Make Elderflower Champagne – A Taste of Spring – Elderflower Fizz
A question posted on Jamie Oliver’s Forum asked what is your favourite picnic item? Shortly after I’d suggested the good ol’ pasty another member listed elderflower cordial, recounting memories of Eastern European summers awash with homemade elderflower beverages. There followed various links to pages that gave the recipe and details how to make various elderflower drinks. This immediately reminded me of the fun I’ve had over the years making elderflower champagne and I offered to write up my method of brewing this sparkling summer delight sometimes called elderflower fizz.
Making elderflower champagne is easy:-
- Go pick half a dozen full elderflower heads ideally on a sunny day when they are most fragrant.
Half fill a clean bucket with 2 gallons of cold water (thats 10 Litres for my Euro chums)- dissolve 2lbs (1kg) of white sugar into the water
- shake any debris and insects clear from the elderflower heads and immerse in the water
- Cut two lemons in half squeeze juice into water and throw in the squeezed halfs
- add a splosh (4 tablespoons) of white wine vinegar
- stir gently and cover with a clean tea towel
- leave for 24 hours stirring occasionally
After 24 hours, sterilise plastic carbonated drinks bottles – 10 x 1 litre lemonade/pop bottles are ideal – and strain jugfuls of the liquor through a sieve or muslin cloth into the bottles and screw the plastic tops on firmly.
Leave for a week and the naturally occurring yeast on the elderflower heads begins to ferment with the sugar creating a very weak alcohol content but lots of carbon dioxide.
Lots of CO2 = Big Elderflower Fizz
NB I emphasise using plastic screw top bottles as personal experience and folk lore have taught me that homemade elderflower champagne causes
- corks just pop out and the contents just overflows to leave a sticky mess,
- glass bottles to actually explode embedding shards of glass into the surrounding surfaces and the contents to cover everything in a sticky mess
- a combination of both of the above makes for a nerve wracking experience whenever in the space the elderflower champagne is being stored and inevitably ends up in a sticky mess
If you use plastic bottles you will at least notice the stretching and rounding if the pressure becomes too great and can release the gas (or drink it).
One clever storage idea was to use a duvet to cover the bottles to absorb the impact and mop up any unwanted sticky mess
If stored in a cool place and the bottles remain in tact, elderflower champagne can be kept for over a year – until the flowers begin to appear again for the next batch.
Enjoy!
I can remember my Mum taking me and my friends out to a local field to pick elder berries so that they could be turned into wine. I never did taste the end result but I’m rather curious. Anyway, we don’t have any wine making equipment any more.
Use plastic fizzy drinks bottles … That’s a great tip.
Thanks
Hi, I found your blog via Google while searching for ELDER FLOWERS and your post regarding Elderflower Champagne – A Taste of Spring – Elderflower Fizz – The Pasty Muncher looks very interesting for me.
My grandma used to make elderflower champagne and she always put slices of bread into the liquid too. Don’t know why. I always thought it was to give it extra fizz with the yeast in the bread?
I remember my parents making this when I was about four or five. For years after this, in to my adult life the smell of elderflower would transport me back to that time ans all the associated memories. Im 40 this year and last year, my parents made some for the first time since I was a child. we drank it together with my own daughter. Sadly my mother died last October, but we finished the last of the champagne a few weeks back. My Dad and my 6 yr old daughter made some last week together and we just finished making some more. This drink is wonderful and will always remind me of my mum and my childhood. I hope my daughter will always remember it as well.
Great to see all these thumbs up – this year as well as Elderflower Champagne the Muncher household is trying a batch of elderflower cordial.
PS – My Homebrew Guru, Richard of Cheers Winemaking and Brewing Sutton hinted that elderflower champers was a perfect mixer with Gin….Cheers!
My daughter made some Champagne and we all got ready for the tasting session. I removed the cork with a loud bang and the contents shot straight up to the ceiling. About an egg cup full remained which tasted delicious.
I’m rolling my sleeves and trousers up ready to have a go!
I made some elderflower champagne at the weekend, after a day or so you could see the bubbles in the bottle but now i cannot see any bubbles.
Will it still be fizzy??
I have also got some which I haven’t bottled yet because I ran out of bottles, is it okay to bottle it three or four days after??
Mark said:
I made some elderflower champagne at the weekend….
it should become fizzy in the bottle – beware see comment number 7 from Sandy
As for the four day old stuff…your half way to wine with that although the dreaded vinegar fly might have got their already.
