Elderflower champagne??

[Tigerhair]

Anyone got a recipe as hubby says this is nicer than the wine?

[mybarnconversion]

Wow ... no recipe, but I want one ... this weekend is elderflower picking for me and Elderflower champagne sounds great

[red]

there is a recipe on the main SSish pages

also here is mine which is slightly different

been making it since I was a kid

[chadspad]

Red, why do u put yeast in when other recipes dont? How long for the bottles to go firm?

[red]

my recipe, you pour the boiling water over the elderflower.. this kills and lurking nasties, but also kills any natural yeast. so you have to add it back..

how long until the bottles go firm? depends how good your yeast is, how warm your kitchen is etc

once they go firm - as in rock hard, leave for a day or so, this makes the carbon dioxide the yeast is making dissolve into the liquid - as it has no were else to go, and then its fizzy. I use the exact same recipe to make ginger beer, just swap the elderflower for a big lump of root gingger, thats been sliced.

important to use plastic bottles, cos if you leave it too long before moving to the fridge, all that happens is the dips and bumps in the bottles pop out, whereas if you you glass.. it can explode..

[Andy Hamilton]

Woah, I found with plastic bottles they became pretty volatile. You have to make sure there is not much of a gap in the neck of the bottle or gas will start to accumulate. This (For me) caused a bit of a mini explosion when I opened the champagne.

Thick glass bottles with tight fitting lids worked wonders. When the lids were not fully screwed on the champagne oozed out.

I made about 80l one year and so tried every type of bottle I could get my hands on. I made so much it lasted for a year and a half and now I can't even stand the smell of elderflower.

Oh an I used the ssish recipe.

[red]

well yeh - opening the bottles over a sink can be a good idea... we have learned the art of letting a little pressure off every minute and then quickly tightening the bottle up again until you can get it so you can pour it out rather than it shoot out... - but that only seems to be a problem if you left it out in the warm a little too long.

I would avoid glass, as you can find, if you leave it too long, the pressure becomes too much, and you end up with a kitchen covered it sticky sweet lethal glass bits. thats if you are lucky enough to be absent when it goes....

[Tigerhair]

Thank you so much for that. Know what I'm doing this Sunday.

[hoomin_erra]

Well, just opened the first bottle of chamagne that i bottled a month back.



Damned fine, very sparkly, and the POP as i opened the swingtop scared me half to death!!

But it's going down a treat.