole process? Thanks so much!

Did you use yeast or did you rely on the wild yeasts on the flowers? If you used yeast, perhaps it has not finished fermenting.

[lainey lou]

We had an explosion in the shed today, one of the squash bottle lids went POP! Fizzy Pop bottles seem to be coping well though!

[raine]

Can anyone tell me how you prepare the flowers? Do i just bung them in with stalks or strip them?

[coomber]

Can anyone tell me how you prepare the flowers? Do i just bung them in with stalks or strip them?

I just take off most of the stalk and bung in the rest

[annacruachan]

Just waiting for my first 2 gallons of elderflower wine to cool enough to put the yeast and nutrient in! And the champagne is due to be tasted on Thursday! And the strawberries are beginning to ripen one by one! And the sun is shining! What a wonderful time of year!

[Llamas]

Did you use yeast or did you rely on the wild yeasts on the flowers? If you used yeast, perhaps it has not finished fermenting.

Sigh, I thought it might be that. Thanks shirlthegirl43, I need to hide the stuff so I'm not tempted. Might it also be bad that I used bread yeast *coughcough* instead of brewers?

[pdblake]

I bottled mine at the weekend. I did some wine too, very bubbly stuff indeed

[kevnsue]

Hi,just bottled mine too,it tasted good but what colour should it be?.
Does anybody have any suggestions as to what can be made next from the wild?,cheers kev.

[shirlthegirl43]

Hi,just bottled mine too,it tasted good but what colour should it be?.
Does anybody have any suggestions as to what can be made next from the wild?,cheers kev.

Looks like traditional lemonade in my experience.

[pdblake]

Hi,just bottled mine too,it tasted good but what colour should it be?.
Does anybody have any suggestions as to what can be made next from the wild?,cheers kev.

Should look like lemonade.

As for what's next. Oak leaf or gorse flower are my next targets for experimentation.

Might try pea pod wine too this year. Anyone tried this with purple podded peas?

[kevnsue]

Should look like lemonade.

As for what's next. Oak leaf or gorse flower are my next targets for experimentation.

Might try pea pod wine too this year. Anyone tried this with purple podded peas?

Thanks folks,it looks slightly yellow in colour,like good old fashioned lemonade

[Twinkle]

Should look like lemonade.

As for what's next. Oak leaf or gorse flower are my next targets for experimentation.

Might try pea pod wine too this year. Anyone tried this with purple podded peas?

I tried peapod last year just with green pea pods... saved them for ages, froze them till I had enough, boiled them with orange peel etc.
Wine smelled reasonable enough at racking off stage but on storage for a couple of months went foul. I thought it was the septic tank backing up but it turned out to be the demi of peapod.

Sadly, and rather uncharacteristically for me, as I do try and rescue wines, it went down the drain.

[Sunbeam]

I've just made mine but don't have any brewer's yeast - I have normal turbo yeast for breadmaking - I've googled and this isn't suitable as it has a stronger taste - has anyone ever used it and can verify this - or are there other reasons? You can buy brewers yeast tabs as a food supplement - I take it this is the same stuff - how much do you need?

[janeyo]

First explosion

in the shed!!!

I have my champagne in the shed, in 1 litre plastic fizzy water bottles. And 2 litre pop bottles. They are not bowing at all, but one of the 2 litre pop bottles went bang this morning. There was no signs this mornign when I checked them.

Mess everywhere - bet the ants come now, but no glass which would have been worse. Shed smells great though

I am now a bit worried as I have 2 more 2 litre pop bottles and we are away all next week. What am I going to come home to?

Should I relieve the pressure of them all now before I go?

[shirlthegirl43]

Those of you having explosions - can I ask if you used additional yeast?