Hi, I live in London and am keen on making some Elderflower Champagne.
I went over to my local park today and collected quite a few flower heads.
I have read on other websites that you shouldn’t pick flowers from the roadside as they will be polluted, but everywhere in London is by a road side!!!
Does anyone know if I could rinse them and still use them? Or if they would be ok to use anyway?
Thanks for your help,
Neil
OOOhhhh so excited i have an elderberry tree in the garden…now just need pop bottles….
Just made my second batch of “champagne” easy and fun to do. Tried the first batch made last week already really rather good chilled and chaep to make
.
Neil – with regard using flower heads from the roadside – I think its best to avoid those that get the full brunt of exhaust fumes. We can all enjoy the fresh air away from the city but I’d imagine a park will do nicely – its not as though you’re going to munch the elderflowers.
In response to PastyMunchers reply (post 9);
Do you think I should stop shaking the bottle to see if I can see bubbles then!!???
Mark – yes or you might end up in a sticky mess
I made a sort of sweet elderflower vinegar (no bubbles) when trying to make a cordial (just layering flowers with sugar, then covering with water, leaving overnight). Maybe I didn’t use enough sugar, but after pouring off the liquid and storing it in the fridge for a few weeks, I tasted it. It’s delicious; I just don’t know what to call it. Certainly not champagne.
I’ve just made a batch of elder flower champers from a recipe in ‘ A greener life’
I used unrefined sugar as was recommended in recipe. It was light brown….what sort of outcome can I expect??
In River Cottage when Hugh made the champagne he used glass bottles with a ceramic stopper (like the original Grolsch bottles) are these safer to use are where do i buy them??
Help!
My elderflower has been in its container for 2 days and nothing seems to have happened i.e. no ferment. Its just been outside my back door with a lid on, what have i done wrong, when watching Hugh FW fermenting started after 2 days.
just made some elderflower champagne didnt realize i would have to bottle it after 24 hours i dont have any pop bottles could i use a demi john?.
I have just made 10 litres of the stuff and from my experience it took 4 days of brewing in the plastic tub before it started to ferment and produce the bubbles. Also putting in the airing cupboard seemed to help the process.
Rather than buy expensive bottles from Lakeland I managed to get Grolsh bottles with Stoppers from Asda for less than £2 and got to drink the beer.
Where is best to store the stuff now I have bottled up?
17. Dave -Unrefined Sugar – should be fine
18. Martin – Never trust a TV personality – he was making an alcoholic version which is less volatile – the fermenting is done in an open bucket for several days so the bottled drink just ferments a little more until alcohol co2 levels stop it (he hopes) I’d STILL encourage using plastic bottles
19. Lee – see 18
20. Margaret – a demi john isn’t designed to take pressure so either the cork would pop out or you would have a very dangerous “wine bomb”
21. Lee B – Cheers!
Recommend storing in a garage or such as a shed can become too warm… Boom!! Still water bottles from Asda etc can be bought for 18p each and the neighbours will think you’re Uber posh watering the plants with bottled water. I’m onto my second batch….mixed with gin it’s superb!!!
Robert C – with these three top tips you’re really spoiling us.
Respect!
Hi, I too watched Hugh make this and am giving it a go. Would it matter if I used Red Wine Vinegar? What’s the difference.
Steve – My guess is that your elderflower champagne will have a delicate hint of blush to it – which could work very well.
I don’t doubt the elderflower champagne will still taste fantastic if you use red wine vinegar.
I’ve followed Hughes recipe so my version will be alcoholic so hopefully less volatile like you suggested – will use pop bottles as u suggested tho.
Thing is 3 days in nothing happening Hugh says to chuck in a pinch of yeast, which I now have – thing is all I had was traditional dried yeast (used to make bread tho not for breadmakers) – this version just pure yeast i think as it shows no ingredients.
Will this b ok? or should i have used a difference yeast?
OK, so it’s been in the bucket for 4 days now, still no fermentation… but I am getting spots of fur (obviously mould) beginning to appear on top of the liquid! Any hints? The liquid tastes nice though ;o)
I first made elderflower champagne some years ago and it was great, BUT after a break of some years, I have tried again and for the last three years it just refuses to ferment and comes out of the bottle much as it went in – quite tasty but definitely not fizzy, some bottles have a hint of sparkle but no risk of exploding bottles in my house!! Any ideas as to what I’m doing wrong? The bottles have definitely got a good seal, and I’ve opened bottles and regular intervals from about 2 weeks to over a year after bottling.
