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have you put it straight into the demijohn? i put mine into a bucket covered with some fine net curtain and held on with a large slastic band or string with a small elastic band attaching the ends of the string togather ,and then stir for about a week daily,then put into the demijohn ,a couple of week ago my dandelion and raison frothed over the top too,i had to rinse out the airlock twice and pour some of the wine out to allow for fermenting,i also put a little cotton wool into the top of the airlock to stop flies if it froths over just in case ,frothing over shouldn`t ruin the wine,but its only happened to me once and i`m ok with the wine as when i racked it it tasted fine,

Well folks, an update.

The major emergency has now been downgraded to a moderate concern. The frothing continued for about 36 hours after which I rinsed out the airlocks and things have been progressing very quickly but under control. The release of gas from the airlocks is a continuous stream with hardly enough time for the usual bubbles, more of a constant 'squirt' of gas really.

I was wondering about the amount of yeast it says in the Ish Bible, because last year I only used one teaspoon (5g) and things went well, but I used a different book then. Anyway, I'm hoping for an extra strong brew out of this and I'm hoping that it doesn't taste of yeast! At least the smell of 'baking bread' has gone from the house now.

Thanks for all the help and I'll let you know how things go.

[quote="Cligereen"]

I was wondering about the amount of yeast it says in the Ish Bible, because last year I only used one teaspoon (5g) and things went well, but I used a different book then. quote]


Best of luck with it ! I would refer you to my earler comment regarding 25 grammes whereby it should perhaps be 2.5 grammes ! Hope it turns out OK for you......

RobHed wrote:

Zaf wrote:

MKG wrote:
PS - just wait for the stories of bottles exploding in the shed to start coming in.

not in the shed but we had about a dozen bottles explode in our bedroom, the mess was horrific

word of warning, dont put anything frothing over in the bath, I did it one year with a demi-john of tea wine and it took the enamel off the bath tasted lovely when bottled though

Tea wine ! Do you have a recipe or is it in the book ? Can I use Earl Grey or does have to be bog-standard ?

tea wine recipe courtesy of the WI wartime booklet!

Ingredients

* 4 pints cold tea
* 2 lb granulated sugar
* ½ lb raisins
* 2 lemons


Directions

1. Cut the raisins and slice the lemons thinly, and put them in a large bowl or jug. Add sugar, pour on cold tea. Stir till the sugar has dissolved, cover the bowl or jug and leave it for a month.
2. You will find a scum on top; remove this carefully, strain off the liquid and bottle.
3. Is best when kept a few months to age. Keep it in a cool dark place.



I made the cold tea by using tea bags - mine didnt get as far as being bottled and came out of the demi-john rather like a cross between ultra strong sherry and port! Very alcoholic and rather sweet but very drinkable!! Shame about what it did to the bath though, we wont put frothy demi-johns in there again

... and if you want the recipe to definitely give you wine, then add a teaspoon of yeast.

Mike

Although the recipe didnt stipulate yeast I did add some, it might be why it fizzed over so vigerously perhaps?

I have to say my best over-froth was my first successful wine i made at 14. damson wine equal to the best port - brewed in fizzy drink bottles with air locks made from corks with straws through them going into film canisters filled with water.
4-5 foot below my ceiling in my room, but still painted it during the night.
I have never made wine that tastes that exquisite since though, hmmmmm.

thanks for that tea wine recipe,going to give it a go soon,

Zaf wrote:Although the recipe didnt stipulate yeast I did add some, it might be why it fizzed over so vigerously perhaps?

The recipe relies on wild yeast which is un-predictable at best, adding wine yeast in just made the whole process go faster therefore more foam, next time use the yeast but brew in a bucket until the most vigorous part has died down.

Be careful when bottling your elderflower wine. I left mine in the demijohn for nearly a year before bottling and the corks still popped out on a couple of them.

Rambling Rob wrote:Be careful when bottling your elderflower wine. I left mine in the demijohn for nearly a year before bottling and the corks still popped out on a couple of them.

This has been known to result in drunk dogs at my ex-g/f's place - utterly hilarious

frozenthunderbolt wrote: This has been known to result in drunk dogs at my ex-g/f's place - utterly hilarious

Dogs! My cat just turns up her nose at anything alcoholic...

Sat in my dressing gown an hour ago I was readiny this thread, the last couple of trips previously to the kitchen I noticed a nice fresh bread smell, and thought no more. After this read I was thinking I should look at my Elderflower in the cupboard under the stairs, WOW is all I can say, the damage to the wall is immense. I thought I heard a door slam around 4.30 this morning, obviously not! I have gingerly removed the other two bottles and degassed them. I thing maybe we should send a few of these out as IED's for our chaps in Afghanistan!

It always amazes me that these things happen when no-one's around. If it happened while you were there....

Yeah, mine did that at night, too. Years ago. Now drink the others, quickly!