Rowan Flower Champagne

[Phlogiston Ash]

Turns out I have accidentally made 25 litres of rowan flower champagne. Has anybody ever made this before? If so is it safe to drink?

[veggiechicken]

Did you think it was Elder Flower that you were picking? Just curious
I don't know whether Rowan Flowers are edible or not - sorry!!

[Phlogiston Ash]

Yeah like an idiot.
Just had a taste of it and it is quite nice which is a surprise as it has the same smell as actual champagne.

[binley100]

Well you can use rowan berries to make jelly so I should think it'll be ok.....

[ohbeary]

I have been looking at the rowan blossom, seriously considering using some for this very purpose but now I will have to wait until next year as the blossoms are over down here, they seemed to be at a peak for about 2 weeks, not as long as elderflower which will now have to do I'm thinking 1lt apple juice, 1WGC, 1 lemon zest and juice, 5 flower heads, 1tsp nutrient, 1tsp pectolase 700g sugar per 5lt and of course Champagne yeast, I will invert the sugar using the lemon juice and 500ml of the water.
PS Rowan Jelly is really good with Lamb, Pheasant and Venison.

[binley100]

^^^^^agreed , which I why I need to go hunt some Rowan trees........

[sambucus]

I would love to know this also. Made champagne accidentally with half elder, half rowan flowers. Don't want to waste it. Can't find anything online about using rowan flowers. But as has been mentioned, the berries are used, and are only toxic if eaten raw in large quantities.

[vikkib]

I'm planning on trying to make elder flower champagne for the first time this year.

The HFW recipe suggests making it in a spotlessly clean bucket.

I've got a couple of new builders buckets but I was wondering what qualifies as spotlessly clean?

I was thinking of sticking them through the dishwasher on an eco wash without any powder in there then using them straight out of the dishwasher like I do with jars when making chutney etc.

Would that work?

Would the same go for the flip top type glass bottles I have to put the champagne in or will those need a go with a bottle brush first? (They're Grol$ch bottles which were run through dishwasher when contents drunk and then put up in the loft!)

[Mikey]

I've heard a lot of negatives to the revised HFW recipe, as in its not as nice as his original. Agreed its less likely to explode on you, but thats no excuse to make it taste sour. I wash my buckets in a weak bleach solution something like milton before steaming cleaning them. All my bottles go in the dishwasher on a hot cycle then into the oven to dry them, this seems to do the job. I've had bottled elderflower upto Christimas and they only generally recommend about 3 months.

I'm planning on trying to make elder flower champagne for the first time this year.

The HFW recipe suggests making it in a spotlessly clean bucket.

I've got a couple of new builders buckets but I was wondering what qualifies as spotlessly clean?

I was thinking of sticking them through the dishwasher on an eco wash without any powder in there then using them straight out of the dishwasher like I do with jars when making chutney etc.

Would that work?

Would the same go for the flip top type glass bottles I have to put the champagne in or will those need a go with a bottle brush first? (They're Grol$ch bottles which were run through dishwasher when contents drunk and then put up in the loft!)

[Mikey]

I would use the mushroom approach to the rowan drink, taste a like bit of it and leave it a day and see if you have any reaction. If its ok try some more and if you have no adverse reaction crack on.

Found this with a little goggle searching.

Rowan berries contain sorbic acid. Raw berries also contain parasorbic acid (about 0.4%-0.7% in the European rowan), which causes indigestion and can lead to kidney damage, but heat treatment (cooking, heat-drying etc.) and, to a lesser extent, freezing, neutralises it, by changing it to the benign sorbic acid. Luckily, they are usually too astringent to be palatable when raw. Collecting them after first frost (or putting in the freezer) cuts down on the bitter taste as well.

ROWAN WINE

2 lb. rowan berries
2 oranges
3 lb. sugar
2 tsp. dried yeast
1/2 gallon boiling water

Remove the stalks from the berries, wash and place in a fermentation bin. Pour the boiling water over them and leave for three days, stirring daily. Put 1.5 pints of water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the sugar to make a syrup then add to the fermentation bin along with the juice and grated rind of the oranges. Stir thoroughly and then strain into a demi-jon. Top up with cooled, boiled water, add the yeast and leave to ferment out. When fermentation is complete rack off into a clear demi-jon and leave to clear. Bottle when clear.

Not sure I'd try the champagne as you don't boil the drink and I wouldn't be sure it would contain the acid without testing it.

[veggiechicken]

I'm sure we made Rowan berry wine once. Can't remember what it tasted like though
You'll like this Mikey:
"But there is rowan berry wine. The earliest mention of an alcoholic drink using the berries I can find comes from the late eighteenth century - "The poorer sort of people in Wales make a drink called diodgriafel by infusing the berries in water" "
Not much changes there
How to make rowanberry wine | Life and style | guardian.co.uk

[Mikey]

Dio what!!, if Dai made it its bound to be alright.

Doesn't infusing generally sound like something you would do with hot water?

I just read that recipe, it does use hot water!!

[ancee]

Hurrah! VC! It's not just me hahaha! Sooooo glad I just read this thread

[veggiechicken]

I didn't like to say anything in case the OP on this thread thought I was making fun of him But yes, two of you wanted to find elder, but you've actually found rowan and pyracantha instead
Check, double check, and check again

[Alison]

Pyracantha! Blimey can understand getting confused by rowan but not pyracantha.....