Elderflower Champagne Recipes

ELDERFLOWER CHAMPAGNE

Steps:

• Read our guides on how to clean brewing equipment and home brewing safety tips before you get started. Fully dissolve the sugar in 4l just-boiled water in a fermenting bucket. Add 6l cold water.
• Shake any bugs loose from the elderflower, then strip the florets from the heads with a fork. Let the sugar water cool to 20C and stir in the lemon zest, juice, flowers and yeast. Cover, and leave to ferment out of direct sunlight for six days. If your bucket doesn't have an airlock lid, gently rest the lid on top of the bucket.
• Strain through boiled or sanitised muslin into the second sanitised bucket, leaving the sediment behind. Leave it to sit for a couple of hours for any last pollen or sediment to settle.
• Siphon into sanitised wine or fizzy drink bottles and seal. Leave for five days in a cool dark place. Check the carbonation by lightly opening the lids to vent excess CO2. Keep in fridge if notably vigorous. If you drop the sugar to 1.6kg, it shouldn't finish above 8% abv, at 2kg, 10%. Champagne yeast is tolerant up to at least 15%.

ELDERFLOWER CHAMPAGNE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Do not wash the elderberry flowers. It is their natural yeasts that will cause fermentation. Just shake off any insects and remove the thick stalks.
• Place the honey or sugar in a very large bowl and pour in the 4 cups of boiling water. Stir until the honey or sugar has completely dissolved.
• Add the 12 cups of cold water. Stir in the vinegar or lemon juice and the elderberry flowers.
• Cover with a clean dishtowel and let the mixture sit at room temperature for 48 hours, stirring at least twice a day.
• By the end of these two days, you should see signs of fermentation: The top of the liquid will look frothy and bubbly, especially when you stir it. If the liquid is still completely still after 48 hours, add 1/4 teaspoon of wine or a very small pinch (just a few grains) of baking yeast and wait another 48 hours, stirring occasionally, before proceeding to the next step.
• Pour the fermenting elderflower champagne through a finely meshed sieve to strain out the flowers (and lemon rind, if using).
• Use a funnel to help transfer the brew into clean plastic soda-type bottles with screw tops or thick ceramic or beer bottles with flip tops. Do not use corked wine bottles because elderflower champagne is quite capable of popping out the corks or worse-exploding the bottles. Leave at least an inch of headspace between the surface of the liquid and the rims of the bottles. Secure the tops.
• Leave at room temperature for a week, "burping" the bottles (opening briefly) at least once a day. After the week at room temperature, move them to the refrigerator, but keep "burping" the bottles occasionally for another week.
• Serve chilled or over ice.

ELDERFLOWER CHAMPAGNE

Steps:

• Put the hot water and sugar into a large container (a spotlessly clean bucket is good) and stir until the sugar dissolves, then top up with cold water so you have 6 litres of liquid in total.
• Add the lemon juice and zest, the vinegar and the flower heads and stir gently.
• Cover with clean muslin and leave to ferment in a cool, airy place for a couple of days. Take a look at the brew at this point, and if it’s not becoming a little foamy and obviously beginning to ferment, add a pinch of yeast.
• Leave the mixture to ferment, again covered with muslin, for a further four days. Strain the liquid through a sieve lined with muslin and decant into sterilised strong glass bottles with champagne stoppers (available from home-brewing suppliers) or Grolsch-style stoppers, or sterilized screw-top plastic bottles (a good deal of pressure can build up inside as the fermenting brew produces carbon dioxide, so strong bottles and seals are essential)
• Seal and leave to ferment in the bottles for at least a week before serving, chilled. The champagne should keep in the bottles for several months. Store in a cool, dry place.