sparkling elderflower wine

[Nicos]

We're picking our flowers tomorrow morning!!!

Yeh- it's been too wet- but there are new flowers still coming through- and everything is ready , clean and sterilised in preparation!

We use a beer brewing bucket which will be plenty for us for this summer .

[the big lebowski]

good man ,i use them beer buckets too (fermentation vessel is the posh name) got mine from wilkos and drilled a hole in the top for the air lock ,good luck

[the big lebowski]

how`d you get on today with your wine nicos ?

[Nicos]

...urm....ask me tomorrow!...the blossom was sopping wet this morning and then we had to go out!

Will deffo be collecting it in the morning! ( I read it's best to pick it in the morning?)

[the big lebowski]

yeah i heard that if its sunny and the flowers are open then its better,not sure how true it is but i picked mine around lunchtime when the sun was bright out ,good luck on attemp number 2

[Nicos]

Thanks !

Today is the day...nice bright morning....I'll give it a couple of hours for the dew to evaporate and flowers to open a tad more.

I just know one 'fermentation vessel' isn't going to be enough

[Nicos]

Just been out to collect the flowers- got some pink and came to get the white heads and it started peeing down!
(It was sunny at silly o'clock - then very cloudy)

Cut a few but they have no scent at all- should I wait til tomorrow as the forecast is much better?
I really don't want to make 6 gallons of sugary , tasteless water!

To top it all I ripped a pair of trousers on the barbed wire!

Maybe this should be in the rant thread????


Advice please ( about the flowers- not me kecks!!! )

[the big lebowski]

hi sounds like an eventfull morning ,im not sure what to say about them not smelling, all the ones i picked smelt really nice(not wishing to rub it in),maybe you should start it off then add a few more flower heads tomorrow,how many do you have n total ?

[Nicos]

Well- I picked all the pink ones left ( the rain battered most of them)
The white ones my OH picked and has left them on the side for the insects to come out.There's not a lot left to open out now.
Now they are warmer there is more of a scent.

I like the idea of adding a few more tomorrow

Think we'll go ahead and try it now there is at least a mild elderflower scent ( and not cat wee which I was a bit worried about!!)

[the big lebowski]

yeah might aswell give it a go ,no point in empty bottles,how many flower heads do you have ? if you`ve got a 25 liter fv you need 50

[Nicos]

Only got enough pressure resistant bottles for 15litres-so we've put in 30 heads ( 8 of which are the pink ones!!!!) for 15l

Thought we had more- but found 2 full bottles from a couple of years ago!...I'll let you know if they kept. I somehow doubt it!
Will try them tomorrow.

If you don't hear from me again then you know what happened!

[the big lebowski]

2 bottles from a couple of years ago !!!!!!! wow i hope its kept well ,i`ll keep my fingers crossed for you

[Nicos]

Update- flat but very tasty!

Now then- how long were they supposed to be in the bucket?
They'd been bubbling away for just over 2 weeks so OH has bottled them.
( I have a feeling it should have been 1 week???)
What will the extra fermentation have done to it- is it going to be more alcoholic???

[scarey55]

Fermentation will probably have been temporarily stopped by it being bottled. Leave it a couple of days and I think you'll find that the fermentation will start again and give it some fizz. I think I read it wants a week in the bucket but I usually leave it for longer than this and it works for me. As to the alcohol content, best drink it and find out

ETA: sorry, I should have read the post above. I thought you were talking about the latest batch, not the two year old ones - duh me

[the big lebowski]

do you have a hydrometer nicos ? you need to be aiming for 1010 if its higher then leave it if its lower i think you add more suger to top it up i`ll have a read and get back to you later today,cheers