mines turned into bottle bombs and two have exploded all over the cellar, and yes i had been relesing the pressure every couple of days. the bottles were the grolsch swing tops.
Elderflower champagne??
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I just bottled my wine (or fizz) and cordial, and wondered if anyone had tried freezing the cordial to preserve it and then be able to make the wine from it later.
My cordial had around 3 times the flower than the wine so should be able to water the cordial up and add the right amount of sugar (if i can work that out...erm) then have some later inthe year too.
Anyone tried it, im curious to see if the cordial is ok after freezing (but have a small pot freezing to test).
I only wish i had made more now, as its gone over down here in Cambridge :-(
My cordial had around 3 times the flower than the wine so should be able to water the cordial up and add the right amount of sugar (if i can work that out...erm) then have some later inthe year too.
Anyone tried it, im curious to see if the cordial is ok after freezing (but have a small pot freezing to test).
I only wish i had made more now, as its gone over down here in Cambridge :-(
Well, mine's not looking too good.
Nothing's happening.
I HAVE added yeast, but there is still no sign of fermentation, even after three days. Well, sort of. It was fizzing and bubbling, but even that's stopped now. There has been no foaming at all, although it has gone cloudy. But not a bit of foam, which is what I'd expect.
Thoughts, anyone?
Nothing's happening.
I HAVE added yeast, but there is still no sign of fermentation, even after three days. Well, sort of. It was fizzing and bubbling, but even that's stopped now. There has been no foaming at all, although it has gone cloudy. But not a bit of foam, which is what I'd expect.
Thoughts, anyone?
This is my recipe (apparently from the Womens Institute)
10 litres Boiling water
15 flower heads
1kg sugar
2 lemons (thinly sliced)
Juice of 2 lemons
1/2 teaspoon champagne yeast.
Take the petals off the flower stalks and stir them into the boiling water. Stir in the sugar and allow to cool to 20 degrees Celsius before adding the sliced lemons, lemon juice and yeast.
Strain after 3 days and ferment until gravity drops to between 1.010 and 1.012 then rack off into plastic screw cap bottles.
I have made home brew wine before and this has been on the go for a couple of weeks now but is still in the sweet section on the hydrometer, I reckon another couple of weeks.
The bubbles are bouncing about 2 inches off the top of the brew!!!.
I had heard that the Hugh recipe was far too sweet and needed the sugar adjusting. I am looking forward to tasting and am resisting any temptation - at the moment!!!
Rob
10 litres Boiling water
15 flower heads
1kg sugar
2 lemons (thinly sliced)
Juice of 2 lemons
1/2 teaspoon champagne yeast.
Take the petals off the flower stalks and stir them into the boiling water. Stir in the sugar and allow to cool to 20 degrees Celsius before adding the sliced lemons, lemon juice and yeast.
Strain after 3 days and ferment until gravity drops to between 1.010 and 1.012 then rack off into plastic screw cap bottles.
I have made home brew wine before and this has been on the go for a couple of weeks now but is still in the sweet section on the hydrometer, I reckon another couple of weeks.
The bubbles are bouncing about 2 inches off the top of the brew!!!.
I had heard that the Hugh recipe was far too sweet and needed the sugar adjusting. I am looking forward to tasting and am resisting any temptation - at the moment!!!
Rob
Iona Cordail wont last indefinately and the taste reduces over time (accoring to Mrs Beaton) lol. it might last for a while though...
Cleanfreek - yeah Hughes recepy has a typo for the amount of water - even so it is very sweet. having said that your recipy seems very light on the flowers, in fact now i look my recipy is about the same as yours but only 1 gallon - 4.5 L. So be interested in how it goes.
In hydrometer terms the 'wine' from elderflowers is usually sweet and will be still relatively high sugar content - its not like hedgerow wines, but closer to ginger beer.
Having said that at least one other post did mention a still elderflower wine - so i guesse it depends what your recipy/intention is.
