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have just followed Seymour's recipe for elderflower champagne, as it seemed really easy, while I wait for my demi-johns, beer barrel, and brewers yeast to make their way over the channel.
Was a bit worried about the lack of yeast, and the vinegary smell (2 tablespoons of wine vinegar, duh ), while I wait two weeks in the faint hope of retrieving something at the end, has anyone tried this recipe? (700g sugar, 12 flower-heads, vinegar, water), and any other amusing non-yeast alcohols I could play with?

I just got some stuff to make my nettle beer. Bit nervous of it tbh and prob got some of the wrong stuff, I have a black bag full of nettles (bout 7 carrier bags) 5 bags of sugar,5 lemons, some campden tablets, yeast nutrient, dried yeast, sachet of wine yeast, and beer finnings, looking at it all nervously but I should be able to make something out of it. The yeast im unsure of whether to stir it in or put it on toast? or what , God help us lol

Hi, I haven't got any advice im afraid, I'm having a go at tea wine and it just looks mouldy at the mo

But I'm sure someone will be along soon with some great advice!

just got my gorse wine and dandy lion wine fermenting and bubbling away in my hotpress,looks lovely and what a cgreat alcoholic smell every time i open the press to get the sheets out, nettle and ginger next and elderflower wine,havnt got any more demijohns and just sent for more airlocks and hydrometer(not that i used one before )from e-bay,i have rubarb but i dont think enough,does any one know if i can add apples to the rubarb ?

the recipe which I was going to follow was Stoneheads? but it was 10 carrier bags full of nettles and demarara sugar, surely its just a matter of halving all the quantitys? also could granulated sugar be used instead of seeing as its here

hehe, this has become the 'new brewers plaintive cries for help' corner!

wolfsong wrote:any other amusing non-yeast alcohols I could play with?

If your thinking of 'natural yeast' recipe's then there's quite a few around ranging from cider to wine etc but and I mean a this as a guideline for all brews out there... but you cannot control the amount of alcohol produces with natural yeasts, only commercially produced brewing yeasts can give you the control you require to make repeated batches of any brew a success.

You need yeast to make alcohol so your best off putting your guaranteed brewing yeast in instead of hoping that nature will give you a helping hand and seeing as the first 24 - 48 hours is the crucial period where bad bacteria can form your much better off getting your brew going as fast as you can before the bacteria has a chance to get going!

As for Nettle beer there are many recipe's around and the one here has proved a success over at the 'Jim's Beer Kit Forum' so it's defiantly worth giving it a try.

Gigglybug can you post a picture if your 'mould' so I can advise you better?

Lovely picks of mouldy wine

[img]<a%20href="http://s338.photobucket.com/albums/n431 ... ould1"></a>[/img]

Did that work???

guess not

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n431 ... 310312.jpg

Fingers crossed

thx for that link Paddy very informative im looking forward to making this tomorrow

Amanda, may I ask, what on earth is that? you say mouldy wine, i say the mars rover's video link on a bad day!

well i started it and i am now leaving it for 24 hrs before adding the yeast had a little taste of it and its like very sweet lemoney tea or (lemsip) so the wife says lol anyway i will keep you posted how i get on with it

Lol

Lets try this again and see if it lets me post something!

[EDIT]

Strange, it lets me post a one lineer but not a quote

[EDIT]

I'll try posting the quote in the other thread in the chat section!

OK Can't quote for some strange reason also fixing your img link is not working either I've looked at the picture and ...

Oh my lord that's looking rather rancid, erm... not sure what to suggest really, if it were mine I'd bin the lot and scrub out the bucket with bleach but I assume your following some kind of recipe, can you post the recipe for us as it may be something to think about in the future.