It’s very frustrating!
I do hope the basic theory works , Ive got 30 litres in a sterile dustbinn in my shed. No sign of fermentation yet but apparently the yeast doubles every day so it should not be long, been 2 days so far.How can you tell if working though?
hello. I’ve got mine in bottles, so far so good, but cloudy (or murky) should it be. Its a bit cloudy and yellow now, will that clear up?
In answer to some, the tiny sachets of yeast used for bread making (only one) will work great. Just mix with a tiny bit of warm water first and mix in well, get your hands in there!! This will work even if added a couple or four days into brewing the elderflower champagne in the bucket and if there is a little mould. The plastic 2 litre water bottles are superb and really only need released slightly after a few days. If you like a sweeter drink then obviously increase your sugar by half again. Happy consumption!!
Jason,The drink will stay cloudy like a lemonade of that name perfectly good to go!
I followed the Hugh F W receipe and it stared fermenting, but as I got round to bottling it, I racked it off in to a demijohn and it looked quite flat. So I added a small amount of yeast and now its fermenting again. What should I do ? Not sure that was a good idea in retrospect OR if I should bottle it right now ! ?
have made my first batch of elderflower champagne following the river cottage recipe, have used several different types of bottles to bottle up including plastic pop bottles, grolsch bottles and screw top wine bottles i found it necessary to release the pressure every few days and have found the end product to be a bit sweet especially in the plastic bottles have subsequently made 2 more batches with a lower sugar content – will this work and is the fact that I am releasing the gas every now and then spoiling the end product
10
Made loads of Elder Champagne for the first time two weeks ago – tried to buy fancy champagne corks and wire cages, but no luck. Had fun designing posh bottle labels complete with photo of the garden though- but not my neighbour’s where I did help myself to a few more flowers. Hugh did say collect a mix of flowers didn’t he? Hope it’s alcoholic…
Brilliant info. Was searching for spring top bottles on the net for home made elderflower champagne as featured in River Cottage Spring. Have made this myself using screw top bottles in the past but thought would try different bottles. Thanks for the article – have saved myself money and the risk of exploding bottles!
Try using sound champagne bottles. Use proper wired down corks. Make your own labels. Monitor progress using a Stopper type beer bottle or a wine bottle with a partially inserted flanged corked which will ‘blow’ when champs is ready ready.Wear ear defenders, a yellow hard hat and protective glasses.Take care.
I wish I’d seen this info a week ago! I have now had two bottles expolde, the latest being last night at 3.15am!! So this morning before work my partner spent an hour cleaning up, then releasing the the pressure from the remaining swing top bottles and having an elderflower champagne shower in the process!! This is the first time we’ve made it so weren’t expecting such an expolsive time!! Can’t wait to drink it though – cheers!
Help please. We have made the elderflower champagne, everything went well. Strained it into water bottles, which keep going really hard so have let a bit of gas out. Started to drink a bottle after 2 weeks and first glass was really nice and refreshing, second glass was slimy on the top like slug slime so not very pleasant. Does it need straining again and re- bottling? Any other suggestions please. Thanks, Sue
Hi, after making my elderflower champagne and straining into plastic bottles, we have opened the first bottle and the frist glass was delicious, but when we topped it up, there was slime floating on the top, like slug slime, and not too nice! Any ideas – do we need to re-strain and bottle again? the bottles keep getting very tight and hard and we have released some gas from each. Hope someone can help. Thanks, Sue
I have 10 litres of elderflower champagne nicely fermenting, made one month ago. I used old cola bottles and none have exploded so far. I can see some bubbles but there is also a very small amount of visible mould on the top of the the liquid in a few bottles. Will this still be drinkable without causing stomach upsets or worse?
Great to see that so many people out there are getting into the joys of elderflower champagne! I’ve been making it for a few years now (well before Hugh made it fashionable), and there’s one tip I’m always careful to follow: you should collect the flowers on a sunny day, preferably in the afternoon. Supposedly, this means a higher yeast content and hence no problems with the fermentation.
I too have elderflower champagne fermenting in garage and have noticed slime/mould on top can it still be drunk
Hi,
I made Elderflower Champagne according to River Cottage Bloke’s Recipe only I added a few handfulls of wild rose petals as well.
