Banksy
Active Member
Hi folks! We have loads of elders about to burst into flower. I've scrolled through the receipts and can't find one. Any suggestions? Thank you.
Elderflower wine/champers
- Thread starter Banksy
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RobWalker
Well-Known Member
WOW with 2L grape total instead of orange juice, 10 elderflower heads? i'll brew something similar, but ours are late 
Tim_Crowhurst
Landlord.
RobWalker said:WOW with 2L grape total instead of orange juice, 10 elderflower heads? i'll brew something similar, but ours are late
I'd add the juice and de-pithed rind of a couple of lemons. The flavour works well with elderflower, and you'll need the acid.
Curryholic
Active Member
I've got one in a home brew book the is 4 heads, 1lb sugar, juice and rind of a lemon and then 4.5l water. But I've also seen similar volume recipes with 20 heads???
Wouldn't mind one as the house we've just moved into has a small tree
Wouldn't mind one as the house we've just moved into has a small tree
Tim_Crowhurst
Landlord.
The number of heads you use is the main thing that determines the strength of the flavour you get, i.e. 20 heads will produce a much stronger flavour than 4.
The amount of sugar used is almost as important though, as the initial fermentation will drive off many flavour compounds. This means that for higher ABV wine/champagne you need more flowers to get the same strength of flavour. The amount of sugar used in various recipes for elderflower champagne can vary quite a lot (I've seen it as high at 2.5Lbs/gallon) which means the length and strength of the initial fermentation also varies widely, and therefore the amount of flowers used needs to be adjusted accordingly. A recipe for 4 heads could easily have more elderflower flavour than one for 8 heads, depending on the amount of sugar used.
If you're doing a wine/champagne with an end ABV of 12% or more you do have one alternative which lets you stretch the flowers quite a lot further. Instead of adding them right at the start, you wait until the alcohol level has reached ~10% - usually about 5 days, or a drop of ~075 on the hydrometer. You then use half the amount of flowers you would normally. That way you avoid the destructive initial fermentation, and the higher level of alcohol will draw out the flavour compounds more effectively than the sugar-water you started with.
The amount of sugar used is almost as important though, as the initial fermentation will drive off many flavour compounds. This means that for higher ABV wine/champagne you need more flowers to get the same strength of flavour. The amount of sugar used in various recipes for elderflower champagne can vary quite a lot (I've seen it as high at 2.5Lbs/gallon) which means the length and strength of the initial fermentation also varies widely, and therefore the amount of flowers used needs to be adjusted accordingly. A recipe for 4 heads could easily have more elderflower flavour than one for 8 heads, depending on the amount of sugar used.
If you're doing a wine/champagne with an end ABV of 12% or more you do have one alternative which lets you stretch the flowers quite a lot further. Instead of adding them right at the start, you wait until the alcohol level has reached ~10% - usually about 5 days, or a drop of ~075 on the hydrometer. You then use half the amount of flowers you would normally. That way you avoid the destructive initial fermentation, and the higher level of alcohol will draw out the flavour compounds more effectively than the sugar-water you started with.
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