Alcoholic Elderflower Champagne

[lydneyian]

Thanks for that Andy - when I say dark - its difficult to tell the colour of the liquid - its the bottom of the bin with the flowers and rind that have gone dark - my plan is to see what colour the liquid is when I take out the flowers in a couple of days before I add the sugar etc - if its dark brown I may start again - I hope you dont mind me asking questions as I go along

Lydneyian

[lydneyian]

PS Just found 2 demijohns in the charity shop for £2 so I will use them after all :-)

[lydneyian]

Andy - I have had the liquid in the fermentation bucket for 2 weeks now and it is still bubbling away like a bucket of pop - the temp has been room temp between 18 and 23 at all times - should i put it into demijohns now - as the recipe says - wait for the bubbles to stop?

[MKG]

Well, he does say "When you are sure all the bubbling has ceased ..." Which it hasn't. So I'd leave it for a while. He also says to stir and then allow to settle. So, basically, he's getting rid of most of the debris in one operation. If you transfer to a demijohn now, while it's still really active, it'll throw a second deposit and you'll have all the work to do over again.

Mike

[missy]

really need to try this!

[lydneyian]

Thanks Mike

Basically "pipe down and be patient" :-) fair enough

Outside of sloe Gin - this is my first attempt at anything - so Im just getting a bit panicky - Ive even picked spare elderflowers this week in case I need another attempt.

Incidently - the spare elderflowers that I have picked have totally dried out - Im presuming they are still ok to use - anyone know?

[MKG]

Dried elderflowers are fine - treat them as you would any dried herb. One ounce of dried is the equivalent of one pint of fresh.

Mike

[lydneyian]

3 weeks and its bubblin more than ever - what have I done - I think Ive created a monster :-(

[MKG]

Panic not. There's 3 lbs of sugar in that recipe, intending to give you a wine at 15% ABV. That's quite a lot and the process will take some time. If it's bubbling, the yeast's healthy and enjoying life - everything's OK.

Mike

[lydneyian]

I have bit the bullet and transfered to the demijohns - It seemed to of calmed down - but now its bubbling away again - I will just have to deal with the debris when I try bottling in a few months - meanwhile I have begun the process again with the dried flowers that I had - the wine I transfered smelt fantastic by the way - also the bit I tasted whilst syphoning was nice as well - so I suppose things can only get better. Its quite cloudy and a deep golden colour - I presume its normal - anything I should do while its in the demijohns ??

[clanpowell]

We made some a couple of weeks ago using the John Seymour recipe. It smelt good and tasted ok but it had a consistancy like a sort of thick gloopy syrup. Anyone hazard a guess as to what I did wrong?

[frozenthunderbolt]

Too much sugar! JS is a god, but his editors stuffed up the sugar in the wine recipie in at least two of the editions in a big way.

[MKG]

I'd certainly second what FTB says, although I don't know the Seymour recipe. How much sugar did it ask for?

Mike

[clanpowell]

0.7kg of sugar to 1 gallon of water, juice of 1 lemon and 2tbs white wine vinegar

[MKG]

Ah - only 0.7 kg. In that case, there's a problem. Either it hasn't fermented at all (but even 0.7 kg of sugar in a gallon shouldn't produce a thick, gloopy result), or (I'm thinking on my feet) you may have a severe case of ropiness. If so, it ain't going to harm you in any way, but let me do my homework.

Arnie ... I'll be back.

Mike

EDIT: Didn't have to go too far. Seymour's recipe doesn't use any added yeast. Is that right?