I only left it to ferment in a bucket for 2 days and there was only a little foam when I bottled it a month ago. Now its all cloudy and full of pale yellow gunk sitting at the bottom and floating around in clumps and tiny cob-web strands.
I opened a bottle and it was really fizzy.
I sniffed it and it smelled wonderful.
I dipped my finger into it and it seamed OK.
I took a sip and it tastes great.
The yellow stuff could be yeast, is it safe to drink?
thanks.
Ewan – I can only assume you were of sound mind and health when you left the above comment in which you enquire as to the safety of your elderflower champagne – try chiilling it which will stabilised the yeasty sediment and decant into a glass of jug in one go to limit the disturbance of the yellow gunk.
Finally if the colour only is off putting use those picnic coloured plastic tumblers.
Did the rose petals add any discernable flavour?
Drink on!
Thank you Pasty Muncher.
I did as you suggested and all the murkyness and foost set into a mass at the bottom. I then poured it into another bottle and I’m drinking it now.
It is fantastic and I can definitely smell/taste the wild roses, especially when I breathe out, my whole head fills with the aroma. I put in a fair amount of petals.
I shall return to the same clump of roses shortly as I notice that the hips are now approaching ripeness (early?). When they are ready I will have a bash at rose hip cordial. If you can put me on to a recipe I’ll let you know how it goes.
One last thing, How much alcohol do you think is in the champagne I made, % wise?
I almost never drink and after a large tumbler I’m beginning to feel a little woozy.
Cheers.
Just thought I should mention, for all the lumps and whispy bits have sunk to the bottom and are now thrown down the sink, the champagne is still far from clear. Its still sort of pale yellow and murkey, though you can just aboyt see through a glass of it. I guess that the rose petals will have affected the colour a bit…
I first tasted this way back in the early seventies when my grandfather made it for me. Since then on good summers it’s been made by my mam and now me.
Everyone who has tasted it have fallen in love with it.
have a go and enjoy
elderflower champagne eh? Sounds very interesting. I love making drinks for myself at home – I’ve had a lot of experience in making home made beer but this is certainly new to me. Think I may have to give it a try though.
Wow , that’s so cool , I never knew you can make champagne that way.
The problem is I don’t thinks elderflowers grow in this part of the world, bummer
Dino Delellis
My two cents’ worth….
Shred/shake/snip the petals from the stems of your elderflowers.
For one gallon (five litres), half a pint of flowers, two pounds of gran. sugar, boiled up in three or four pints of water & poured over the flowers. Make up to a little less than a gallon with boiled water. When cool, add juice of two lemons & your champagne yeast (or at least a wine yeast), & a little yeast nutrient. Stir two or three times a day until fizzing. Strain into a clean demijohn, fit airlock & be patient!
When it starts to clear (around 3-4 weeks) but is still a little cloudy, siphon off the yeast, & add an ounce or two of sugar. (It’s good to test if it is dry first, using a ‘clinitest’ kit, so’s you don’t add too much sugar & have exploding bottles!). Bottle in clean champagne bottles, stopper with plastic champagne ‘corks’ & wire them down. Should be ready to drink in a month or so, & will be fantastic!
Very important to sterilise all equipment (but rinse out any sterilising solution with boiled water) – otherwise slimy mould deposits or elderflower vinegar may result. Add a litre of grape juice per gallon (allow for this at the bucket stage, add at the demijohn stage) for more body if you like.
Just hope there’s a home-brew shop near you all (rare things these days) else it’s an on-line order.
I’ve never bought a demijohn or a champagne bottle in thirty-odd years of winemaking, – (skips and wine bars provide plenty of empties), though demijohns are probably getting harder to find. Check out charity shops, car boots & jumble sales.
For more recipes check out http://www.geocities.com/lumeisenman/
Roll on April……
Dave
can’t wait to see some elderflowers bring on the champers
For true elderflower champers don’t add yeast. It should ferment using the natural yeasts in the flowers. This is a delicate yeast and will only give you 3 or 4 % alcohol. To give the yeast a better chance don’t use boiling water on the flower heads and allow your bulk water to stand for a few hours or better still days to allow the chlorine to evaporate off. If after a few days there is still no obvious fermentation going on add a further flower head.
use only cane sugar, best use unrefined, it gives a better taste
I made this a few years ago; it’s a lovely drink and goes very well with gin! I didn’t realise there was any alcohol created. I agree that glass bottles and plastic stoppers don’t work – mine kept popping too. The only advantage with glass is that you can sterilise them in a dishwasher so the champagne doesn’t get mouldy. The elderflower cordial was too sweet; I wasn’t too keen on it as a drink, but nice over ice-cream.
