Homebrew Elderflower Wine and Champagne Making Guide

Homebrew Elderflower Wine and Champagne Making Guide

 

Elderflower Wine Recipe

What you'll need:

  1. 1 Pint of elderflower petals
  2. 1.4 kg of sugar
  3. 2 Lemons
  4. 250gm tin of white grape concentrate
  5. 1 Gallon of water
  6. 1Tsp of Wine Tannin
  7. 2 Campden Tablets
  8. Champagne or all purpose white wine yeast
  9. Yeast Nutrient

How to make Elderflower Wine

  1. Gather the elderflowers on a sunny day when you can smell the distinctive aroma of the flowers. Separate the flowers from their stalks by pulling through fingers or cutting with scissors.
  2. You need to collect 1 pint (600ml) of flower petals by pressing them down lightly.
  3. Grate the rind from 2 lemons (no white pith).
  4. Add the rind to the petals in a clean plastic bucket and pour over 8 pints of boiling water. Allow to cool and add 1 Campden Tablet.
  5. Cover with a clean cloth and allow to stand for 3 days stirring from time to time.
  6. Then add 1.4kg (3 lbs) of sugar, 250gms of white grape concentrate, juice from the 2 lemons, 1 teaspoon of Wine Tannin and stir thoroughly. When all the sugar is dissolved add the sachet of yeast and yeast nutrient. Cover the bucket loosely and leave in a warm place for 4 days
  7. Strain through a fine mesh bag or muslin into a 1 gal fermenting vessel or demijohn.
  8. Fit an air lock and leave the vessel in a warm place about 20-22deg C for about 5 days.
  9. Syphon (rack off) the liquid into another clean fermenting vessel and leave until the fermentation is finished. This will be when the S.G. is near 1.000 (if using a hydrometer) or when the bubbles no longer pass through the air lock.
  10. Gradually the wine will clear and after about 8 weeks it should be ready. Add another campden tablet and then after 24 hours syphon into bottles.
  11. It is best to leave for about another 6 months before drinking.
  12. The result is a wine with a very distinctive bouquet and a wonderful clean taste.

Note If you prefer, you can use 2 teaspoons of Citric Acid instead of Lemons.

Alcoholic Elderflower Champagne Recipe

  1. Follow the wine recipe to step 8 but bottle just before fermentation has finished. Use champagne-type bottles, securing with stoppers and wires, or use strong swing-top bottles.
  2. Lay the bottles on their sides in a cool place for about 6 months, by which time your champagne will be fragrantly sparkling. Open carefully!

Non-Alcoholic Elderflower Champagne Recipe

A sparkling, fragrant country drink which can be enjoyed after two weeks...

What you'll need:

  1. 3 large heads of elderflowers
  2. 700gms of sugar
  3. 1 gallon (4.5 litres) water
  4. 1 lemon
  5. 2 tbsp white wine vinegar

How to make Non-Alcoholic Elderflower Champagne

  1. Gather the flowers on a sunny day when they are in full bloom. Separate the flowers from their stems by pulling through fingers or cutting with scissors.
  2. Grate the rind from the lemon (no white pith).
  3. Heat one gallon of water to dissolve the sugar and then allow to cool.
  4. Put the flowers in a crock or clean plastic bucket; add the juice and rind from the lemon, and the vinegar.
  5. Pour over the cooled water, cover and leave for 48 hours, stirring from time to time.
  6. Strain through a fine mesh bag or muslin into strong screw-top or swing-top sterilised bottles.
  7. Leave for 2 weeks, after which time your champagne should be highly effervescent! (You could check the fizziness from time to time and release any excess.)
  8. Enjoy!