Elderflower Champagne

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Elderflower Champagne

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DorsetScott

Joined: 23 Oct 2011
Posts: 500
Location: Bournemouth

Posted: Tue Jun 10, 14 12:45 pm Post subject: Elderflower Champagne

After having made edlerflower champagne for a few years using the same recipe I've decided this year to experiment and find out my favourite.
So far I've made 6 different recipes, and before I start searching random internet sites for different recipes I thought I'd try here.

Anyone care to share their recipe? I'll make a small batch to taste test alongside all the others, and will share my favourite recipe when I have decided.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 43771
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Jun 10, 14 1:32 pm Post subject:
grape white grape juice and a half a pound of flowers to the gallon for a couple of days,sieve and up the sg with sugar to give about 12% when fermented out bottle with a tablespoon of sugar for the fizz i used pet bottles for the last stage for safety as it can be a bit lively sort of ok and fairly quick

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42223
Location: North Devon

Posted: Tue Jun 10, 14 1:41 pm Post subject:
Not champagne but strawberry and elderflower is delicious.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9917
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Tue Jun 10, 14 1:50 pm Post subject:
here's mine

madcat

Joined: 24 May 2008
Posts: 1265
Location: worcester

Posted: Tue Jun 10, 14 4:53 pm Post subject:
The rain has ruined all the flowers round here.

DorsetScott

Joined: 23 Oct 2011
Posts: 500
Location: Bournemouth

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 14 10:12 am Post subject:

Cheers guys, there's another couple to add to the pool of recipes.

And strawberry and elderflower sounds intriguing too. I'm stocking up on flowers at the mo, couple of hundred heads in the freezer, 3 jam jars full of dried ones, reckon I'll be able to make a big batch of my favourite!!!

Hope a final flush comes out for you madcat, can't imagine not having my elderflower goodies. Must admit Elderflower Delight was a favourite last year.

roobarb

Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 139
Location: Carmarthenshire

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 14 11:13 am Post subject:
Does freezing the elderflower heads have any adverse affects to flavour and fizz production? I don't normally add any extra yeast, but if using frozen elderflower heads would I need to add extra? We're off on holiday next week, so I'm not going to be around to watch the brew develop, so want to get some heads in the freezer this week, before they all go over and make it on our return.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 43771
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 14 11:25 am Post subject:
if anything frozen give out more flavour so long as they are frozen in airtight containers

DorsetScott

Joined: 23 Oct 2011
Posts: 500
Location: Bournemouth

Posted: Wed Jun 11, 14 3:20 pm Post subject:

No adverse effects on the flowers although you may well need to add extra yeast when using them. When they defrost they are pretty limp and a slightly browny colour, but taste and appearance of finished brew is identical.

I don't use airtight containers, I just stick them in plastic bags to be honest and haven't had any issues.
It is worth bagging them up in the amounts you'll be using though, it's very hard to seperate out and count heads when they're defrosted. I find bags of 10 (or multiples of if you make bigger brews like me) work pretty well.

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