Elderflower time!

[Bazz]

It's that time of the year when the elderflowers are coming out into bloom and so my attention has turned to making elderflower champagne. This year however i'm thinking of doing things a little different as last year whilst the drink was very quaffable i did get quite a bit of yeast sediment in the bottles which due to the carbonation once opened clouded the drink and impaired the flavour a little.

So what i propose to do is after the initial infusion stage is to transfer to demi johns and let it ferment out and drop clear before bottling and priming with enough sugar to carbonate it.

Can anyone see an issue with doing this and can anyone give me an idea of how much sugar for a 2 litre bottle.

Thanks.

[JamesF]

I shall follow this with interest as we have loads of elder and my previous attempts at elderflower champagne have suffered similarly. Ours is not even remotely close to being in flower yet though. I reckon we have another couple of weeks at least.

James

[timmydog]

In low carbonated ale, I use about 4g per litre, so how about 12g in 2 litres? There are guides to priming on the net, but the ones I read deal with beer rather than wine. There must be some out there though...

[Bazz]

Thanks, seems as good a place to start as any, I don't want them exploding every where!

[jack_c]

Considering this myself. Few questions:

Any problems using a plastic fv normally used for ale, or should wine be done with separate kit? Thinking residual hop oils etc.

The Huge Furry Whipping-tool recipe https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/sp ... lower-wine looks dangerous - assuming I can wait for a stable gravity reading before bottling, rather than wing it as per his instructions?

Any idea where wild elderflowers grow in Brighton?

[Bazz]

I used the same fv that use for beer, just gave it a really good wash.

That's the recipe that I used, I transferred to Demi Johns a couple of days ago after a week in the fv, just waiting for it to clear a little now before bottling.

Elder flowers are usually found all over the urban environment, I however wouldn't pick any that are growing next to busy roads, google images for them and just go walking around parks etc. failing that get up on South Downs, there will almost certainly be loads about up there.

[Geezah]

Geezah's Top Tip:
Slice up a couple of fresh strawberries and add it to the fermenter, gives it a nice flavour.