I have 48 successful bottles this June 2021. Again Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall &Steve Lamb's Elderflower champagne!! Hope to keep it for Christmas! I have also the Cordial which is the "Best." This November I am giving half acre to elder cuttings from the best bushes! Elderflower fritters are yummy too!
step 1,,,pick with your fingers 20 to 30 flowers no green bits,,makes it taste bitter,,put flowers in your bucket and juice of 2 lemons ,, don't use any other part of the lemon makes it taste bitter,, step 2,,, dissolve 900 gram,s of white sugar with 2ltr of water, let it boil till sugar is dissolved then pour into your elderflower bucket while hot step3,,, add another 2ltr of cold water to your elderflower bucket and 1 table spoon of cider vinegar you can buy it in teco step4,,, let your elderflower bucket cool down,when your brew is just below room temperature add quarter tea spoon of champagne yeast baker yeast will do the job step5,,, store your champagne buck with a lid for 5 days open lid every day even for a few seconds to let the yeast breath and don't let it go below 18 degrees step6,,, on day 5 separate elderflower by a straining method,clean dish cloth ect step7,,, when strained on day 5 it's ready to bottle, if you use a none champagne bottle store out the back it might pop open,, when you fill your bottles you need to let them brew for another 10 days,that gets the fizz in your bottle better stored at room temperature step8,,, 10days are up time to get drunk and stoned,,,,,,,,cheers for home brew an home grown,,,,,,,, rule of thumb keep it clean
Extra tips- use good quality spring water, not tap. Avoid any pith from lemon and green stalk from the flower(these create bitterness). Add extra fruit for additional flavour/abv. Gooseberry are in season at the same time and add a a nice sharpness to balance the sugar. Ferment a second time in bottles that can take pressure(not normal wine bottles, I learned from experience that they explode when extra co2(fizz) is created.(this can be slowed down by chilling in the fridge, the same way it would when proofing bread dough)screw top sparkling water bottles are my go to. It takes about 4 days to a week after bottling(at room temp) to create good fizz! I’m no expert just stuff I picked up through trial and error!
goose berry juice can be quite tasty with the right amount of sugar and i can only imagine if made into a sparkler ,,it can get quite tricky trying to make a sweet alcoholic and carbonated drink specially when you do not want it to ferment all the way like beer or a dry sparkling wine which is easier to make ,in the case of a sweet sparkler you need to let ferment to desired strength and have enough sweetness left over along with carbonation so you may need to pasteurize unless you dont mind storing in the fridge
@@rimmersbryggeri you mean campden tablets, no this is only used to halt wild yeast bacteria growth for a short period of time and also to preserve color , what you need is to halt the fermentation at a certain point and keep it dead and for that they use potassium sorbate, problem is how do you add this to a bottle and keep the carbonation? better way is to pasteurize the bottle that way you keep the fizz and kill the yeast in one go, there might be other ways though , also you can add a non fermenting sweetner to the right taste so you can let the bottle carb up all the way and still have a sweet taste
@@rimmersbryggeri we do not want it to offgas that is the whole point about making a sweet sparkler , its not like making wine where you want it to offgas, we want a bottle containing a sweet sparkling product , campden pills are usually used during transfer of wine or racking where it comes into contact with oxygen or air so they use the pills to kill unwanted bacteria for a period of 24hrs and then to continue fermenting with the added yeast , what we want is a way to ferment to desired strength but to halt there and leave some residual sweetness ,achieving this in a bottle is a bit difficult to do
To avoid mold, make it in a clear glass jar or plastic container, keep it in a sunny place (the warmth will help the yeast), stir it twice a day and weight down the flowers if possible (so they don't stick out of the liquid). No need to add vinegar (it ruins the taste and smell) and it's ready to drink a few days later, when it becomes fizzy, at which point you store it in the fridge to prevent it from becoming too alcoholic. Like someone else already mentioned, this is a staple of the Romanian summer. That mold could have been something harmful, I would have discarded the batch.
Got mine on add a bit of champagne yeast. Got it in second ferment in 2ltr plastic soda bottles time to cold crash as have been in bottles 1week and the bottles are very stiff. Love June.
Hey River Cottage, I live in Australia and I want to make this recipe but I can't get Elderflower, is there a ingredient i can replace it with that has its own yeast?
David you can buy dried elder flower easily through Ebay, or can grow your own easily enough. They grow and sucker like crazy - once you have one they propagate so easily. You can search for "elderberry plant australia" or Sambucus nigra australia to find where you can buy them. I think even bunnings stock them
yeah it depends on the natural yeast strength but how much alc tolerant is it? i mean how much % abv can it go up to? then if you know this you need to know how much sugar to add if you want it dry or sweeter ,i think using a yeast is better outcome that way you have an idea of how much to let it ferment before bottling and then pasteurizing to get the perfect alc, sweetness and carbonation
Make sure to use sterile water and sugar cane sugar. I had a brew made from in unboiled tap water as well as silver spoon sugar. It tasted a little chlorine filled as well as having a slightly chemical bitterness.
