Fresh Elderflower Wine

[thunda_600]

Hopefully it will be good, thanks for the reply's omniata :-) appreciated and helped me keep my wine making confide3nce up

[Her Lushness]

You're still FAR better off using a hydrometer to test the SG rather than blindly following someone elses recipe, at least that way you can control what point you want your wine to start at rather than crashing around and ending up with a stuck ferment, or wine that tastes "hot" at the end of it all.

Trust me, we've all learnt the hard way not to trust CJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ Berry's suggestions for the correct amounts of sugar to add!

Remember, (as Bob says) your hydrometer is your friend...


(As a VERY rough guide, I calculate to use 1.5lbs of sugar per gallon, but usually add 1lb to start and then gradually increase it. Any recipe that calls for 1kg of sugar per gallon should be regarded with deep suspicion!)

[thunda_600]

Thanks lushness i strained some out into my hydrometer jar yesterday and it was at 1.085 so happy with that :-) Took a reading today and its down to 1.070 :-) i will strain out the elderflower from the batch tom or thursday i think? I take it if you leave the elderflower in to long that the taste will be over-powering ?

[Her Lushness]

I take it if you leave the elderflower in to long that the taste will be over-powering ?

Oh yes indeedy! That was another of my newbie mistakes....

[karlos]

Also according to CJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ Berry, 3/4pt Elderflower petals is equal to 3OZ,
Not where i come from ! ...... 1 pint = 1.5 oz .. ( Asda scales)

[parsnipman]

just a quick query. If you add sugar in stages how do you accurately work out the strength of the wine?
Probably a simple answer but I work it out by taking the starting sg and the finishing sg and dividing the difference by 7.36.

ps. I started a batch of elderflower wine today. I love wine making me.

[lockwood1956]

You wouldn't need to add the sugar in stages for an elderflower wine, which shouldn't be more than 12% alc

IMHO

regards
Bob

[parsnipman]

Hi Bob,
maybe I didn't make myself too clear.
I don't intend to do this with my elderflower I was just asking as it has puzzled me for a while, ever since i did it with my xmas pudding wine and have been wondering how to calculate the % when it is finished.
cheers

[goldseal]

To calculate the % alcohol, calculate (starting SG - finishing SG) / 0.00736, but do it for each stage of sugar addition.

For instance:

Starting SG = 1.080
SG just before adding more sugar = 1.010
Alc so far = 9.5%

Add sugar, measure SG. Let's say it is 1.030
SG just before adding more sugar = 1.010
Additional alc this time = 2.7%. Total alcohol is now 12.2%

Repeat each time you add sugar, and finally when fermentation ceases.

It isn't that accurate because 0.00736 is an approximation, but it is near enough IMO

[lockwood1956]

Hi Bob,
maybe I didn't make myself too clear.
I don't intend to do this with my elderflower I was just asking as it has puzzled me for a while, ever since i did it with my xmas pudding wine and have been wondering how to calculate the % when it is finished.
cheers

ahhh

sorry...


Pete has explained in the above post very well

[parsnipman]

thanks very much, makes perfect sense now.
cheers both

[Darren]

A much better method for an elderflower type wine, is to make a wine number 1 and add a very small amount of elderflowers (about 2 tablespoons) toward the end of fermentation, this will extract the elderflower bouquet.

I guess that would be 10 tablespoons for a 5 gall ferment how long would you leave the flowers in there would a week be fine.

[lockwood1956]

yes it would

but I would likely add at around SG 1.010 to 1.000 and leave them in till wine was finished fermenting and leave themn behind when you rack. The alcohol present in the wine will extract the aroma compounds fairly quickly.
regards
Bob

[Darren]

Will do cheers Bob