Using Elderflower

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BeerShark
Tippler
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue May 05, 2020 9:31 am

Re: Using Elderflower

Post by BeerShark » Thu Jun 11, 2020 1:50 pm

Thanks Wilf - yes, there's actually some really good guidance on the Belvoir website about picking fresh elderflower because every year they get local people picking it for their cordials

https://www.belvoirfruitfarms.co.uk/eld ... r-picking/

I know what you mean about the cat pee smell - we went out the other evening to get an idea where our best local sources are and there is clearly a lot of variation in aroma!!
Conditioning: High Cup Nick (SMaSH Cascade)
Fermenting: Cumbrian Rouleur (session pale: 3.5% with EKG, Citra and elderflower)
Planning: Crisis Management (bold Chinook / Amarillo lockdown release brew)
Drinking: Westmorland Pale (Hawkshead Windermere Pale clone attempt!)

BeerShark
Tippler
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue May 05, 2020 9:31 am

Re: Using Elderflower

Post by BeerShark » Sat Jun 13, 2020 1:15 pm

Thanks Wilf - yes, we'd heard about the perils of cat pee elderflower!
If anyone's interested, there's actually a great resource on the Belvoir website about picking elderflower (they get the public to pick it for them every year for their cordials):

https://www.belvoirfruitfarms.co.uk/eld ... r-picking/

Anyway, yesterday was brew day and I built in most of the advice from everyone on here - so thanks very much! In the end I went with a 3.5kg grain bill made up of mostly Maris Otter (85%), bittered with a mix of EKG and Citra, then gave it another blast of Citra at 15mins. The elderflower was delivered by 20g dried flowers in the boil at 10mins then I let the wort cool to 90deg and steeped 20 fresh heads' worth of flowers for 30 mins with the temp set to 79deg. In reality the temperature never got below about 85. I'm hoping that this will sort out any of the wild yeasts. I gave it a 10min whirlpool then allowed to settle for a further 10mins before transferring to the FV. I was getting some decent elderflower aroma from the wort - I guess it's hard to tell at this stage though.

The OG read 1.034 which is just slightly over target (1.032) but happy that I got 23litres into the FV. The sparge took 40 mins to get 18litres through the grain - so I was worried that I'd cocked something up somewhere - but it's the best yield I've had from the new grainfather, so happy with that!

Fingers crossed - and thanks again!





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Conditioning: High Cup Nick (SMaSH Cascade)
Fermenting: Cumbrian Rouleur (session pale: 3.5% with EKG, Citra and elderflower)
Planning: Crisis Management (bold Chinook / Amarillo lockdown release brew)
Drinking: Westmorland Pale (Hawkshead Windermere Pale clone attempt!)

guypettigrew
Even further under the Table
Posts: 2626
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2010 7:10 pm
Location: Christchurch, Dorset

Re: Using Elderflower

Post by guypettigrew » Sat Jun 13, 2020 1:27 pm

BeerShark wrote:
Sat Jun 13, 2020 1:15 pm
The sparge took 40 mins to get 18litres through the grain - so I was worried that I'd cocked something up somewhere - but it's the best yield I've had from the new grainfather, so happy with that!
Ideal sparge rate is about 1/2 litre/ min to get the best extract. Your Grainfather is spot on!

Guy

BeerShark
Tippler
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue May 05, 2020 9:31 am

Re: Using Elderflower

Post by BeerShark » Sun Jun 21, 2020 12:10 pm

Just an update on this one...

10 days into fermentation and I'm about at my intended FG (1.007) which would be 3.5% ABV. I'm happy with the level of elderflower coming through - not in your face, but definitely there. I'm hoping that once it's conditioned and cold it'll be somewhere around intended purpose (quaffable on a sunny afternoon - if we get anymore of those this summer!)

Just added some Harris Starbrite finings and will leave for another 4-5 days and look to be bottling at the end of next week...
Conditioning: High Cup Nick (SMaSH Cascade)
Fermenting: Cumbrian Rouleur (session pale: 3.5% with EKG, Citra and elderflower)
Planning: Crisis Management (bold Chinook / Amarillo lockdown release brew)
Drinking: Westmorland Pale (Hawkshead Windermere Pale clone attempt!)

BeerShark
Tippler
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue May 05, 2020 9:31 am

Re: Using Elderflower

Post by BeerShark » Tue Jul 07, 2020 6:44 pm

Really happy with the result - lovely amount of elderflower coming through and VERY sessionable! :D
Conditioning: High Cup Nick (SMaSH Cascade)
Fermenting: Cumbrian Rouleur (session pale: 3.5% with EKG, Citra and elderflower)
Planning: Crisis Management (bold Chinook / Amarillo lockdown release brew)
Drinking: Westmorland Pale (Hawkshead Windermere Pale clone attempt!)

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