Elderflower beer

[Rickster]

Hi
So, experimentation time. The Mrs loves elderflower, so I'm going to have a play. Plan so far is:
Coopers Australian pale ale kit
1kg brew enhancer
In 5l water:
30g EKG 20 min boil
20g dry elderflower 10 min boil
10g citra 5 min boil
10g cascade 5 min boil
Add 10g elderflower, Leave for 30 mins to steep.

Pour liquid into fv, with kit etc upto 21l. US05 yeast, leave at approx 20-22 degrees.

Day 10 of 14 in FV, dry hop 10g cascade, dry hop 10g elderflower, plus 15g elderflower tea from 200ml.

How does the balance sound, hoppy yet elderflower and citrusy?

Cheers!

 

[Tau]

That's a lot of elderflower to use for 1 gal, I found by mistake that the dried elderflower is much more potent than fresh or cordial.

Best of luck

 

[Sonnal]

Just done an elderflower blonde ale. I used 10g of elderflower in a 10litre batch so would agree that you may want to reduce the amount your planning down a bit. Mine has a really noticeable elderflower aroma and flavour.

I would also reconsider your late additions as they may counter the elderflower flavour altogether. I didn't use any late additions so that the elderflower was allowed to come through fully.

Good luck with it.:thumb:

 

[Rickster]

That should have read 20l, sorry, on the Homebrew and watching the footy! Take out the 10g cascade?

 

[Sonnal]

Ah, that makes more sense. If it were me I'd take out the citra as it is more likely to overpower other flavours. Cascade is a bit more subtle IMHO.

 

[Rickster]

Ok, will get this on tomorrow. Cheers!

 

[Sonnal]

Let us know how it turns out. :thumb:

 

[tim1699]

just come across this thread as i drink a pint of elderflower beer i made using the recipe in the greg hughes book that i have done twice now and its very nice and i would recommend it :)

 

[Rickster]

So this was put together on the 27th April, using coopers apa kit, 1kg brew enhancer, 250g honey, and various hop/dry elderflower additions, using us05 yeast. OG was 1048, now at 1006. However, there is still a thick layer of krausen/yeast on top. It's been over 2 weeks in the FV and I'd like to move it to a secondary so it's as clear as possible before bottling/carbing. Is there anything I can do? Is it normal for US05 to just sit on top? I'll be batch priming ( eventually!) with 90g brown sugar/candi. Cheers!

 

[Sarenth]

Elderflower seems to be flowering at the moment and I have been speculating how much fresh elderflower could be used in a brew

Does anyone has any experience using it picked straight for the tree?

 

[Rickster]

I'm thinking of giving this a stir, would that be wise? Cheers!

 

[Rickster]

The krausen eventually dropped, racked to new FV and will bottle up next week. Definite elderflower aroma, may need some time to mellow!

 

[GHW]

Sounds like a delicious summer ale. I need to do an elderflower beer at some point. Maybe put it on the list for next year!

 

[Sonnal]

The krausen eventually dropped, racked to new FV and will bottle up next week. Definite elderflower aroma, may need some time to mellow!

Glad to hear it. The aroma will mellow a bit but the taste is glorious. Great summer beer. :thumb:

 

[Rickster]

Looking forward to this one, just hope it's not too overpowering! Chilled down should take any edge off though!

 

[Sonnal]

A little bit if time is all you need. A couple or three weeks in the bottle will knock off any rough edges I'm sure. I have to say mine was great straight out of the fermentor and is getting better and better. So much so that I brewed up a full 20l batch at the weekend to put in a corny. Roll on summer.

 

[Rickster]

Once bottled, kept warm for a couple of weeks, do you suggest putting in the fridge (5-10 degrees), or will it be ok at ambient temps in a shed (temp 10-25), will that affect the beer once carb'd? Cheers.

 

[GHW]

Once bottled, kept warm for a couple of weeks, do you suggest putting in the fridge (5-10 degrees), or will it be ok at ambient temps in a shed (temp 10-25), will that affect the beer once carb'd? Cheers.

Mine stay in the house for the two weeks then the shed, which is at whatever temp it's at. Never seems to affect the beer in any noticeable way. Fridge won't harm it either though and might be preferable if you have room

 

[Notlaw]

I thought about trying an elderflower wheat beer, but using cordial as one of the fermentables. It's worth a go on a small batch.

 

[Sonnal]

I thought about trying an elderflower wheat beer, but using cordial as one of the fermentables. It's worth a go on a small batch.

Dried flowers are easy to get hold of cheaply from homebrew suppliers. Mine are packaged by Youngs. Haven't seen them at Leyland but haven't really looked so he may have some in stock. I'd check the list of ingredients on the cordial just in case there's anything that will b*gger up your beer. (Probably teaching you to suck eggs there Notlaw :whistle:)

Wheat beer would be a good base for the elderflowers I think as long as you don't use a really funky bananary (is that a word?) yeast.
Cheers