Hi, I live in London and am keen on making some Elderflower Champagne.

I went over to my local park today and collected quite a few flower heads.

I have read on other websites that you shouldn’t pick flowers from the roadside as they will be polluted, but everywhere in London is by a road side!!!

Does anyone know if I could rinse them and still use them? Or if they would be ok to use anyway?

Thanks for your help,
Neil

The concern used to be the lead in petrol but nowadays that's hardly a problem compared with 30 years ago. Now we have diesel particulates which are larger and you should be OK washing them off.
Of course, to some degree it depends what you mean by busy. If you're next to the North Circular then I'd give it a miss.
To be safe you'd need a lab analysis, but I'd just use my common sense. Do they smell of elder or traffic, being the clincher.

Thanks for your reply.

They smell of elder, no fuel smell. I'm out in East London/Essex(Dagenham), and the majority were picked quite far into the park (at least 100yds from a road) although a couple of them were close to the road. It is a residential road but has a pretty constant run of cars.

I have just seen Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall making elderflower champagne and noticed he used boiling water. would this make any difference to the brew?

mhairi – Can't say really, not having tried it that way but I doubt our Hugh would give bad advice. There's often more than one way to do things.

The reason for using hot water is that it is steralised of most bacteria. The more tap water that you use (Some tap water is worse than others), the more bacteria goes into your wine/beer etc. It won't harm but can leave a nasty taste.

I have read recently that elderflower stems and leaves are poisonous. I have a batch of Elderflower Champagne that is near completion, but when I put my elderflowers into the brew they had an inch or so of stem on them. Do you know if that is going to make my brew poisonous?

Thanks

Elder leaves and bark, especially in some varieties, contain a cocktail of chemicals including cyanides that can make you pretty sick. It would have been better if you'd completely removed the flowers from the stems.

My week old elderflower champagne has began to mould and the smell is quite intense and over powering at times. I think the problem could be that some of the elderflower bits were left in and some still remain. The champagne is fizzing which I heard is a good sign but i'm concerned that my champagne will need to be chucked away due to the mould, there was not a great deal but it is off putting and I have removed while I search for a solution. The champagne is being kept in a 20 litre bucket and covered by an old t-shirt and secured with some rope to preven insects getting in. Is my champagne a write off?

I don't know that I would trust it. How long has it been in the bucket? After three days it's better to strain it and pour into sterile bottles – releasing the top every couple of days to stop them bursting.

Hi,

I made Elderflower Champagne according to River Cottage Bloke’s Recipe only I added a few handfulls of wild rose petals as well.

I only left it to ferment in a bucket for 2 days and there was only a little foam when I bottled it a month ago. Now its all cloudy and full of pale yellow gunk sitting at the bottom and floating around in clumps and tiny cob-web strands.

I opened a bottle and it was really fizzy.
I sniffed it and it smelled wonderful.
I dipped my finger into it and it seamed OK.
I took a sip and it tastes great.

The yellow stuff could be yeast, is it yeast and is it safe to drink?

thanks.

Ewan – I don't think I'd fancy it with yellow gunk floating around.

Hi I am making some champagne at the moment but did not put the elderflowers in a bag and left them floating like hugh. There is a bit of wispy white mould starting to grow over the top of the floating elderflowers after 3 days, is this normal?

I don't know – try asking Hugh

Made 14 bottles of elderberry wine add some grape juice to the batch and Iron Bark honey (Mead)in march o7. Made 8 bottles into Champagne by adding 24grm of sugar per lit, fitted crown seals and place them in a rack at a 45degree angle. One bottle leak out of the crown seal after 6 months,so I drank it 2 nights ago I was blowm away with it blooming wonderful colour clear nose was sweet as the morning dew.The next day I went to my bee site and took off some honey.Thank the Lord they were in flower so I picked 2 big of flower heads and have them soaking in boiling sugar water,I am gowing to make 60liters of wine with half sugar Iron Bark honey.I enter the Royal Sydney easter show and won 1st in sweet mead and 1st and 2nd in dry mead.

Wan t to make cordial but not sure what you mean by add equal amounts of sugar. equal to what? the volume?

Thanks

no probs with the yellow bits, thats just ley's (old yeast and stuff) left over from the brewing process. if you really want get rid of it.

up turn the bottles and freeze the necks (in a bucket of ice water or with co2) then open and remove the sediment which has collected in the upturned neck (the ice plug) as for real champagne.

i'd just drink it though, cos thats a real faf!

has any one any experience of keeping there elderflower champ's for a while like 8 weeks?

i have been making elderflower champagne for years, and am still alive and healthy having drunk it when cloudy, lumpy and or wispy, if it looks suspect i stain the bits out, i always use cooled boiled water and never add yeast. i have been led to believe that if the flowers are picked after a sunny day they have enough natural yeast, but that adding the flowers to boiling water would kill the yeast.

Yes, that's right. Equal amount of sugar to the volume.

In response to Sam.

My parents made elderflower champagne when I was a kid (20+ years ago) Im unsure of the exact method/recipe they followed but they were quite proficient home brewers… anyway, my point. After the initial fermentation we tasted the brew and to be honest.. it was ghastly (maybe inexperienced taste buds) but after many exploded bottles and further tasting, we found it improved massively with age. The last bottle was drunk about 18 months after bottling, so I wouldnt worry about 8 weeks… infact, I'd be tempted to lay a bottle or two down for a year. =) …..Im off picking tomorrow!!!!

I kept mine in the bucket for 5 weeks last year, skimmed the mould of the top and syphoned off into champagne bottles, drank the last bottle two weeks ago(1 year old) it was lovely, and quite alcoholic. I made with the water still quite warm. Have done the same this year, its brewing!

Hi, firstly thanks for posting the recipe!

I followed the process and got it brewing on Friday last week. By Sunday there was no sign of fermentation so I popped to my local brew shop, explained what I was doing and he advised me to use a sachet of champagne yeast. Having done a little research now i'm wondering if I maybe should have gone for a lower strength yeast as I understand the champers is going to give a higher alohol content, oh well!

Also, i'm wondering if its possible to use coffee filter paper to strain the brew when I bottle it? Does anyone know if this will be detrimental at all?

Can Anyone help ive made some elderflower champaine as per instructions left it 24 hrs and bottled and left for 2 weeks and has come out thick and will a small amount of fizz very pleaseant taste but heavy why is this does it get lighter more fizz after a long time bottled?

Hi Gary
I had a very sililar prob.. followed river cottage recepie (its now been ammended to use less sugar) and mine is quite thick (almost jelly like in consistency) but mines very fizzy.. did you get any good advise
Rosco

Hi

I have made elderflower champagne for the first time! We have followed the recipe as above (using approx a quarter of the ingredients), however, very little seems to be happening after 2 days in a bucket, is this supposed to be the process or is it supposed to be showing some signs of life? Richard

Hi i have made some elderflower champagne about 2 weeks ago & after many spillages last year & corks blowing i have decided to put the champagne into 2 demi johns with air lock corked tops on them.
I am new to this & i thought this might be a way to get around the spillages & corks blowing off etc.The thing is does anyone know if i will have enough fizz in the champagne by using the air lock filter thing?I am struggling to find normal demi john corks or any grolsh type bottles & tops as i didnt really want to order bottles from the internet.Any advice please?

hi yes leave it longer i had my 1st bottle this year at the weekend and it was ok chilled but still could do with a few more months