With that much sugar it theoretically could be up to about 19%, but the yeast dies of sooner than that. Wild yeasts usually will get the alcohol by volume to about 5%. The rest of the sugar is not fermented and the "Champagne" should therefor be sweet.
I read an article that said once it carbonates, it's at about 1.5% (not too strong)...the longer you let it sit in bottles, the stronger and dryer it will get.
What the hell happened to Steve Lamb over the years? He looks like a hipster stud here, while nowadays he looks more like the weird uncle you hide from your friends.
you should not strip the whole tree of flowers or berries this is no respect to nature or to the tree , animals birds and insects which you have just deprived of life otherwise its greed
+james jenn You are deluded. The flowers will grow back next year. In fact, by doing this, you just made the tree stronger as it will put all energy in current and new growth and root structures instead of berry production. I assume you live in an apartment somewhere in the city and have never grown fruit trees before.
I have 48 successful bottles this June 2021. Again Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall &Steve Lamb's Elderflower champagne!! Hope to keep it for Christmas! I have also the Cordial which is the "Best." This November I am giving half acre to elder cuttings from the best bushes!
Elderflower fritters are yummy too!
Worked well.Elderflower was great.
step 1,,,pick with your fingers 20 to 30 flowers no green bits,,makes it taste bitter,,put flowers in your bucket and juice of 2 lemons ,, don't use any other part of the lemon makes it taste bitter,,
step 2,,, dissolve 900 gram,s of white sugar with 2ltr of water, let it boil till sugar is dissolved then pour into your elderflower bucket while hot
step3,,, add another 2ltr of cold water to your elderflower bucket and 1 table spoon of cider vinegar you can buy it in teco
step4,,, let your elderflower bucket cool down,when your brew is just below room temperature add quarter tea spoon of champagne yeast baker
yeast will do the job
step5,,, store your champagne buck with a lid for 5 days open lid every day even for a few seconds to let the yeast breath and don't let it go below 18 degrees
step6,,, on day 5 separate elderflower by a straining method,clean dish cloth ect
step7,,, when strained on day 5 it's ready to bottle, if you use a none champagne bottle store out the back it might pop open,, when you fill your bottles you need to let them brew for another 10 days,that gets the fizz in your bottle better stored at room temperature
step8,,, 10days are up time to get drunk and stoned,,,,,,,,cheers for home brew an home grown,,,,,,,, rule of thumb keep it clean
On step 7, those bottles might not be the strongest, but it seemed to work. On step 8, I wonder how alcoholic it actually is?
@@therespectedlex9794 All non-alcoholic, IIRC...
think he was supping this when writing it out...
Made it last year. The same quality and it was very successful 2020. I am now making it again!
Thank you Hugh for a very successful brew.
Sharon 🇮🇪
Extra tips- use good quality spring water, not tap.
Avoid any pith from lemon and green stalk from the flower(these create bitterness).
Add extra fruit for additional flavour/abv. Gooseberry are in season at the same time and add a a nice sharpness to balance the sugar.
Ferment a second time in bottles that can take pressure(not normal wine bottles, I learned from experience that they explode when extra co2(fizz) is created.(this can be slowed down by chilling in the fridge, the same way it would when proofing bread dough)screw top sparkling water bottles are my go to.
It takes about 4 days to a week after bottling(at room temp) to create good fizz!
I’m no expert just stuff I picked up through trial and error!
goose berry juice can be quite tasty with the right amount of sugar and i can only imagine if made into a sparkler ,,it can get quite tricky trying to make a sweet alcoholic and carbonated drink specially when you do not want it to ferment all the way like beer or a dry sparkling wine which is easier to make ,in the case of a sweet sparkler you need to let ferment to desired strength and have enough sweetness left over along with carbonation so you may need to pasteurize unless you dont mind storing in the fridge
@@ARCSTREAMS You can ad potassium metabisulphite.
@@rimmersbryggeri you mean campden tablets, no this is only used to halt wild yeast bacteria growth for a short period of time and also to preserve color , what you need is to halt the fermentation at a certain point and keep it dead and for that they use potassium sorbate, problem is how do you add this to a bottle and keep the carbonation? better way is to pasteurize the bottle that way you keep the fizz and kill the yeast in one go, there might be other ways though , also you can add a non fermenting sweetner to the right taste so you can let the bottle carb up all the way and still have a sweet taste
@@ARCSTREAMS Its halted until the container is allowed to offgas as I have understood it so should be perfect.
