Elderflower Wine - 85 Year Old Recipe

[BerkshireBadger]

As I can see five elder trees in flower from my front door it seems wrong not to make a batch - so I've just started one today following a recipe my Grandad wrote in 1938...

1 pint elderflowers - picked off all but the thinnest stems
1 gallon water
3.5 lbs white sugar (one of his elderberry wine recipes uses dark muscovado sugar - I'll have to try that this autumn!)
8 ozs finely chopped raisins
Sliced lemons (I'm using 3)
yeast (I'm using a Gervin universal that was sat in the cupboard)

Put the flowers and water in a pot and bring to the boil - simmer for quarter of an hour.
Put sugar, raisins and lemons into a bucket and pour the elderflowers and water over the top.
Stir to dissolve the sugar.
Leave to cool and add the yeast.
Strain into a jar and stopper.
Let settle for a few days then bottle.

In a note he's added it took a fortnight to ferment and a few months before it was drinkable.

I'm at the stage where I'm waiting for it to cool down - the only changes I'm making to the recipe is that I'm going to add a teaspoon of pectolase and a teaspoon of yeast nutrient and I'll probably rack it into a demijohn in a week's time to let it have a secondary fermentation in there.

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[LeithR]

Hi there,
I notice there is no mention of airlocks and fermentation times etc... I think in those days they just laid a damp cloth over the mouth of the bottle or whatever they were fermenting in and kept it damp until they couldn't see any more activity. I seem to recall this is how my dad did it back in the 50's.

 

[BerkshireBadger]

The fermentation isn't even mentioned in the recipe - only in a footnote. I remember my Grandad using a damp tea-towel draped over the fermenting bucket to keep stuff out of some of his wines (mostly white wines as I recall) - he said that it gave them a smoother flavour than using demijohns and airlocks! :hmm:

Personally I'm happier getting things into glass as quickly as possible...

 

[BerkshireBadger]

It's finally cooled down enough to add the yeast. According to the hydrometer it's starting sg is 1.112 - that's higher than my sprout wine got! :shock:

 

[Duncs]

I'd guess that 85 years ago, the sugar wasn't as refined as it is now, so not as fermentable. I would have reduced the sugar to compensate.

 

[Tim_Crowhurst]

I'd guess that 85 years ago, the sugar wasn't as refined as it is now, so not as fermentable. I would have reduced the sugar to compensate.

Refined white sugar has been around for around a millennium, if not longer. Cane has been farmed for around 8,000 years, and the process of extracting the juice and turning it into crystals was first developed in India in around the 4th century. The word "sugar" comes from the Sanskrit for gravel, "sharkara". The development of colonial-style plantations was a key part of the Arab agricultural revolution (8th c. onwards) and as experts in refining the Arabs definitely had the technology to create white sugar as we know it today. Crusaders who took Arab caravans often found they were carrying "sweet salt" - refined white sugar.

 

[Moley]

It's finally cooled down enough to add the yeast. According to the hydrometer it's starting sg is 1.112 - that's higher than my sprout wine got! :shock:

If you follow the recipe and ADD a gallon of water, rather than working TO a gallon, then you will have around 10 pints of must due to ‘sugar bulking’ of half a pint per pound.

So, 3.5 lbs sugar = 1590g
8 oz raisins will give you another 160g sugar
10 pints = 5.7 litres
1590 + 160 = 1750g sugar ÷ 5.7 = 307g/l

Ignore everything I've just written, that still gives you 1.110

 

[Duncs]

I'd guess that 85 years ago, the sugar wasn't as refined as it is now, so not as fermentable. I would have reduced the sugar to compensate.

Refined white sugar has been around for around a millennium, if not longer. Cane has been farmed for around 8,000 years, and the process of extracting the juice and turning it into crystals was first developed in India in around the 4th century. The word "sugar" comes from the Sanskrit for gravel, "sharkara". The development of colonial-style plantations was a key part of the Arab agricultural revolution (8th c. onwards) and as experts in refining the Arabs definitely had the technology to create white sugar as we know it today. Crusaders who took Arab caravans often found they were carrying "sweet salt" - refined white sugar.

