elderflower champagne

[gardendancer]

HI all.

I was just wondering - if I put my elderflower champagne - will it stop getting dryer?
It's at a really nice level of sweetness at the moment.

Thanks in advance

[Fleurisa]

The more the alcohol ferments the more the sugar is used up and the drier it will become. So if you can stop the fermentation process now it should stay sweet.

[Samurailord]

But if you stop the fermentation you will end up with a flat champagne.

What I would do is to let it ferment out as far as it wants then back-sweeten with an artificial sweetener that the yeast won't eat.

Then mix in one level teaspoon of sugar per litre and bottle into bottles that can hold pressure - old chanpagne or sparkling wine bottles are idea if you have a corker, if not try pop bottles. The yeast will eat the small amount of sugar and produce enough CO2 to carbonate the wine, the only downside is that it will also produce a small amount of sediment.

I use 1 litre bottles so I can decant the wine off the sediment in one pour, and not have a cloudy champagne.

Andy

[snakeshack]

You could try sweetening with stevia leaves when you start next years brew then you can let it ferment as long as you like and the sweetness will remain, I'm going to try this in a batch of my second run cider this year as it usually comes out like sparkling battery acid ( we still drink it though but mixed with lemonade)


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[gardendancer]

Thank you all.
It's my first attempt at anything brewing so didn't buy any equipment, I've been fermenting it in lastic bottles and released the pressure a few times so it is fizzy now. I'll pop it in the fridge. It won't last long, only made 8 litres as a test, will definitely make more next year.

And I've got the bug and have bought "some bits" next on the list - redcurrant wine.

[FlawlessVictory]

Sorry to bump the thread but I've bought a fermenter and some dried elderflowers with the intention of making a bit of cheap Christmas Fizz!

Does anyone have any recipe suggestions? Tales of good, the bad and possibly the ugly!