@@rimmersbryggeri we do not want it to offgas that is the whole point about making a sweet sparkler , its not like making wine where you want it to offgas, we want a bottle containing a sweet sparkling product , campden pills are usually used during transfer of wine or racking where it comes into contact with oxygen or air so they use the pills to kill unwanted bacteria for a period of 24hrs and then to continue fermenting with the added yeast , what we want is a way to ferment to desired strength but to halt there and leave some residual sweetness ,achieving this in a bottle is a bit difficult to do
To avoid mold, make it in a clear glass jar or plastic container, keep it in a sunny place (the warmth will help the yeast), stir it twice a day and weight down the flowers if possible (so they don't stick out of the liquid). No need to add vinegar (it ruins the taste and smell) and it's ready to drink a few days later, when it becomes fizzy, at which point you store it in the fridge to prevent it from becoming too alcoholic. Like someone else already mentioned, this is a staple of the Romanian summer. That mold could have been something harmful, I would have discarded the batch.
Got mine on add a bit of champagne yeast. Got it in second ferment in 2ltr plastic soda bottles time to cold crash as have been in bottles 1week and the bottles are very stiff. Love June.
Could I do the same thing with lilacs?
LİKE METFORMİN
Incredible!
Hey River Cottage, I live in Australia and I want to make this recipe but I can't get Elderflower, is there a ingredient i can replace it with that has its own yeast?
I'm also in Australia.I'm wondering whether Wattle flower can be used.
@@evilynn333 you can buy dried elderflowers
i bought elderflower plants in western australia
David you can buy dried elder flower easily through Ebay, or can grow your own easily enough. They grow and sucker like crazy - once you have one they propagate so easily. You can search for "elderberry plant australia" or Sambucus nigra australia to find where you can buy them. I think even bunnings stock them
@@3sonscider907 but the dried elder flower might not have the natural yeast anymore
What is the purpose of the white wine vinegar?
Do you folks know the original recipe for a Treaty of Paris?
I'd love to make this ! So do you strain after 2 days and bottle it ? How long would you leave after that before trying it ?
I'd like to know too :)
+River Cottage So that's 6 days plus 7 in the bottle?
6 days in the open will lose all the co2,,when you bottle it wont it need more sugar for second fermentation to condition in the bottle?
if you want less strength then use less sugar,,the strength will also depend on what type of fruit or flower you use
yeah it depends on the natural yeast strength but how much alc tolerant is it? i mean how much % abv can it go up to? then if you know this you need to know how much sugar to add if you want it dry or sweeter ,i think using a yeast is better outcome that way you have an idea of how much to let it ferment before bottling and then pasteurizing to get the perfect alc, sweetness and carbonation
Make sure to use sterile water and sugar cane sugar. I had a brew made from in unboiled tap water as well as silver spoon sugar. It tasted a little chlorine filled as well as having a slightly chemical bitterness.
Harry Upton
omg...
so barbaric
even medieval brewers had more brain than that
Yeah I learnt my mistake this years brew was a lot more successful
I would imagine the tapwater at River Cottage doesn't come from mains..
it says steve lamb but you called him steve anoni in thr vid?
I almost didn't recognize Steve in this one!
I love elderflower champagne!!!
couil you use elderflower yeast in bread
I had one explode in my allotment shed keep checking the bottles are not building a bomb.
damm right there in bloom made loads today
How many percent alcohol is it?
%2
Looks amazing～ I wonder how alcoholic is it？
With that much sugar it theoretically could be up to about 19%, but the yeast dies of sooner than that. Wild yeasts usually will get the alcohol by volume to about 5%. The rest of the sugar is not fermented and the "Champagne" should therefor be sweet.
Thanks for answering ^^
Mandy Cheung No problem ^^
Are you going to give it a try?
As soon as I have the space and materials I need ^^
I read an article that said once it carbonates, it's at about 1.5% (not too strong)...the longer you let it sit in bottles, the stronger and dryer it will get.
What the hell happened to Steve Lamb over the years? He looks like a hipster stud here, while nowadays he looks more like the weird uncle you hide from your friends.
too much hedgrow Champagne i suppose
Champagne with extra BPA from them lovely bins
But...that amount of sugar...surely, if you bottle it so soon, there will be enough left to blow your bottles to smithereens?
Ash Scott if you use plastic soda bottles youll be ok or if you use swingtop sparkling wine bottles like in the video
No cobasideration for berry hunters... bad manners
clasical Romanian recipe...
and they call it "Champagne"...
Also a classic English recipe….. and yes we call is champagne, though not when we sell it because the French complained :-)
Think and hope are really not good words in brewing. Better to pre culture the yeast from the flowers.
Would taste better if you didn't use you bare hands.
you should not strip the whole tree of flowers or berries this is no respect to nature or to the tree , animals birds and insects which you have just deprived of life otherwise its greed
+james jenn You are deluded. The flowers will grow back next year. In fact, by doing this, you just made the tree stronger as it will put all energy in current and new growth and root structures instead of berry production. I assume you live in an apartment somewhere in the city and have never grown fruit trees before.
+james jenn you must be high....
Trasmitir en Español por favor muchas gracias