Mrs beatons recipy, the national trusts victorian recipy and hughes are largely the same, but you wouldnt get the Spec grav down that low i dont think. So maybe this is different....curious now!
I only tried it this year so dont profess to know much, but have done two batches now and am shocked at how little you need in the scheme of things!
An elderflower tasting session would be interesting.... hmmmm
Cleanfreek - yeah Hughes recepy has a typo for the amount of water - even so it is very sweet. having said that your recipy seems very light on the flowers, in fact now i look my recipy is about the same as yours but only 1 gallon - 4.5 L. So be interested in how it goes.
In hydrometer terms the 'wine' from elderflowers is usually sweet and will be still relatively high sugar content - its not like hedgerow wines, but closer to ginger beer.
Having said that at least one other post did mention a still elderflower wine - so i guesse it depends what your recipy/intention is.
Mrs beatons recipy, the national trusts victorian recipy and hughes are largely the same, but you wouldnt get the Spec grav down that low i dont think. So maybe this is different....curious now!
I only tried it this year so dont profess to know much, but have done two batches now and am shocked at how little you need in the scheme of things!
An elderflower tasting session would be interesting.... hmmmm
Had a look at the brew last night, yesterday morning it was bubbling wildly and last night it had stopped. Looked again this morning and I have a few bubbles but nothing like yesterday morning.
It is half way down the sweet section on the hydrometer and I am guessing that the yeast has done its work. I will leave it for another couple of days, (is there any merit in this) and strain into bottles.
When I went into the homebrew shop he was quite firm in saying ' do not use too many heads'. The recipe reads 15 - 20 heads but because of his advice using less is better I stuck to the lower amount.
If I leave it any longer before bottling will it go flat. Does the gassy bit (champagne fizz) develop in the bottle?
Rob
It is half way down the sweet section on the hydrometer and I am guessing that the yeast has done its work. I will leave it for another couple of days, (is there any merit in this) and strain into bottles.
When I went into the homebrew shop he was quite firm in saying ' do not use too many heads'. The recipe reads 15 - 20 heads but because of his advice using less is better I stuck to the lower amount.
If I leave it any longer before bottling will it go flat. Does the gassy bit (champagne fizz) develop in the bottle?
Rob
Robm,
Well as i say im no expert, but i would go with more flower than less. You can water out(and referment if nesesairy), but not concentrate.
Yes having the brew working a it goes into the bottle is vital! without it you would have a flat wine. If it is slowing down and still medium sweet bottle it now.
I would leave someplace warmish for a couple of days once bottled to build up the pressure then move it to somewhere cool.
I dont have somewhere cool to keep mine so have to keep checking it - if the pressure gets very high, you wont damage the drink by letting a bit of gass out i suppose if you do this continually for too long you will use up all the sugar but i understand that this drink is best not stored but drunk within a few months anyhow.
hmm any guesses what i want now!?
Well as i say im no expert, but i would go with more flower than less. You can water out(and referment if nesesairy), but not concentrate.
Yes having the brew working a it goes into the bottle is vital! without it you would have a flat wine. If it is slowing down and still medium sweet bottle it now.
I would leave someplace warmish for a couple of days once bottled to build up the pressure then move it to somewhere cool.
I dont have somewhere cool to keep mine so have to keep checking it - if the pressure gets very high, you wont damage the drink by letting a bit of gass out i suppose if you do this continually for too long you will use up all the sugar but i understand that this drink is best not stored but drunk within a few months anyhow.
hmm any guesses what i want now!?
Had a couple of bottles of the brew, over the last few days. Bit disappointed really, flat as a pancake.
Tastes fantastic but no real fizz!!!!!
Rob
Tastes fantastic but no real fizz!!!!!
Rob
A long time since I made wine but seem to remember,
1) use white not cream coloured flowers the cream ones give it a catty taste.
2) Elderflower champagne is best drunk young, if you want a keeper wait for the berries. Maybe I'll make a start again next year.