I’m from the Belvoir Vale where elderflower cordial is made as a business – check out their cordial, it’s delicious and English Elderflower Presse, too.
So much great advice here. I’ve made my own cordial quite a few times with great results – and no concerns over explosions, fermenting, use of goggles and hard hats. If making the champagne variety is too much work for anyone, make the cordial! It’s concentrated, and when mixed with sparkling water is heaven in a glass! Although the cordial isn’t alcoholic, as Hugh F-W says, the champagne is never particularly strong anyway.
My two top tips:
>Never add hot water to grated zest like I once did (results in a marmalade taste)
>Use elderflower champagne/fizzy cordial with Pimms. It’s THE ultimate summer drink.
Can’t wait to give elderflower champagne a go this summer, time to go out and buy recommended hard hat, goggles and a high-vis jacket.
A variation that I tried a few times was to combine elderflower blossom with gooseberries, fermented on a mixture of honey and sugar. I truly delicious summer wine, but do not use too much elderflower or it wll overpower the wine.
I called it Gooseberry Melomel as it is loosely based on an old Elizabethan recipe
Having read all of the comments, and seen the Hugh guy on river cottage, The greatest difficulty I foresee with regard to elderflower champagne is …..getting the other half off of the sofa! I bet he won’t mind drinking it tho!
When you add your sugar to any home brew it is important not to add all the sugar at once. Start the brew off with a small amount of sugar and after a while test for sweetness by tasting. If the brew is sweet there is still sugar left so dont add any more. If the brew is dry then the yeast has “eaten ” all the sugar and its time to add some more. Towards the end add the sugar in tiny ammounts to see if the yeast will still take more – if it will it starts working again when you add a little sugar – if the yeast has taken all the sugar it can nothing happens when you add more sugar. By controlling the sugar like this you can control the sweetness or dryness of your finished brew. Cheers!
there is so much info on this site, its fantastic, going to give it a good bash this year, can anyone tell me,…is it better to use no stalks at all?, and all the Quantities are a bit random would it be better to weigh the flowers? , is the half a pint recomendation half a pint loose or compressed?, or is it all trial and error?, very good info though, sorry if i sound a tad aynul (editor edit) happy fermenting!!
Hi Sam thanks for the comments.
Re Elderflower – yes loose quantities are the ticket – elderflowers imaprt a strong flavour so only half a doxen or so are needed.
For the champagne trim off the big thicker stalk bits but dont waste ages on this.
I cant see the half a pint reference you ask about?
I was interested to see you say on another post about looking after flowers that you are in the flower industy and take on board your tip – I’ll slip that in the main body somewhere.
Would you like to write a guest article about flowers? – Anything you like!
please let me know and good luck with the champers – use PLASTIC bottles
Cheers
PM
Hi,
Can I just check that its definitely COLD water that you add the sugar to? I can’t see how sugar will disolve into cold water? other recipies I’ve seen you add the sugar to hot water then top up with cold water.
I’m no expert at all on this, and really want to use your recipe as I like the simplicity of it compared to others (sugar quantities/glass bottles/number of days fermenting etc etc) but i’m left slightly confused after looking at so many different methods!
If you could clarify, I can then crack on with making it this weekend. Thanks in advance.
Yes cold water – dont scald the flowers! – the sugar will disolve during the process – just follow the instructions and have faith – you’ll make a great elderflower champagne – NB USE PLASTIC BOTTLES
I’ve made elderflower champagne for several years, and I am baffled by recipes that say you can or should let the champagne age for 2 months to a year before drinking.
My experience is that elderflower champagne begins to taste like finger-nail polish remover after one month–and should therefore be drunk within two to four weeks after bottling.
I understand that what’s going on is the alcohol and vinegar are reacting to form ethyl acetate. I understand this can be stopped/prevented by adding Campden–though, obviously, not at bottling time, since Campden would prevent fermentation.
So this year I’m going to add Campden about three weeks after bottling–just at the point where the drink is fizzy and tasty, and hasn’t started rolling downhill.
Any thoughts on this idea?
Am I having problems because summers are a bit hot here in the US?
