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Yep shiney more for us, get those brewing buckets read for the cider

The only real 'trick' to get the flowers off elder is to look for ones that will fall off easily. Shake a bit before you pick them if quite a bit come off then they will be eaiser. I rub them in my fingers over a bowl in front of the tv, does take a while.

Well I really didn't mind sitting in the sunshine picking off the flowers, kept seeing weeds out of the corner of my eye and was able to justify why I couldn't get the hoe out!
The wine is fermenting nicely but initially I filled the demijohn too full and the airlock got brown stuff in it. I poured some of the wine out and put a clean sterile bung and airlock on. It still smells lovely so I don't think it got contaminated.

There are TONS of homeless wee baby apples on the trees so will definitley need the brewing buckets By the way can cider be stored in a beer keg as opposed to bottles, I'm always worried about exploding bottles

Andy,

Where's the best place to get a brewing bucket? I have the need to brew something ~ must be the witch in me!

I got mine through posting a wanted ad in Freecycle (got tons of stuff) and have since met 3 people who have them either up the attic or in the garage and have offered to give them to me just to get them out of the way! If you were nearer I could give you one! Its worth asking around as there a loads of people tried it and got fed up so the stuff just gets stored away.

Shiney - I had to get the train over to keynsham to get mine, its the nearest brew shop to Bath. So I guess it might be the nearest to you too.

Have just done the first rack of my elderflower wine as the fermentation had slowed to less than 1 bubble per minute. The instructions say that a taste at this stage should give an indication of what the finished product should be like. The SG reading was 1000 and the taste was like pure spirit, no "delicate bouquet" thats for sure . Is this normal?

A while ago, Ina wrote:

I have, however, discovered some absolutely delicious elderflower and oakleaf bubbly, made in Scotland, available for a lot less money than champagne would cost! It would be a nice step towards selfsufficiency, if I could find out how to use oakleaf in winemaking - anybody any ideas? (Can't really ask the makers of this stuff, they want to earn their breakfasts by selling it...)

Got a recipe for Oakleaf wine. Works for walnut leaves as well (allegedley).
Here goes:

4.5 l (1 gallon) young Oak or Walnut Leaves (suggest June for picking)
1.5 Kilos (3lb sugar)
10g Citric Acid (2 teaspoons)
4.5 l (1 gallon) Water
Yeast & Nutrient

Dissolve the sugar in 4 - 6 pints of boiling water; when it clears pour, boiling, over the leaves. Infuse overnight, and strain into a fermenting jar the next day. Add the citric acid, the yeast & nutrient and shake well. Top up to the top of the neck with cold water, and then ferment out in a warm place. Rack when it clears, and again two months later.

This sweet wine recipe is given in
C J J Berry's First Steps in Winemaking

In the same book, published by Nexus Special Interest, tips for blending wines as to improve quality, namely:

Body/thickness
Taste/Lack of Flavour
Dryness/Sweetness
Acidity
Blandness or Insipidity/tannic harshness
Bouquet
Colour

are given as:

Blend only wines that are compatible ('sympathetic'), i.e. red with red, white with white;
Blend small quantities at first as to establish proportions required when blending in bulk;
Never blend diseased or really bad wines in the hope of improving them! You'll only end up with one very bad wine!
Always expect the blended wine to referment, however stable the original wines were. The new fermentation will be quite brief, possibly two or three days, whilst the two wines 'marry';
As a winemaker, it will often pay to 'marry' your mistakes!

Hi all,
Made some elderflower wine and put to ferment 4 days ago. It hasnt started bubbling thru the airlock yet, how long will it take for that process to start please? (can u tell im impatient )
When its all done and can be bottled, is it better to have bottles with corks or bottles with screw lids?
Also have some elderflower champagne on the go, thats been in bottles for about a week now. Is there anyway of telling if thats doing properly what its supposed to be doing?
There is a recipe for this on bbc site which uses same ingrediants, however this says best if left to mature for 6 months and can be consumed upto 2 years after making, whereas this sites recipe says drink within a month. Why are they so different?
Link here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A593363

Hi again,
On the recipe for the elderflower wine it says to put in a demijohn with a cork for 3 months. I have a 10 litre plastic container which the wine 'bubbled' in, this has a screw lid with it. Does it have to have a cork in it instead of using the screw lid?
Thanks Wendy

Has the bubbling started yet?
Mine normally starts withing 24 hours so I'm not sure what's going on there, the things I would check are-
fit of bung in the demijonh
water level in airlock
the age of yeast used
amount of sugar was correct

If you can see small bubbles in the demijohn fermentation has started and the problem is with the bung/airlock arrangement you have.

If not, maybe it would be best to start again......sorry

Kind thoughts
Deb

PS I thoughts oakleaves were used to increase the amount of tanin in a wine to give it an 'edge'. I use half a cup of strong tea to the same effect!

Hi Deb,
Thanks for your reply. I should have said that I have passed the bubbling stage now, it just took longer than I thought to get going (bit like me in the mornings really ). I am now at the straining and putting in a demijohn for 3 months, altho mine is actually a 10L plastic wine bottle thingie that the french use instead of demijohns. I just wondered if I can use the screw lid instead of a cork and if not, why not?
Thanks again, Wendy

Hello,

I started making my first wine yesterday.
I picked up some elderflowers in Portishead on the weekend and got a recipe from a book my girlf got me a year ago or so.

I'm wondering: what have I done wrong.

I cleaned out the mop bucket with soapy water and chucked some boiling water around it.
In front of a rubbish Channel 5 movie I took all the flowers from the stalks, sort of using a fork and sort of just tugging/shaking them off.

I boiled some water, took zest from 2 lemons and 2 oranges.
I didn't much weigh or measure the flowers as it was clear I had way too much and only i demijohn, so I chucked a whole load in to the mop bucket with 250g sultanas and the zest.

I poured on 4.5 litres boiling water. Went to the pub. Came back and added yeast and covered it all with a tea towel (well, my girlfriend covered it with a tea towel and told me off citing petri dishes in labs and the elvils of bad bacteria).

I'm going to nip back to Brewer's Droop at lunchtime and pick up some yeast nutrient, stir the pot (not kick the bucket) for five days, then sieve it through muslin and chuck it - and some sugar - in the demijohn with an airlock.

Any further advice anyone?

Pippin wrote:I'm going to nip back to Brewer's Droop at lunchtime and pick up some yeast nutrient, stir the pot (not kick the bucket) for five days, then sieve it through muslin and chuck it - and some sugar - in the demijohn with an airlock.

Any further advice anyone?

I would stick with what you are doing and ask the fella at brewers droop, I love that place as you always seem to be the only customer and the fella there (never asked his name) is always pretty helpful.

FAB name for a homebrew shop

Yeah, they do a great line in coffee beans, too. (NO dandelion root powder yet though).

I was shocked to discover they don't have a website, I should've asked if they wanted one.

Does this spellcheck button ever work?