I was thinking more along the lines of the quality of sugar, yes it's been around for a very long time, but the quality and fermentability (is that a word?) would have improved in that time, wouldn't it? For example, would the dextran levels in the sugar cane been measurable? As this makes for lower quality sugar (or so I've read).

 

[BerkshireBadger]

It's finally cooled down enough to add the yeast. According to the hydrometer it's starting sg is 1.112 - that's higher than my sprout wine got! :shock:

If you follow the recipe and ADD a gallon of water, rather than working TO a gallon, then you will have around 10 pints of must due to ‘sugar bulking’ of half a pint per pound.

So, 3.5 lbs sugar = 1590g
8 oz raisins will give you another 160g sugar
10 pints = 5.7 litres
1590 + 160 = 1750g sugar ÷ 5.7 = 307g/l

Ignore everything I've just written, that still gives you 1.110

Yep - that's how I made it - I even used both my hydrometers just to be sure of the high sg!

I wish I'd used champagne yeast now - I can see this yeast dying of alcohol poisoning while it's still ridiculously sweet! :nah:

 

[Moley]

I wish I'd used champagne yeast now - I can see this yeast dying of alcohol poisoning while it's still ridiculously sweet!

TBH I've never used the Gervin Universal before, so I can't say how it will perform. I hope it's ok because I did buy 10 sachets in Wilko's half price sale and the first one went into a brew yesterday morning.

However, you've got a potential alcohol level of around 16% there, and most general purpose wine yeasts should be able to handle that. It's a bit high for an elderflower though.

 

[BerkshireBadger]

Real-life got in the way of racking the wine after a week so I finally did it today. SG has dropped to 0.988 and it was still bubbling in the bucket before I racked it! From the calculator on here it's now at 16.4% - using another calculator that corrects for higher abv wines it's at 17.7%! :drunk:

It tastes a bit tart but should mellow with time - a lot of time...

:

p.s. to Moley - I'd say the Gervin Universal works fine! :thumb:

 

[Atlantis01]

HI guys, a quick question about the amount of elderflower to be used.

i followed a recipe for a pint of flowers per gallon, is that pushed down into the pint glass so its full or just sitting in it , as its probably a difference of 20 heads per gallon or 5 heads per gallon.

i ask as ive just opened a bottle and its so fricking strong it taste of pollen! basically what im asking is what WEIGHT should be used? the arbitrary volume measurements seem to have ****** me over.


on another note, any way to water it down to make it taste better or should i just bin it?

 

[Tim_Crowhurst]

The volume measure is for fresh elderflowers that have been "shaken down" - i.e. you put the flowers into the pint measure and shake it so they settle, then add more, until you have a pint of elderflowers.

Elderflowers shrink as they dry, so 1pt of dried flowers is more than 1pt of fresh. If you used dried flowers, that may explain why the flavour is stronger than expected.

All is not lost, however: elderflower wine makes a really nice summer spritzer with either carbonated mineral water and a slice of lemon/lime (dry) or lemonade (sweet). The strong flavour of the elderflower may even be an advantage in this case!

 

[rosie]

I have a load of Elder flowers in the early summer, Elder flower and Gooseberry Jam is the nicest jam in the whole world/universe. So I think I am going to make some Elder flower and Gooseberry wine this year, I pick the flowers at the earliest blossoming, place them in a supermarket bag and freeze, when frozen- the flowers leave the stalks easily, sometimes the gooseberries are ready at the same time, with the flowers frozen it is no problem to wait for the Gooseberries.

 

[Sly Fox]

I used to make elderflower to a recipe similar to that - massive elderflower hit when it's young, and it often had a nailvarnish remover edge to it because of the high alcohol content - I expect that was the yeast getting really hammered and making a hash of the last stages of fermentation... Anyway, a couple of years in the bottle mellowed it, and I have some nearly 10 years old that are delicious now. All the other flower wines I made lost their taste after a few years, so don't throw it away, this one's a keeper.

Also, I understand that the Gervin Universal that they sell at Wilcos is none other than the EC-1118 champagne yeast, which would be consistent with the high alcohol content you got.

 

[jamesglast]

I'm sat in my front room, cold beer in front of me while i pick of the flowers to make my first Elderflower wine tomorrow.

has anyone tried this recipe? how did it turn out?