Elderflower Champagne... time to get going!

[shirlthegirl43]

Here you go...

http://www.theborrows.plus.com/elderflower_440.jpg

[raine]

blimey, that was quick! many thanks shirlthegirl now i won't be picking something rather odd!

[kevnsue]

Hi,i made 20L midday yesterday and it's not doing any thing so just added some yeast to see if it starts to ferment,fingers crossed,cheers kev.

[shirlthegirl43]

It doesn't really ferment in the bucket folks. The flowers give up their flavour to the sugar water and the ferment (very small) happens in the pop bottles to give a fizzy VERY SLIGHTLY alcoholic summer drink.

[Twinkle]

I made it from the HFW recipe last year and it was sickly sickly sweet, plus it inflated my plastic pop-bottles to balloon-proportions so I resolved not to bother again.
Than it transpired that his recipe was on the website wrong.
I may give it another go.... is this recipe the right amount of sugar then ??

[podfather]

just a word of advise put some into a litre and half grolsch bottle woke up this morning to a strong smell, the bottom of the bottle had broken clean off and champagne was every where

[shirlthegirl43]

I know the one I linked to works well.

[Hilary B]

While there are some flowers out around here, most trees have a few fully opened heads, and a lot more still unopened.
BTW the rowan blossom has all vanished.
Weather permitting, Saturday is elderflower day, cordial, and wine, but NOT planning to make the 'champagne'.

[maytreefrannie]

I started mine today - it has to be the most beautiful fragrance.

I don't usually use added yeast, just the wild yeast - though I might add it as some people have suggested, if they don't start to ferment in a few days.

[kentvegplot]

Ok, so I've now got it in the bottles. I'm using plastic 1l bottles, and they are expanding a bit so I've released a bit of the pressure this morning.

However, I've noticed that the champagne is throwing some sediment - is this normal? Do I need to do anything about it?

(I hope this is going to work OK - I used a HFW recipe, some peeps have indicated that is might have been wrong......)

[shirlthegirl43]

The bottles will expand and go rock hard. Don't let off the pressure unless you are really worried they will burst - it is what makes the fizz. The sediment is normal - it is because of the ferment going on in the bottles. Just take care when opening and pouring (I pour the last bit through a strainer though this knocks some of the bubbles out).

I can't comment on the HFW recipe as I haven't tried it.

[lainey lou]

OH and I couldn't resist any longer and open a bottle last night, it was lovely!

[HeyWayne]

Haven't had a dry day where I've been able to harvest since reading this thread. Most annoying - loads of flowers on the bush now.

[rana]

Mine is bubbling away nicely in a demijohn, soon to be bottled. I have just realised that with the reccomended amount of sugar (3 lbs or so per gallon) if the sugar is allowed to completely ferment out the alcohol content will be in excess of 10%.

Second batch started today.

[Llamas]

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!