Amended 27/07....

Simple Elderflower ‘Champagne’ Recipe, that really works and is not too high in alcohol- I estimate around 7~8%

This recipe makes 1 gallon- which gives you 4x 1ltr Bottles and a bit left over.

What you need-
15~20 Elderflower heads, use as little of the green stems as possible.
500g Sugar
1ltr Pressed Grape Juice (I use Morrisons, it has no preservative)
Juice of 4 lemons
1x Bucket with lid
1x Demijohn


Method
1. Dissolve sugar in hot water- a large saucepan works fine.

2. Add the flower heads, lemon juice and grape juice to a clean bucket. Pour over syrup (dissolved sugar in water) and top up with cold water to just over 1 gallon.

3. Stir and leave to cool to room temp. Then add your yeast, cover and place somewhere dark and warm-ish. The yeast should be working well after 24 hours.

4. Leave for 48 hours in total and then transfer to a Demijohn- removing all the flower heads. Fit an airlock and leave to ferment to dry- this should take on average 5~7 days. You can leave it to sit for an extra week, this will give you a clearer wine when you transfer it to the bottle.

5. Transfer wine to 1ltr plastic bottles (I use standard soda bottles, ginger ale etc.) adding one teaspoon of sugar (priming). Seal and leave standing upright.
Its best to use a siphon tube to transfer the wine from the DJ to the bottles, the less you disturb the dead yeast at the bottom the better, this is where the 'bit left over' can be poured away.

Leave for at least two weeks before opening. Enjoy.

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Four wheels move the body - 2 wheels move the soul.

Ballistic Integrity, I thought they only went ballistic on the Xfactor !

Interesting decisions to be made with the SG, given your addition of grape juice, that may require additional yeasts and your hydrometer readings after this additive, GK.

When you have a mo, or while you are making this sparkling and fortified elderflower wine, it would be most interesting to hear how you will calculate your fermentation to a dryish style.

I've only done the home brew kits, and years and years ago. Therefore we just played around with dry hopping and malt extract to change the style, I relied on recipe guidance for yeast and malt and brown soft sugar. The secret was to achieve a very vigorous fermentation at the optimum room temperature, skimming off the cap early or later, and swift batonnage as one thought fit.

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Duncan

Edited to reflect above amendments.

Thank you, most instructive, but I have to add quotes to the title of the first post.

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mel

I opened my first bottle of this over the weekend at an arts/music festival and shared it with friends while we had a picnic.

Fantastic, I was thrilled, it tasted lovely- still a bit young & raw, should improve. The fizz was just right, fresh and dry.

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Yep, Im still here.

Yeah, I would be too. Home grown, home made. very satisfying indeed.

The hot and dry weather is beginning to cause problems here with our salad crops. Tap continually on the runner beans, means much less flavour and no natural capsicum finish to the flavour.

How are you getting on at yor Allotment ? You must be carrying water from a standpipe - or do they allow hoses these days ?

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Duncan

Its doing very well Dunc, no problem with water as there are a number of those large, blue water butt's dotted around and we have use of a hose pipe.

My carrots are particularly good at the mo, have just sown another batch.

Currently eating- Summer cabbage, Kale, New spuds -fantastic! Peas & broad beans, red onion, more lettuce than you can shake a fork at, beetroot- pickled a load over the weekend.

Growing well- Broccoli, leeks, French & runner beans, parsnips, sprouts, garlic and chilli’s in the cold frame which is now permanently open. Toms & more chilli’s in the polyhouse.

Its been a very productive year so far, only real problem of note is the blackfly on my broad beans- haven’t seen it this bad before, tried the soapy water trick but it just got worse, almost tip to soil of little black monsters sucking away, its the same with other plot holders. Im totally organic so I simply accept it, Im picking the beans young and they taste just fine.

This week of rain is most welcome, rain water is much better for the plants than tap water.

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Yep, Im still here.

BTW, Dunc, anyone- I’ve been using a homemade plant food this year with great results.

I heard about it on an allotment forum I visit, it’s very simple to make and costs nothing. You can use it on anything, from tomatoes to hanging baskets with flowers in it. If you grow salad leaves & herbs in containers they will love it, I’ve never seen salad grow so well.

What to do-

Get yourself a bucket/container with a lid, minimum 5ltr and as big as you like.
Find your nearest patch of nettles and strip the leaves, put them all in the bucket and keep pressing them down- you’ll be surprised how many you can get in. When you think you have enough, about two-thirds full and compacted with leaves, place a house brick or a piece of broken paving slab on top and fill with water to just above the leaves. The brick stops the leaves floating.

Put the lid on and place the bucket somewhere in your garden, out the way. Leave for four weeks. Get another container, I use the 5ltr water bottles with the wider opening. Pour the contents through a sieve, you only want the fluid, discard the mushy, rotten leaves.

To use- dilute 1/10 with water and feed your veg/plants/herbs every week or so.

Finally, be warned, it stinks. Don’t water your houseplants just before your guests arrive

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Yep, Im still here.

Where can I buy Elderflower Champagne. It sounds nice. I buy elderflower cordial and mix it with soda water as an alternative to wine on nights off the grape. It's too sweet for me but very refreshing.

My local department store and health stores only sell cordial and country wines which look awful.

A quick search resulted in this-
http://www.lymebaywinery.co.uk/pages/sp ... _wines.php

Im sure there must be cheaper options out there. How about having a go at making your own?

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Yep, Im still here.

A very bountiful plot. Marvellous results Graham, you must be working the soil very well indeed to achieve that sort of quality in all those different vegetable types.

Carrots are very difficult to grow straight and true organically - brilliant.

Here, I am organic also, since 2000 (excepting judicious use of slug bait) minimal use this year. Strawbugs, a complete failure this year - therefore I need new stock and Horse manure. The raised bed will be dug-out and given a topping of soil from another area of the veg garden. Botrytis as well, due to tap water lying on the surface - need to bury in well down, some old cast iron down pipes for watering perhaps from a hose dribble in high heat. Pigeons particularly this year, and squirrels a damn nuisance.

A fix for black / green / whitefly created by a neighbour. Not so good on a mature infestation though.

Boil up rhubarb leaves in an old bucket on your brazier; make a stew, strain off liquor. Spray on the broad bean plants at 1st sign of fly and well after flowering.

The nettles liquid feed was one extolled by Bob Flowerdew on R4's Gardeners Q. Time - glad you reminded me about it

You have a great plot - excellent stuff

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Duncan

After last years carrot crop failure (lost most to carrot root fly) I invested in a better quality seed and covered the whole bed in fine netting. Much better.

I use a mix of general purpose organic plant feed (a powder), chicken manure pellets and well rotted horse muck. Plus whatever comes out the compost bin. However, everyone on site does well with their brassicas, it must be the soil, high in nitrogen.

Will give the spray idea a go next year if required, cheers.

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Yep, Im still here.

Bloody none !

Not a single usable elderflower head left. The June sun cooked them all...or so i'm told.

I demand you send me some of yours or i'll send Bacchus around to blend all your Aussie riesling with pinot grigio, white zinfandel and Fairy Liquid.

I walked 10 miles today searching every country lane. Feet up time and a glass of Oh 6.

Oh lovely jubbly !!!!

What rubbish ! Nobody can walk 10 miles in a day. It has been proved conclusivley that the furthest distance that a human can walk in a day is around 18 holes.
P.S. I've just found out that motorcycles are toll-free on t'bridge so may well be over to Miskin in Sept.

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Four wheels move the body - 2 wheels move the soul.