With sunny spring weather comes elderflower blossoms along with the promise of fizzy elderflower champagne. This simple folk method for making elderflower champagne may make straight and narrow home brew types squirm a bit, but it almost always works out just fine. We say "almost" because ferments can be a bit persnickety. Elderflowers have a lot of natural yeasts, so with this method, you only have the commercial champagne yeast on hand to kickstart your ferment if the wild yeast fails. Natural yeast IS a little more unpredictable, so if you're nervous about losing your precious elderflower harvest or just want to foolproof the process a bit, use commercial yeast at the outset. Not familiar with elder? Here's a helpful post on foraging for elderflowers.
INGREDIENTS
- 5 800 grams of sugar
- 20 elderflower florets - large stems removed.
- Zest & juice of 2 lemons
- package of champagne yeast
METHOD
Dissolve the sugar in 4.5 litres boiling water in sterilized fermenting bucket, then top up with 1.5 litres cold water. Allow to cool.Add the elderflower heads to the bucket along with the lemon juice and zest. Add the commercial yeast now, if you're going that route. Otherwise, cover the bucket with clean muslin and leave it in a cool and airy place for 2-3 days.After 3 days your brew should be foaming. If you skipped the champagne yeast and nothing's happening, now would be a good time to add a little to get things going. Recover the mixture and allow it to ferment for another 4 days.Strain the fermentation through boiled muslin into a fresh fermenting bucket, leaving the sediment behind. Cover the bucket and leave for a few hours for everything to settle down, then decant into yinto sterilized strong glass bottles with champagne stoppers (available from home-brewing suppliers) or Grolsch-style stoppers, or sterilized screw-top plastic bottles. Elderflower champagne builds up a good deal of pressure, so strong bottles and seals are essential. Store bottles in a safe, dark and cool place.It will be at least a week before your sparkly is ready to be served (chilled, of course). The bottles will keep for a few months in a cool dry place.
