Elderflower Champagne... Best Recipe??

suzywoozy_3

I am making elderflower champagne according to this recipe . I put it in the bucket on Thursday night. By Saturday night there was no sign of fermenting so I added a pinch of dried yeast.

By Sunday morning there was mould on the top - the very light tall furry type of mould. I'm sure this is not normal and I guess I should now throw this away but does anyone know why it happened and how I can stop it in the future?

This is my first attempt and I'm gutted that it hasn't gone well

I really hope someone here with some experience can help me.

Many thanks.

tru

We had that too (same recipe and we had to add yeast too). We couldn't decide if it was mould or not so we just left it, assuming it was the yeast just doing it's job. When it came to bottling it, it was fine

Gigervamp

Yep, it's quite normal. Don't worry about it, it'll get strained out when you bottle it.

suzywoozy_3

Hurrah! Thanks I'll just keep going with it. Thank you.

vatic

Huzzah! I just checked my batch of elderflower champagne and had the same issue. Thanks so much for your feedback Giger and tru

missychrissy

Hi all

I've made elderflower champagne for the first time this year. I did a 5 gall batch using a 5 gall plastic bucket that made enough to fill 11 2 litre plastic 'pop' bottles. I left it in the bucket for 2 days then seived into the bottles. I started it on 16th June and I've just tried a small amount out of one of the bottles and it's surprisingly good.

I didn't know anything about adding a pinch of yeast if not fermenting and I have to say I didn't think mine looked the least bit frothy. I also didn't realise I should have released the gas in the bottles so I have done that today. The recipe I used (BBC) didn't mention any of that. It said it was drinkable after 2 weeks but best kept for 6 months to a year. Although it tastes quite good it doesn't seem very alcoholic.

I'm going to pick some more this afternoon when I walk the dog and try HFW's recipe this time. I'l let you know the results.

floyd

I'm bricking it now about my elderflower champagne, I started it off today using the newer 2010 version of HFW's recipe (the one with less sugar on the C4 website) and after reading what others have written on various other sites I'm terrified it will explode!
I have ordered swing-top glass bottles that will arrive on Wednesday and it should be ready to bottle up on Thursday.

Has anyone used the newer HFW recipe and bottled up in glass without redecorating their shed? I am going to try not to add extra yeast unless there isn't any evidence of fermentation at all but I really want it to work

misskool

Err....have you checked your swing top bottles are suitable for bottling them? The stuff does get really under pressure. I bought some cheapie 19p lemonade from Lidl and washed/disinfected it and used them.

floyd

These are the ones I've ordered, would be a real shame if they arent suitable, suppose I could use them for sloe gin later in the year if I can find enough sloes

http://www.justpreserving.co.uk/glass-preserving-bottle-roma-bulk-pack-p-20003608.html

Gigervamp

They look like they're only suitable for cordials/fruit vodka etc, not for drinks like elderflower champagne.

If people really want to use glass bottles for fizzy drinks, they should buy special ones from homebrew shops that are made to withstand the pressure.

I really wouldn't risk using those for your elderflower champagne, save them for sloe gin or similar and use washed and sterilised 2 litre fizzy drink bottles.