Dry Elder Flowers.

[johnymoonshine]

Hello all,
I have just bottled the Elderflower wine kit from Wilkos and it is nice from the syphon .
I think it was made with a white wine concentrate and when it stops fermenting you add the flowers.
My question is can I use a white wine kit and add some dried elder the same as I did for the Wilkos kit ?
Hope this makes sense.
I think it might be the same as dry hopping .?????

 

[Dutto]

I've never tried it, but I don't see why not; especially if the Elderflowers in the Wilko kit were dried and yours smell the same.

 

[johnymoonshine]

I'll try it can't do that much harm. Thanks.

 

[An Ankoù]

The best elderflower wine I've ever made (and the only wine I make regularly) uses the recipe for rhubarb wine from Berry's "First Steps in Winemaking" - the one that uses the sugar to extract the juice by osmosis- with an ounce of dried elderflowers added at the beginning of fermentation.
I've seen others, one of which adds vinegar and recommends bottling far too early. Some of these recipes for elderflower champagne look as if they have been designed to cause the most injury to life and limb as can be got from a glass bottle.

 

[tonyhibbett]

Dried elderflowers don't have quite the same aroma and flavour as fresh ones. I recently used some with some chardonnay at the rate of 25g per gallon, using an infusion of hot water to extract the flavour, leaving it 24 hours then filtering it through a coffee filter paper. The clear liquid was then added to the finished wine. This gave a faint elderflower aroma and flavour to the chardonnay. For 'true' elderflower wine I would recommend doubling the dose to 50g per gallon.

 

[johnymoonshine]

Dried elderflowers don't have quite the same aroma and flavour as fresh ones. I recently used some with some chardonnay at the rate of 25g per gallon, using an infusion of hot water to extract the flavour, leaving it 24 hours then filtering it through a coffee filter paper. The clear liquid was then added to the finished wine. This gave a faint elderflower aroma and flavour to the chardonnay. For 'true' elderflower wine I would recommend doubling the dose to 50g per gallon.

I was thinking about that much 50g as well.

 

[johnymoonshine]

Tony did you ever work for Watneys in St john's road.
I done a 7 year shift there. Best job ever.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I done a 7 year shift there.

how many days off did you get at the end of the 7 year shift?

.

 

[tonyhibbett]

They are responsible for the 'wild' hops in the area!

 

[ScottE75]

On my first non-kit elderflower I used 50g per gallon, and it was overpowering. I added the dried elderflowers at the start of the fermentation. I think 25g is enough for me personally. There was plenty of flavour and aroma. Hopefully, I'll try fresh elderflowers this year.

 

[johnymoonshine]

On my first non-kit elderflower I used 50g per gallon, and it was overpowering. I added the dried elderflowers at the start of the fermentation. I think 25g is enough for me personally. There was plenty of flavour and aroma. Hopefully, I'll try fresh elderflowers this year.

Thanks for that. I think I'll try 30g.
Have you got the recipe ? Thinking of getting a white wine kit and I can get fresh elderflowers later on in the year.
I think you can use meadow sweat as well.

 

[tonyhibbett]

Meadowsweet has a lovely aroma but that was lost during fermentation, so best added at the end.

 

[RHancox]

Hello all,
I have just bottled the Elderflower wine kit from Wilkos and it is nice from the syphon .
I think it was made with a white wine concentrate and when it stops fermenting you add the flowers.
My question is can I use a white wine kit and add some dried elder the same as I did for the Wilkos kit ?
Hope this makes sense.
I think it might be the same as dry hopping .?????

My best one to date has been fresh elderflowers - used to infuse a Wilko white wine kit. This year though I was too late to pick them, but this week came across a large patch of flowering meadowsweet - so picked a bag of that. I’ve made an infusion by adding boiling water to as much of the flowers I could get into a tied muslin, and leaving for a day. Today I plan to add the liqueur to another Wilco med white wine kit.

Has anyone else ever tried Meadowsweet? It’s one of the few scents I like (think honey and marzipan).

 

[gillonstewart]

My "Vin Ordinaire" has always been a white wine kit (usually a Chardonnay or similar) which I've thrown around 50g of dried elderflowers I'm at the start (5gallon kit). It's always been an excellent wine especially if aged for 6 months or so to get rid of the wine kit taste.

I am trialling a batch just now using 1.25litres of off the shelf white wine concentrate and dried flowers but for the first time I'm trying it with the flowers in a net bag rather than just floating freely in the wine. If it's successful, I'll potentially be getting 120 bottles at around 30-40p per bottle.