Elderflower chamgange

[V8landy]

Planning to have my first go at elderflower champagne.

 

I am going to follow the HFW river cottage method, but has anyone else got any tips or are you also making/made it?

 

http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes...ecipe_p_1.html

 

But like my cider I make, I have been told it is best to let the fermentation finish in a sealed vessel (demijohn or larger 25l) with airlock, and then add a bit of sugar on botteling to give the final fizz, thus minmising bottles going bang.

 

I will be using 2L sterilised plastic fizzy drink bottles.

[UKPoacher]

Little wife is making some. She has it stewing in a bucket and willbe decanting into bottles tomorrow. If it is as good as last year's vintage we will be happy.

 

Don't forget to do some elderflower cordial too. It's delicious :(

[berties]

Planning to have my first go at elderflower champagne.

 

I am going to follow the HFW river cottage method, but has anyone else got any tips or are you also making/made it?

 

http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes...ecipe_p_1.html

 

But like my cider I make, I have been told it is best to let the fermentation finish in a sealed vessel (demijohn or larger 25l) with airlock, and then add a bit of sugar on botteling to give the final fizz, thus minmising bottles going bang.

 

I will be using 2L sterilised plastic fizzy drink bottles.

we made some two years ago we soaked it all in a bucket like hughs recipe so it looks mouldy as the flower is working

strained in through muslin then bottled it ,but in champagne bottles with plastic corks and cages laid it down in the summer house /shed and it was spot on, we lost a few due to explosions

you have to drain a bit of scum off the top of the bottle before pouring but we had great results and a great summer party

we are making elderflower cordial at present to which we freeze in small batches so it does not mould

good luck

[Doc Holliday]

Me & a mate tried making some last year. We didn't realise you had to use brewers yeast so chucked in an amount of normal bakers yeast. Bloody stuff went mental. The caps would come off like a rocket. It got so bad we ended up shooting the caps off as neither of us wanted to risk losing an eye or hand. We also tried to make it a bit more potent by adding more sugar. When we did try it, we just kept burping & farting for hours afterwards. Thought we'd give it a miss this year.

[Nial]

Planning to have my first go at elderflower champagne.

I am going to follow the HFW river cottage method, but has anyone else got any tips or are you also making/made it?

http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes...ecipe_p_1.html

 

 

I was actually at River Cottage HQ this Tuesday attending their 'Fish skills and cookery" day.

 

They gave us a couple of glasses of the elderflower sparkling wine (can't call it champagne) to

go with the mackerel fillets with pesto (that we'd prepared first think) on toast, as a mid

morning snack.

 

Very nice it was too! I'd have bought a couple of bottles if I hadn't flown down.

 

 

Nial.

Edited June 18, 2010 by Nial

[V8landy]

elderflower sparkling wine (can't call it champagne) .

 

Quite correct, should not be calling it Champagne.

 

Just finishing off me snadwich then, off down the back field at work to pick a bag or 2 of flowers.

 

Then Tescos after work for the bits and bob's and will then make it tommorow.

 

2 batches, one in the bucket and one in a demijohn

[roadkill]

the river cottage one is spot on we lost loads through them blowing up the plastic bottles didnt half lose shape and we used duck tape to keep on the lids looked like some kind of bomb

[V8landy]

Went out along riverbank at luch time and picked a coupel of bag fulls. I am stillcovered in yellow pollen!

 

Smells of gas in the office now as well!

 

Will be doing 2 batches tonight, one bucket method, one demijohn method.

[natcot]

Yep, picking flowers this weekend. Only realised last year that the flowering tree at the bottom of the garden was elderflower!

 

Waitrose currently do Lorina Lemonade http://www.lorina.com/uk/fla/home_us.html at a reduced price of £1.69, it's a bit steep for posh lemonade (nice though) but you are left with a good sized 750ml bottle with swing-top Grolsch style top.

[Yorkshire Pudding]

TOP TIP !!!

 

Pick the flowers in the morning because in the afternoon they smell like cat P

 

all the best yis yp :(

[wildfowler.250]

Don't forget to do some elderflower cordial too. It's delicious

 

How do you do that? they are just starting to flower round here

[MC]

Here you go,,

 

Elderflower Cordial

[wildfowler.250]

Here you go,,

 

Elderflower Cordial

 

 

Thanks,will give that a go :blink:

[Yorkshire Pudding]

F-in L MC

 

Grigson is a pig !!!

 

Sort a proper recipe out with a proper bird .

 

Lawson she's a good un !

 

all the best yis yp :blink:

[wildfowler.250]

Such as? :blink:

[natcot]

Thread bumpty bump!

 

Anybody else managed to produce any fizz? I opened my first bottle last night and was more than surprised that not only was it proper fizzy but it tasted good too (elderflower is a bit odd though).

 

I'm inspired now, so will be produce some cordial too, aswell as cider once I get a press sorted out in the autumn.

[UKPoacher]

The other night while I was at work little wife heard a sound as though something had fallen down. So she got out of bed, put her jim-jams on and went fora wander round the house. She found nothing so went back to bed. Next day I found that the last remaining bottle of elderflower champagned had burst launching itself out of the plastic barrel that serves as a ballistic bunker and all over the garage floor.