BrewRat
New Member
I an new to the forum and just wanted to say hi and introduce myself. I'm from the Midlands (Worcs) and am new to the homebrew scene. My dear late mother used to brew anything she could get her hands on from the fields and hedgerows around our house. She was an excellent brewer although her red wines made from elderberry, damson & blackberry were extremely dry and used to make me grimace when i sipped them which wasn't often! I loved her elderflower champagne and recall exploding bottles in the upstairs cupboard!
I was inspired to take up homebrewing myself and started with elderflower champagne. The first year it was a great success and people said I could have sold it but the last two years have been not so successful and this year I poured the whole lot down the sink! I'm not sure what went wrong. It cleared to a lovely colour but tasted too acidic. I never use Campden tablets but use a pinch of yeast and more sugar than it says in the recipes (I amalgamated two this time). I think I may have used too many lemons and left it in the fermenting bin too long before demi'ing. I've found it such a hit and miss process.
This year i also made a rhubarb & ginger and this is a beautiful light pink in colour. It's still fermenting slowly in its demi.
Anyway, it's great to be part of this community. If anyone has any helpful hints, i would love to hear about others' experiences!
Thank you.
Sue
I was inspired to take up homebrewing myself and started with elderflower champagne. The first year it was a great success and people said I could have sold it but the last two years have been not so successful and this year I poured the whole lot down the sink! I'm not sure what went wrong. It cleared to a lovely colour but tasted too acidic. I never use Campden tablets but use a pinch of yeast and more sugar than it says in the recipes (I amalgamated two this time). I think I may have used too many lemons and left it in the fermenting bin too long before demi'ing. I've found it such a hit and miss process.
This year i also made a rhubarb & ginger and this is a beautiful light pink in colour. It's still fermenting slowly in its demi.
Anyway, it's great to be part of this community. If anyone has any helpful hints, i would love to hear about others' experiences!
Thank you.
Sue
