Does anyone have a good receipe for elderflower champagne they could share with me??
Thanks in advance,
Wil
Thanks in advance,
Wil
Elderflower champagne??
- Thread starter Wilderbeast
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I'd also like to hear this, the only trees around here are elder, great for the flowers, absolutely rubbish for burning!
Made some today! From this recipe: http://www.channel4.com/food/recipe...ngstall/elderflower-champagne-recipe_p_1.html dead easy, but will have to wait a bit for a review...
I was likewise about to try that recipe but had a look at the bottom of the page and discovered that there were many disgruntled forum comments from people who had already tried it and were convinced that there was a typo with regards to the amount of sugar used. Now whether they are correct or not I don't know, but most seemed to thing that the sugar quantity should be halved, so that's what I've done. Only did this yesterday so it will be interesting to see whose one works. Since there's such a quick turn around with this stuff I guess it gives both of us the opportunity to try again if need be!
i LOVE elderflower. the smell, the taste, cordial, wine you name it.
unfortunatly its the biggest trigger of my hey fever... i've got some elder stems from the early spring that have seasoned and i'm going to do something with em soon i hope.
i'll also dig out the recipe i have for champaign its out of a little hand printed book i got a long time ago from a friends wife. some good stuff in it actually i'll have to duplicate on here
unfortunatly its the biggest trigger of my hey fever... i've got some elder stems from the early spring that have seasoned and i'm going to do something with em soon i hope.
i'll also dig out the recipe i have for champaign its out of a little hand printed book i got a long time ago from a friends wife. some good stuff in it actually i'll have to duplicate on here
Not when they don't grow big enough for a hearth board or grow straight enough to use as a hand drill though :aargh4:
I can't make anything at the moment. I've run out of demijohns. I'll have to collect the flowers and freeze them for later.
you don't need a demijohn for elder flower champers, just a really clean bucket and some plastic tubing to syphon it off into bottles
I pinch them from work (bakery) we buy in Jam etc in big plastic buckets. I'm sure if you went to your local baker, they'd give you something? Too good to wait for I think. And my house smells AMAZING!
I pinch them from work (bakery) we buy in Jam etc in big plastic buckets. I'm sure if you went to your local baker, they'd give you something? Too good to wait for I think. And my house smells AMAZING!
it's best to use plastic so they don't explode, old water bottles... I have been known to use old screw top wine bottles, and have gotten away with it so far but that doesn't make it a great or sensible idea. corks never work for me, when I made nettle beer, I kept it in the bedroom and the cork popped when I was asleep... scared the bejesus out of me!
but that doesn't make it a great or sensible idea. corks never work for me, when I made nettle beer, I kept it in the bedroom and the cork popped when I was asleep... scared the bejesus out of me!
Went to check my elderflower champagne last night, as per recipe instructions to see if it was starting to ferment, and... it's grown large-ish patches of mould!
Has anyone else had this problem? do you reckon I can just skim it off and carry on? Or is it the end of the road for this batch?
Has anyone else had this problem? do you reckon I can just skim it off and carry on? Or is it the end of the road for this batch?
Went to check my elderflower champagne last night, as per recipe instructions to see if it was starting to ferment, and... it's grown large-ish patches of mould!
Has anyone else had this problem? do you reckon I can just skim it off and carry on? Or is it the end of the road for this batch?
are you sure it's mould an not the froth from the fermenting process??
Just opened my first bottle and it was fantastic, although a tad sweet for my taste.
I used the River Cottage recipe but halved the sugar (after reading the River Cottage forum comments that the quantity described on the web page contained a typo) and as mentioned, even then it was a little sweet. It was similar to drinking a good quality cloudy lemonade, and tasted much more like a slightly alcoholic fizzy soft drink than champagne.
I'd highly recommend the River Cottage recipe but am going to use a third of the sugar with batch number two, which I'll be making this weekend. This I think will give it a much drier taste more akin to real champagne.
I used the River Cottage recipe but halved the sugar (after reading the River Cottage forum comments that the quantity described on the web page contained a typo) and as mentioned, even then it was a little sweet. It was similar to drinking a good quality cloudy lemonade, and tasted much more like a slightly alcoholic fizzy soft drink than champagne.
I'd highly recommend the River Cottage recipe but am going to use a third of the sugar with batch number two, which I'll be making this weekend. This I think will give it a much drier taste more akin to real champagne.
Went to check my elderflower champagne last night, as per recipe instructions to see if it was starting to ferment, and... it's grown large-ish patches of mould!
Has anyone else had this problem? do you reckon I can just skim it off and carry on? Or is it the end of the road for this batch?
Don't worry about the mold, mine had this too, just get rid of the offending flowers, if that's what it's growing on, or get rid of it when you filter it through muslin or whatever else you're planning to use for this - I used a couple of t-shirts!
Best of luck!
You only need a few inches to make the drill, socket it onto a straight piece of hazel. Carry the straight hazel and a few sections of straigh elder and you'll be set up. I recently found a huge pice of elder that would work great for a hearth board but I wasn't thinking friction fire lighting at the time. I think it got burnt!
Anyway, I've got some decent clematis so all is not lost! 