Why is no one else having the ethyl acetate problem?
Sharon
Wouldn’t adding campden mean opening the bottles – letting all the fizz out and exposing the elderflower champagne to airbourn nasties that will spoil the drink? First rule of brewing – once bottled only open to quaff.
In my experience (and as I say in my method) its ready to drink after a week or so and because its so wonderful it is unlikey there’s any left two months down the line.
Why not try this elderflower cordial recipe. This makes a concentrated elderflower cordial that stores well – you can freeze it – and mixes with fizzy water to make a very simialr drink to elderflower champagne. Cheers!
Hope it all works out.
So many helpful comments about Elderflower Chapagne! I am about to make this year’s batch (as soon as the sun comes out). Last year I added yeast and spent hours clearing up broken glass from 9 exploding glass bottles (also one had one very scared cat) – so no yeast this year. I’ll be using plastic bottles and adding a another flower if it doesn’t ferment.
this is my first year of making champagne and i have no idea what is going to happen. I have been asked to make it for a friends wedding mid August, if I do it in the next week or 2 will it be ok at that point? Shall I keep it chilled?
Also bottles I have bought a load from ikea which have the stopper tops. for £1.99 each
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/50108908
@Passion – Comment 69!
Crikey £1.99 for an empty bottle!
I suppose should they survive they will add a nice touch to the occassion. I just fear they too risk exploding. Please reconsider – get a refund and use plastic bottles.
Elderflower champagne is best drunk fairly quickly after making it – it might be ok for August – store in the coolest place you can and have a contingency plan. Test a bottle a couple of days before the wedding to make sure it’s palatable.
You could make a batch of elderflower cordial and add this to normal champagne or fizzy wine – hmm might try this tonight actually.
I hope all goes well. Send in photos of the happy couple and their elderflower champagne toast.
cheers!
Hi – i made a high alcohol content elderflower champagne (12%) by making wine first then adding sugar and yeast when racking into champagne bottles (i used plastic corks and wire cages). the result was very good, a dry wine with a balanced nose. only problem was when opening the first bottle (outside!) the cork flew out with such velocity that it went right over the house!…and covered me head to toe in fizzing wine.
got another batch on the go at the moment, been picking flowers today. making 12 bottles of the wine described above plus 5 litres of cordial.
goodluck to everyone – it’s a grand drink on a summer’s day!
We got married 16 may and used a traditional french sparkling white and added elderflower cordial (like a kiaroyale?) we made the eldercordial last year and froze it for this year. worked really well. Ive just bottled 10 lts of elderchamps, when in France I got 20 flip top glass traditional french lemonade bottles, the glass looks really thick but reading this I think I will still cover them in an old duvet…..
Pastymuncher–I have found that elderflower champagne will keep if refrigerated. I guess I could make room in the fridge for a few bottles….
The thing that baffles me is, so many recipes say NOT to drink it for two months.
I will be trying the rose petals in my next batch–and I also want to try Roger Coasby’s gooseberry melomel, and Dave Draper’s version of elderflower champagne.
The elderflowers are just beginning to bloom here.
I made elderflower cordial last year. A wonderful summer beverage!
Hi, firstly thanks for posting the recipe!
I got it brewing on Friday last week, but after advice from an uncle left it to ferment in a fermentation tub. By Sunday there was no sign of fermentation so I popped to my local brew shop, explained what I was doing and he advised me to use a sachet of champagne yeast. Having done a little research now i’m wondering if I maybe should have gone for a lower strength yeast as I understand the champers is going to give a higher alcohol content, oh well!
Also, i’m wondering if its possible to use coffee filter paper to strain the brew when I bottle it? Does anyone know if this will be detrimental at all?
I made a batch last year, first attempt and it turned out really well – very tasty and quite alcoholic! I had added a pinch of bread yeast after a few days as nothing much was happening.
This year, not so good. Attempted a double batch and it went mouldy. Made a second batch, last chance as the elderflowers were nearly gone. This time I only left it a couple of days before bottling and I don’t think there is enough ‘fizz’. Do you think I could mix a pinch of yeast in water and add a drop to the bottles? They are out in the shed for safety!
PS I found glass bottles with metal lids (a green bottle cordial) work well as the lids don’t seal too tightly and release the gas a little.
Hi, I made a large batch of champers using your recipe 5 days ago. I left it for 24 hrs as you advise then decanted into plastic bottles. There doesn’t seem to be anything happening except growing some mould. Is there any hope for it or should I start again?
