Comments on The Cats Tripe: Elderflower Champagne

And I like yours too catofstripe

2008-07-11T16:35:00.000+02:00

And I like yours too catofstripe

Oh I don't think HFW is so bad. Adding the yeast d...

2008-07-03T09:41:00.000+02:00

Oh I don't think HFW is so bad. Adding the yeast does ensure a ferment after all.

All fermented elderflower champagne is alcoholic.

What controls the alcohol volume is the relatively small amount of sugar involved. The yeasts can't ferment for long, they run out of food so not much alcohol is produced.

There's a lot more about the chemistry of brewing I could bore you with but this probably isn't the place.

Like your blog by the way, Mr. Muncher.

I'm getting lots of questions about non fermentati...

2008-07-01T12:50:00.000+02:00

I'm getting lots of questions about non fermentation of elderflower champagne - I think its because that Hugh Fearnly Twittering-Stool did a programme that brewed an alchoholic version. Good to see the purist recipe and method here.

Hi Dee,I wrote the recipe up last year when I made...

2008-06-21T09:42:00.000+02:00

Hi Dee,

I wrote the recipe up last year when I made it and it worked very well, we had some lovely frothy fizz. You can see a picture here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65724059@N00/537224753/

Unfortunately this year I've had problems. Part of the charm of the recipe is that it relies on the natural yeast on the flowers, the fizz seems to arise magically because nothing is added, but the first batch I tried didn't work at all and I'm still waiting on a second batch.

For something where it must be ready by a specific date I'd recommend using a little brewing yeast (or even bread yeast) to make sure that fermentation takes place but I've never done this myself so can't give much advice based on experience. The other thing to remember is that it's quite light in alcohol and will not keep for very long once it's made, probably best stored in a cool dry place and used up within a few months. Good luck.

I'm about to start some elderflower champagne and ...

2008-06-20T16:41:00.000+02:00

I'm about to start some elderflower champagne and I've decided to follow your recipe, but just wondered how your batch is doing. I'm trying to get encourage some of my bride-to-be to make it for their wedding receptions!!