alien wrote:
> I usually pour hot, not boiling, water over the flowers. I also find
> that the action of the yeast raised them to the surface in a crusty cap.
> Now I use a mesh bag to contain them, makes racking to secondary easier.
>
> You're in for a treat, elderflower is a wonderful, perfumed wine. They
> should be ready for harvesting here in a month. Going to put on 2
> gallons of elderflower mead and 5 of wine.
>
> me wrote:
>
>> I just finished my first batch..it called for sprinkling the
>> elderflowers and stirring them under the surface..I stirred quite a
>> bit but they seem to float on the surface...I sprinkled the yeast on
>> anyways..hoping for the best...this sound about right?
>>
>> thanks...
>>
>> Jon

Now, I've been looking for an elderflower expert. A friend recommended a
recipe for 'elderflower champagne' as follows:

3.5kg (7.7lbs) sugar in 3 imperial gallons of water
zest and juice of 2 lemons
about 5 tablespoons white wine vinegar.
7 elderflowers

steep flowers in sugar water for 24 hours, bottle and ferment for 14
days (I used one plastic pop bottle in order to monitor the gas
pressure). Fermentation is supposed to rely on wild yeast and is
supposed to produce a sweet, sparkling, aromatic beverage after 2 weeks.

After 2 weeks it was still impotably sweet and only slightly gassed,
despite plenty of visible yeast flocculate. Experimentally, I have
decanted a gallon into a demijohn and added some yeast nutrient. There
is some airlock activity, but very slow. Is it likely that I can rescue
this by e.g. pitching a wine yeast, or should I just leave it be for a
month? or chuck it away?


--
___________________________________________
Sam Wigand

"Quaggy River Brewery"

In message >, Sam Wigand
> writes
>Now, I've been looking for an elderflower expert. A friend
>recommended a recipe for 'elderflower champagne' as follows:
>
>3.5kg (7.7lbs) sugar in 3 imperial gallons of water
>zest and juice of 2 lemons
>about 5 tablespoons white wine vinegar.
>7 elderflowers
>
>steep flowers in sugar water for 24 hours, bottle and ferment for 14
>days (I used one plastic pop bottle in order to monitor the gas
>pressure). Fermentation is supposed to rely on wild yeast and is
>supposed to produce a sweet, sparkling, aromatic beverage after 2
>weeks.
>
>After 2 weeks it was still impotably sweet and only slightly gassed,
>despite plenty of visible yeast flocculate. Experimentally, I have
>decanted a gallon into a demijohn and added some yeast nutrient.
>There is some airlock activity, but very slow. Is it likely that I can
>rescue this by e.g. pitching a wine yeast, or should I just leave it be
>for a month? or chuck it away?

Personally I'd be tempted to start again - though I appreciate it's a
big investment . Rather than a plastic pop bottle, you really need
strong glass bottles with a screw top. Grolsch lager bottles might do at
a push, I imagine. There's an obvious caveat about getting strong enough
bottles to withstand the (possibly considerable) build-up of pressure
when it does go right. And make sure you take the tops off outside, with
a handy jug to pour it off into. Voice of experience...

The demi-john with airlock might ferment OK, but it won't carbonate the
champagne to any great degree. Nearly 8 pounds of sugar to 3 gallons is
quite a lot for this recipe (IMHO); if the wild yeast isn't very alcohol
tolerant, you might end up with a weakly-alcoholic sugar syrup and an
awful lot of dead yeast.

I've often found that the first batch of the year doesn't go well, so it
might be that the wild yeasts don't develop fully till a little later in
the season. Doing anything with wild yeast is always going to be hit or
miss; I've just thrown out my first batch and started a second, because
the first grew a raft of green mould right across the top within days.
If you want to try a slightly different recipe, here's the one I use:

1 pint boiling water, 7 pints cold.
1 ¼ pounds sugar
1 lemon
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
3-4 large heads of elderflower (shake the insects out if you're fussy)
1 bucket.

Sterilise the bucket before you start. Dissolve the sugar in the boiling
water, pour in the rest of the cold water. Half and squeeze the lemon,
throw in juice and peel, and the wine vinegar. Add the elderflower, stir
it well. Cover the bucket with a tea towel, and leave it for 4 days or
so. If you're keen stir it daily, otherwise don't bother. After 4 days,
strain it through 2 layers of muslin and bottle it. Leave it for another
few days before trying the caps to see if it's fizzy yet. It may take a
week, may take more. The initial SG will be about 1040, so if it
fermented to dryness you could get around 5% alcohol - although it's
rather pleasanter before it gets dry.

I can't stress how important it is to use *strong* glass bottles...

cheers,
robin
--
www.newforestartgallery.co.uk
www.badminston.demon.co.uk www.robinsomes.co.uk
www.robinsomes.co.uk/oz www.robinsomes.co.uk/greece03
Trust me, I'm a webmaster...

Robin Somes wrote:
> In message >, Sam Wigand
> > writes
>
>>Now, I've been looking for an elderflower expert. A friend
>>recommended a recipe for 'elderflower champagne' as follows:
>>
>>3.5kg (7.7lbs) sugar in 3 imperial gallons of water
>>zest and juice of 2 lemons
>>about 5 tablespoons white wine vinegar.
>>7 elderflowers
>>
>>steep flowers in sugar water for 24 hours, bottle and ferment for 14
>>days (I used one plastic pop bottle in order to monitor the gas
>>pressure). Fermentation is supposed to rely on wild yeast and is
>>supposed to produce a sweet, sparkling, aromatic beverage after 2
>>weeks.
>>



>
> Personally I'd be tempted to start again - though I appreciate it's a
> big investment . Rather than a plastic pop bottle, you really need
> strong glass bottles with a screw top. Grolsch lager bottles might do at
> a push, I imagine.

Just to clarify, the bulk of the must is indeed in 1.5 litre Grolsch
bottles. I only used one 500ml plastic bottle, because one can monitor
gas pressure without opening the cap by squeezing it.


> The demi-john with airlock might ferment OK, but it won't carbonate the
> champagne to any great degree. Nearly 8 pounds of sugar to 3 gallons is
> quite a lot for this recipe (IMHO); if the wild yeast isn't very alcohol
> tolerant, you might end up with a weakly-alcoholic sugar syrup and an
> awful lot of dead yeast.
>

I have abandoned hope of a sparkling brew. I am simply hoping to salvage
something drier and vaguely drinkable. I may try bottling it before the
end of fermentation to get some degree of spritz, if possible.



> I've often found that the first batch of the year doesn't go well, so it
> might be that the wild yeasts don't develop fully till a little later in
> the season. Doing anything with wild yeast is always going to be hit or
> miss; I've just thrown out my first batch and started a second, because
> the first grew a raft of green mould right across the top within days.
> If you want to try a slightly different recipe, here's the one I use:
>


Thanks for your help.
--
___________________________________________
Sam Wigand

"Quaggy River Brewery"