Fizzy Elderflower Cordial

[Mayo]

Hi,
About 2 weeks ago I made elderflower cordial, I used he same recipe as I use every year

This morning I noticed that one of the bottles was kind of bulging lol

I opened it slowly and it just fizzed everywhere.

I was told to put it in the freezer and just keep out what I'm using in the fridge, keeping it cold seems to be the key.

My problem is I have no room at all in my freezer.

Does anyone know how I can stop this from happening?

I used the correct amount of citric acid.

Thanks 🍹🍹🍹🍹

[rustylady]

As you haven't told us what recipe you used, we can't really help

[zazen999]

I'm not allowed to make it any more, it's too scarey. Once it sheared the top off a bottle as I was trying to open it. We had to bin it for safety reasons.

[rustylady]

I'm not allowed to make it any more, it's too scarey. Once it sheared the top off a bottle as I was trying to open it. We had to bin it for safety reasons.

Was it elderflower cordial or elderflower champagne Zazen? I use plastic pop bottles for mine.

[Mikey]

It sounds to me like you might have left it too long fermenting mayo, for cordial it should be 48 hours fermenting in the bucket and for champagne its 6 days. The extra time fermenting allows the sugar to start to turn to alcohol creating bubbles in the process.

What quantities did you use?

[Mayo]

Hi,
The recipe I used is .....

4 1/2 lb of Sugar
8 Lemons
60 Elderflower Heads
4 oz of Citric Acid
3 L of boiling water

I doubled this recipe, as I do every year.

I put the sugar in a large pan , poured the boiling water over it and stirred till dissolved.
Then I added the Elderflower heads.
Left to cool
Grated the lemons and added them to the sugar water.
I cut the lemons up quite chunky and added them to the sugar water.
I then added the citric acid , stirred well.
I covered it with clean muslin, left it for 48 hrs
I then strained it through a sieve and muslin into a clean tub, then bottled it.

Is there a way I can de gas it, if that's a word! Lol

Thank you for replying to me 🍹🍹🍹🍹

[veggiechicken]

I seem to remember someone putting sugar into sparkling wine 'cos he didn't like the bubbles!
But would that set it fermenting again?

[Mayo]

Yes veggie chicken, I think it would start fermenting again cos the sugar would feed the yeast.

I made this cordial cos it so lovely, my grandchildren are coming to stay for the summer a d they love it too, just don't want them drunk and disorderly haha

[mothhawk]

You could take it out of the bottles and boil it up. That should kill off the yeast that's doing the fermenting, then sterilise the bottles before refilling. Don't know what it would do to the flavour though. If you just want to let out the fizz, and can get the tops off without the bottle half emptying replace the top with a bung made of loosely rolled kitchen paper or fabric, so the gas can escape through/around it.

[Mayo]

Hi moth hawk,
I don't want to boil it up cos as you say I don't know what will happen to the flavour of it, and it tastes G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S right now lol

But your idea of the bungs made out of kitchen roll is brilliant and I would like to say a big thank you.

����������

[mothhawk]

My pleasure mayo - not that I've done it myself, but I read about doing that quite recently somewhere, no idea where. Hope it works.

[Alison]

Can't remember my cordial recipe off the top of my head but it is VERY high in sugar to the point where there is too much sugar for the yeasts to work despite using boiling water to hopefully kill any anyway. I then either add a little bit of camden tablet so that it stores well (keeps for over a year if we don't drink it) or you can steralize it in my pasturiser. Think the recipe is in one of the River Cottage handbooks although I have noticed they have different recipes in different books.

[Soylent Green]

Hmmm...I never had any citric acid, so I used two lemons, a lime and an orange and that was a very tasty brew. I made 4 litres and bottled it into Ikea bottles, the ones with the wire and ceramic tops. I stored them in the fridge and I haven't had any problems with unwanted fermentation.