1) use white not cream coloured flowers the cream ones give it a catty taste.
2) Elderflower champagne is best drunk young, if you want a keeper wait for the berries. Maybe I'll make a start again next year.
after its bottled it takes 3 months to finish and take on the secondary fermentation. Give it time to finish.
Right - I will try to be more patient - never been a strong point!!!
Didn't add anymore sugar because it wasn't mentioned in the recipe. I have a large fridge/freezer in my unit and as a cool place i've got it in there. Is this too cool for the secondary fermentation to take place?
Rob
Didn't add anymore sugar because it wasn't mentioned in the recipe. I have a large fridge/freezer in my unit and as a cool place i've got it in there. Is this too cool for the secondary fermentation to take place?
Rob
I tried a taste of mine - wasn't that nice. No elderflower taste to it at all. Was more like taking a swig of alcohol.
I'm putting this down to two things. Firstly, the number of heads. Contrary to what Badgeringtim said, I would use more. I don't think I used enough; either that or the heads weren't that big. The second reason I would put down to end of season - my gut instinct tells me the blooms aren't as fragrant and sweet as early in the season. I think it was a combination of these two reasons why mine has little elderflower taste and is more like taking a gobful of alcohol. I poured it away. Still, a lesson learnt - use a few more flowers and do it early in the season.
We live and learn.
I'm putting this down to two things. Firstly, the number of heads. Contrary to what Badgeringtim said, I would use more. I don't think I used enough; either that or the heads weren't that big. The second reason I would put down to end of season - my gut instinct tells me the blooms aren't as fragrant and sweet as early in the season. I think it was a combination of these two reasons why mine has little elderflower taste and is more like taking a gobful of alcohol. I poured it away. Still, a lesson learnt - use a few more flowers and do it early in the season.
We live and learn.
Mine was lovely!!! I drank it as suggested in my recipe, from a week after bottling, and it was fizzy and had a lovely elderflower taste. Smell wasn't as nice, but hey, we can't have it all...
I have been mostly drinking it chilled with mint from the garden and ice. It was a tad sweet, so the addition of a slice of lemon was nice too.
All in all, 2nd attempt was a success!
I have been mostly drinking it chilled with mint from the garden and ice. It was a tad sweet, so the addition of a slice of lemon was nice too.
All in all, 2nd attempt was a success!
I recently made about 50 bottles of this stuff, and it's magic
recipe wassss......
for a 5 gallon drum
80 elderflowers, unwashed
4 lemons cut in half
1kg sugar
obviously, 5 gallons water
leave it in the drum for 5 days to a week, bottle up, leave another fortnight or so, then drink
it's absolutely fantastic, if a little too fizzy
recipe wassss......
for a 5 gallon drum
80 elderflowers, unwashed
4 lemons cut in half
1kg sugar
obviously, 5 gallons water
leave it in the drum for 5 days to a week, bottle up, leave another fortnight or so, then drink
it's absolutely fantastic, if a little too fizzy
My first attempt at making elder flower wine / champaign last year didn't work out at all, far too sickly - so down the sink it went and not down the hatch. This year I've used much less sugar, much much less. Been making it in roughly 4 litre batches, with half a kilo of sugar and a lemon, which I think, is about right, just had a wee taster from a batch only a few days old, and it's not too bad. Hopefully make another 6 litres or so to top up the 8 already there..
you shouldnt have thrown it down the sink unless it failed, you could have cut it with water and gone for a secondary fermentation, topping up or used it for sweetening a dry wine
Iona said:
Regarding the cost of the equipment, you really don’t need to spend much to get a good result and you can improvise if necessary
Imagine living in a country where you cannot get brewing equipment, you could for instance substitute a demijohn for a 5gal water bottle (the type seen inverted in a dispenser in offices) instead of an airlock you could use a balloon or condom with a pinhole in it, instead of campden tablets you could use Milton or even denture cleaning tablets and for yeast use bread yeast, not that I know any of this of course because its illegal here ;-)
