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Original poster

Has anyone made Elderflower champagne and have you got any tips for me?

43 replies

fizzpops · 03/06/2009 09:27

We want to try this at the weekend but the recipes I have found vary in advice and quantities.

Any tried and tested recipes?
How is it best stored when fermenting?
What did you decant it into - glass or plastic?

OP posts:
notamumyetbutoneday · 03/06/2009 12:57

just seen a thread on 'chat' about someone saying they had just made elderflower chamapagne, maybe you could ask on there how s/he did it?

spicemonster · 03/06/2009 13:01

That was me! That started the thread. I don't have any tips. I chose a recipe from the BBC because it was the least complicated I found

I have only just made it though so no idea if it's going to be nice or horrible. I bought some cheap Tesco plastic bottles of water which I'm going to decant it into. There is a possibility they might explode I suppose!

Recipe here

SpeckledHen · 03/06/2009 13:14

OOh thank you. I am going to ave a go at that recipe. It was one of the things I had always wanted to have a go at. You have just reminded me and this is the time of year. Thanks!! Let's compare notes later.

mollyroger · 03/06/2009 13:17

delicious - we make some every year.

Original poster
fizzpops · 03/06/2009 13:28

Spicemonster that is amazing (well a bit anyway!) that is the exact recipe I chose and I was going to do the thing with value water too!

Perhaps we all ought to compare afterwards, if it doesn't turn out disastrously I imagine I will need some tips to perfect it... not that I am imagining a less than perfect concoction!

OP posts:
spicemonster · 03/06/2009 13:52

Oh yes we should definitely compare notes fizzpop! Actually I am wondering what would happen if I leave it slightly longer than 24 hours in the bucket as I'm going to be at work tomorrow morning when it's ready to be decanted and I think it's the sort of activity that really ought to take place after small children have gone to bed. Do you think it will be alright to leave it about 30 all in all?

SazzlesA · 03/06/2009 13:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

meltedmarsbars · 03/06/2009 14:30

If you're using glass bottles, only use champagne bottles with the dented bottoms, and ensure you wire the corks down very tightly. Otherwise you get burst bottles, shot corks and an awful sticky mess.

alternatively use fizzpop bottles - but these too can explode down the seam if its very fizzy.
Keep it in a cool place - no huge swings in temperature.
I stick to Elderflower cordial. It doesn't explode.

WorzselMummage · 03/06/2009 14:33

can you use screw top wine bottles ?

i'll be watching this with interest

fishie · 03/06/2009 14:34

can i use 2l fizzy water bottles?

meltedmarsbars · 03/06/2009 14:35

No no no - it will start to ferment then

BANG!

big mess!

Must be fizz-proof bottles

spicemonster · 03/06/2009 14:36

I am using fizzy water bottles and keeping them in the shed which is quite chilly as it is outside and under a tree.

WorzselMummage · 03/06/2009 14:36

Oh bugger i've been saving them for weeks !

I'll pinch the value water idea then

I posted a recipe int he recipe secion on here the other day, I'll go and get it and post it here

WorzselMummage · 03/06/2009 14:38

28/05/2009
Make your own bubbly with this elderflower champagne recipe from River Cottage Spring

Makes about 6 litres

Ingredients
About 24-30 elderflower heads, in full bloom
2kg sugar
4 litres hot water
Juice and zest of four lemons
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
A pinch of dried yeast (you may not need this)
Method: How to make elderflower champagne

  1. Put the hot water and sugar into a large container (a spotlessly clean bucket is good) and stir until the sugar dissolves, then top up with cold water so you have 6 litres of liquid in total.
  1. Add the lemon juice and zest, the vinegar and the flower heads and stir gently.
  1. Cover with clean muslin and leave to ferment in a cool, airy place for a couple of days. Take a look at the brew at this point, and if it?s not becoming a little foamy and obviously beginning to ferment, add a pinch of yeast.
  1. Leave the mixture to ferment, again covered with muslin, for a further four days. Strain the liquid through a sieve lined with muslin and decant into sterilised strong glass bottles with champagne stoppers (available from home-brewing suppliers) or Grolsch-style stoppers, or sterilised screw-top plastic bottles (a good deal of pressure can build up inside as the fermenting brew produces carbon dioxide, so strong bottles and seals are essential).
  1. Seal and leave to ferment in the bottles for a further eight days before serving, chilled. The champagne should keep in the bottles for several months. Store in a cool, dry place.

^^ thats the one i had my eye on

meltedmarsbars · 03/06/2009 14:44

Worzel That sounds delicious, maybe I'll have a go too. I usually just make elderflower cordial, but my parents used to make champagne. It was supposed to be non-alcoholic.

WorzselMummage · 03/06/2009 14:50

Is it ?

I had kind of hoped for a bit of a kick

spicemonster · 03/06/2009 14:54

I think it's very low alcohol. I saw that recipe worzel and rejected it on the grounds it was too complicated

meltedmarsbars · 03/06/2009 14:56

Its not complicated, and yes it can get a little bit alcoholic.

spicemonster · 03/06/2009 14:57

Yes but MMB - have you seen how very, very easy the recipe I posted is to make? It's all relative!

MachuPicchu · 03/06/2009 14:58

My mum did. It exploded spontaneously in the cupboard. She terrorists had come to get her.

MachuPicchu · 03/06/2009 14:58

She thought

zanz1bar · 03/06/2009 16:56

anyone made cordial?

northernrefugee39 · 03/06/2009 17:55

Brilliant. I was going to start a thread on this very subject.

Zanz1bar- would love avice about cordial too

northernrefugee39 · 03/06/2009 17:56

Oh look I had saved this thread from [http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food/558696-i-ve-made-elderflower-champagne-and-it-s-gorgeous last year]]

northernrefugee39 · 03/06/2009 17:57

thread from last year