Lager beer elderflower hybrid

[Twostage]

I wanted to do a beer that used elderflowers as we have them in abundance here. As a last minute whim decided to do 50:50 of Maris otter and pilsner malt. Is there a name for this mix ?

Used the flowers as a last minute boil addition but I'm not sure the aroma will come through so I might 'dry elderflower' towards the end of fermentation.

Used some slurry from the last esb so this yeast is now onto its 4th brew.

Very handy hint for the BIABers who (like me) squeeze the bag to get the last drop of fermentable out - wear wool gloves under your marigolds, you can squeeze 80 degree grain and your hands never get above warm

 

[Slid]

I wanted to do a beer that used elderflowers as we have them in abundance here. As a last minute whim decided to do 50:50 of Maris otter and pilsner malt. Is there a name for this mix ?

Used the flowers as a last minute boil addition but I'm not sure the aroma will come through so I might 'dry elderflower' towards the end of fermentation.

Used some slurry from the last esb so this yeast is now onto its 4th brew.

Very handy hint for the BIABers who (like me) squeeze the bag to get the last drop of fermentable out - wear wool gloves under your marigolds, you can squeeze 80 degree grain and your hands never get above warm

Not sure there is much difference between the base malts, unless you have some colour preferences that go beyond most of us.

A lot of us on here have the Greg Hughes book on home brewing, mainly because it cost £3 on Amazon at the time. In this erudite tome, the recipe for Elderflower Ale suggests adding dried elderflowers @ 15mins, so I doubt you have messed up badly.

I'm not sure that elderflowers have an aroma that might actually benefit from a "dry" addition, TBH. There is a lot of "cat wee" in there.

 

[Twostage]

Yes, my missus is worried about the smell too. Might just use it on one of the fermenters ( it's split into two 5 litre water bottles).

The bushes smell nice to me though.

 

[Slid]

I'm doing a beer with an Elderflower addition myself.

It's a Wherry plus a 2L cordial made by boiling up 120g wet weight flower petals with 650g sugar. Total volume 27L.

Curious to see how it turns out.

 

[Tony1951]

I'll be interested in how these elderflower additions turn out as I have a huge elderberry tree at the bottom of the garden behind my brew shed. It has grown to about 17 feet high and was completely laden with scented flowers a couple of weeks ago. I thought about picking some and trying them, but then read some where that they would be laden with wild yeasts and backed off from the idea. I had thought about dry hopping with them and wild yeasts would be a problem, but you guys are talking about boiling them as late additions so that would be a different matter.

 

[Twostage]

I'll be interested in how these elderflower additions turn out as I have a huge elderberry tree at the bottom of the garden behind my brew shed. It has grown to about 17 feet high and was completely laden with scented flowers a couple of weeks ago. I thought about picking some and trying them, but then read some where that they would be laden with wild yeasts and backed off from the idea. I had thought about dry hopping with them and wild yeasts would be a problem, but you guys are talking about boiling them as late additions so that would be a different matter.

Yes, I'm worried about dry 'hopping' and introducing something nasty. I also think that 'sterilising' the flowers will remove the scent. Plus my fourth generation yeast is like Usain Bolt and has just about stopped and so I need to decide quickly what to do.

So I think quick rinse to get rid of insects and then stick it in one of the FVs.

I'll report back.

 

[HebridesRob]

Find a recipe for elderflower wine. Should give you a clue about how to proceed. Too late to say that now I suppose.

 

[lagerfeld]

Most interested to hear how these work out.

I too have just bottled a Lager to which I added some Elderflower cordial my wife had just made. The cordial/syrup was a recipe with lemons and oranges and sugar of course and I added 750ml.

The colour of the lager was a bit orange which surprised me (the cordial was clear) so I wonder if temperatures have messed things up - I struggled to maintain 21 degrees, getting 23 on average I think.

 

[Twostage]

Did some googling tonight. Everyone seems to use the flowers as a late boil addition which I've already done so I dont think I'll dry 'hop' .

So it's cold crash time tomorrow. The slurry will be used for a Deuchars IPA clone from the Graham Wheelers book this weekend hopefully.

 

[Motorhomebrew]

id love to know how this tastes when finished

 

[Twostage]

id love to know how this tastes when finished

It will be a couple of weeks before I'm tasting so it might be worth you freezing some flowers in case it turns out fantastic :smile:

 

[Tony1951]

It will be a couple of weeks before I'm tasting so it might be worth you freezing some flowers in case it turns out fantastic :smile:

If it works out, I'll be up my elderberry tree like a monkey next June / July. I had a great crop of flowers this year, but I just left them and they are turning into berries now. :hmm:

 

[clibit]

Good decision not to dry hop I think.

 

[Tony1951]

Good decision not to dry hop I think.

Most likely, the flowers are loaded with wild yeasts. Not a great addition methinks....

 

[clibit]

I believe a little goes a long way too, so the boil addition should suffice.

 

[Motorhomebrew]

how much elderflower is the right amount for 23 litres?

 

[clibit]

Dunno for sure, never used them. Recipes seem to use a wide range, from 0.5g per litre to 5g per litre ish. Often added 5 mins before end of boil, or at flame out. Apparently pair brilliantly with First Gold hops.

 

[Motorhomebrew]

im due to do a blushing blonde lager with raspberry. I wounder if some elderflower would compliment the raspberry. any thoughts?

 

[Motorhomebrew]

It will be a couple of weeks before I'm tasting so it might be worth you freezing some flowers in case it turns out fantastic :smile:

fancie sending a bottle my way??? id love to try it

 

[clibit]

There's only one way to find out!

Actually, there isn't. You could try adding strawberries to an elderflower cordial! Like a smoothie kind of thing.