@ Jen 76 –
Hi – its probably not mould – just natural ’scum’ leave for another week or so the bottles will become turgid which means the fizz has begun.
But why not make another batch or try making the cordial – see links above – in the meantime?
Thanks pasty muncher, will make another batch. Have made some elderflower cordial which is gorgeous, difinately be making that again. Cheers
Is it true that elderflower champagne can be kept for over a year if we keep it in cool place and that drinking it turns men into gods? Maybe you elderflower drinkers should ask a docker
wow I have fizz I’m so chuffed, tasted it and am really pleased. Just need the sun to shine next sunday for a family bbq then I’ll crack it open for all to enjoy. Thanks pasty muncher x
made elderflower champagne last saturday & no fermenting happened so added yeast, bubbled a bit & started looking a bit mouldy on top so strained it & bottled it on friday, was quite thick when we bottled it & now looks a bit yucky on top & cloudy, smells lovely still but also not very fizzy. Should we throw it away ?? Would like to try again but dont know where we went wrong, any help would be good as we have not made it before.
great site
I made champagne 2 weeks ago and in dread of bottles bursting only filled 4/5ths full and have released gas build up once or twice. My batch seems to have thunder flies in it which have now sunk to bottom of bottles. I have tasted the clearest looking and it certainly tastes lush, however when pouring it is not like water but is a like watery mucous – is this how it should be? Is there any risk of legionella?
I’m very confused as to whether to bottle and drink, sooner or later. All the web recipes have differing advice on timing, and almost all conflict with the advice given in wine making books.
I have steeped the flowers for a week and racked off into a demijohn with cotton wool in the top for two days now. It is very yellow and cloudy and fizzy. The web recipes say bottle and drink, in which case I would be drinking a still fermenting brew. Wouldn’t that give you a tummyache? BUT the wine books say ferment till it has finished bubbling, then rack off twice leaving three weeks between, in order to clear the brew, then they say bottle it with a measured sugar amount to let it ferment again in the bottle but preventing burst bottles because it is a measured dose.
Which is right? I’ve never done it before.
How should the mixture look after a few days?
I made it last year – here are my top tips
- pick elderflowers on a sunny day in the morning when they are most fragrant
- use organic vinegar if possible as others contain perservatives that may inhibit fermentation, i found some cider vinegar in morrisons that i use.
- use boiling water to disolve the suger but then let the mixture cool before adding the elderflowers as you don’t want to kill the wild yeast in the flowers.
- steep for 24 hours then bottle
- use 2ltr or 1ltr plastic bottles that previously contained fizzy drinks – these can withstand a lot of pressure and you can tell by looking at them if they are at risk of blowing up. None of mine did and I didn’t release the pressure at all.
- it’s best to leave for 4-6 weeks after bottling before drinking
- don’t worry about strange floating sediment in the bottles, you are brewing with a wild yeast so this is to be expected, you can strain this out when pouring using a tea strainer
- I left a bottle for about 10 months and it was fine in fact tasted a bit drier and less sweet.
Quite a few people have mentioned mould on the top when fermenting in the bucket. Is it ok to drink or do I have to throw it away and start again?
Vixx – it is unlikely to be mould in the bad sense – just a residue from the natural fermentation process – pour carefully and skim off and I’m sure the champers will be tip top
How do I know it has fermented properly?? Is it supposed to be fizzy when you bottle it up?!
Re: number of heads used, you say 6 for 10 litres, HFW says 15 for 6 litres. This is a big difference and personally I would be tempted to put even more in than HFW recommends. Has anyone tried both and say how the two compared?
Have just bottled my second attemp at the elderflower. sampled a bit of it & tastes vinegary….will that go after has been bottled or was my white wine vinegar a bit off?????
thanks for help
Just got home from hols to check on my first batch of elderflower champagne only to find the remains of an exploded plastic tango bottle in the garage
. I am so glad that I moved it out of the kitchen – utter carnage! Found this site while trying to find some bottles online that would be up to the challenge!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2654/3753977261_7d1716c976_b_d.jpg
Tuesday of this week removed bottle full of Elderflower champagne from my kitchen cupboard . Attempted to let some of the gas escape ….bottle exploded in my hand causing great pain extensive cuts to my hand and arm possible broken finger days on still cant use it
I for one will not be making any more Elderflower champagne