Late spring and early summer always gets me excited because that means Elderflowers. Last year I made 10 gallons of Elderflower wine, in 2 batches. It wasn't too much, and it was - as usual - delicious. This is a wine that you really can't go wrong with. The good news is that it's not too late to get stuck into a brew. Tho don't hang around cos those delicious flowers won't be around much longer.
This recipe is pretty much a copy of
last years, tho i couldn't get my hands on exactly the same brands. I don't think it'll make any difference.
Recipe, for 5 gallons;
5 Litres Apple juice (4 Vitafit, 1 Rio D'Oro, both from concentrate)
5 Litres White Grape Juice (Rio D'Oro, not from concentrate)
3.5 Kg Sugar
5 Teaspoons Pectolase
5 Teaspoons Tartaric Acid
2 Teaspoons Yeast Nutrient (Nutrivin)
3 Campden Tablets, crushed.
Yeast - Gervin D (malic acid reducing).
OG 1079
And loads of elderflowers in 2 muslin bags (probably around 3 litres)
Method
If you're a regular reader then you'll know the drill. If not then follow the links to brews from previous years and you'll find more detail there.
Dissolve the sugar in a pan of water while heating it up. Meanwhile pour all the juices into your fermenting bin. Add all the other ingredients (except the yeast and the elderflowers). Rinse out the juice cartons with water and add rinsings to the fermenting bin too. Add the sugar solution and then make the volume up to 5 gallons. Now stir the mixture sloshily for a few minutes so that you get plenty of air into it. I use a whisk. The yeast will need this to multiply, form a healthy colony and get your fermentation underway at a good pace.
You should have an OG around 1070-1080. Don't aim any higher cos you want to drink this soon, like 6-8 weeks. If you try to make it strong then it won't be a pleasure to drink in this short time frame. Put the lid on the fermenting bin and leave it overnight. Next day do the sloshy stir again, and then add the yeast. Cover. Each day for the next few days, stir sloshily.
After a few days you'll be wanting to think about those elderflowers. Keep an eye on the weather forecast, you want a dry sunny day ideally. Make sure you smell the flowers, the good ones smell divine, the ones you don't want smell like cat's pee. Not all elderflower trees are equal! Collect enough sprays to fill about 1 - 2 carrier bags. No need to pack them in, just drop them in. This will be plenty. Trust me, when you add the flowers late into the fermentation then the flavour is extracted much better due to the alcohol content. The fermentation will also have tailed off so those wonderful aromas won't get blown away by escaping gasses.
Put your flowers into one or more plastic bags (depending on their size). Tie the top up. Leave it overnight or for 24 hours. Then shake it for a few minutes. The flowers will all drop off the sprays, along with the pollen from them (looks like yellow/orange dust or sand). Remove the stalks/sprays and bag the flowers into 2 muslin or nylon mesh bags.
Your fermentation should have been going for a few days to a week, if it's a little longer it won't matter, as long as it still fermenting all will be fine. Mine was going for 9 days before I added the flowers. Decant or siphon the wine into a secondary fermenter fitted with an airlock and then add the flowers. When the fermentation stops remove the flowers and rack off the sediment. Degas, stabilise and leave the wine to clear under airlocks. Rack again once it's clear and it won't be long 'til your sipping delicious elderflower wine around 11% ABV.
Discussion
If you don't have a big airlocked fermentation vessel then you'll have to add the flowers at the start of fermentation, and remove them when you move the wine into 1 gallon demi-johns for their secondary fermentation. This will still result in a good wine, and it'll still be ready to drink after 6-8 weeks. The only down-side is that you'll need more flowers to achieve the same level of flavour. At least a litre per gallon of wine. But give it a go with what you can find, this is delicious wine. Whether the elderflower flavour is strong or subtle (or anywhere inbetween) I'm sure you'll be delighted with it, and so will your mates.
