From Plot to Pot

Elderflower Champagne: A More Controlled Method Using EC-1118 Yeast

Elderflower Champagne: A More Controlled Method Using EC-1118 Yeast

There are few homemade drinks quite as magical as elderflower champagne when it works well. Light, floral, fizzy and faintly wild, it captures that brief moment when the elder trees are suddenly full of creamy white blossom and summer feels as if it has properly arrived.

I have made successful elderflower champagne before, but I have also had batches that ended up rather flat, bitter and disappointing. They may have fermented into something alcoholic, but they were not the fresh, sparkling drink I had hoped for.

This year I am going to try a more controlled method, using EC-1118 champagne yeast, a hydrometer, careful flower preparation, and deliberate priming before bottling.

Why previous batches can go wrong

The two main problems I have had are bitterness and lack of fizz.

Bitterness can come from leaving the flowers in too long, using too much green stem, using older or rain-washed flowers, or allowing too much lemon pith into the mix. Elderflower is fragrant and beautiful, but the plant material can become harsh if over-extracted.

Flatness is often caused by bottling too late without priming sugar. If the yeast has already eaten most of the sugar in the bucket, there may be enough alcohol in the drink but not enough sugar left in the bottle to create fizz.

So the new plan is simple:

  • Pick good flowers on a dry, sunny day.
  • Strip the flowers well.
  • Steep for a short time only.
  • Strain off the flowers.
  • Let the main fermentation calm down.
  • Use a hydrometer rather than guesswork.
  • Prime deliberately before bottling.

Picking the flowers

The best elderflowers are picked on a dry, warm day, ideally late morning or afternoon once any dew has gone.

Look for flower heads that are:

  • Fully open
  • Creamy white
  • Strongly fragrant
  • Not browning
  • Not wet from rain
  • Not musty or unpleasant smelling

After wet weather, it is worth waiting for a good dry day if possible. Rain can knock away some of the pollen and perfume, and that pollen is part of the flavour.

Use a basket, trug, paper bag or cloth bag if you can. Avoid leaving the flowers sweating in a plastic bag for long.

How many flowers?

Recipes often say “80 heads” for a 20 litre batch, but elderflower heads vary enormously. Some are small and sparse; others are huge and full.

For this controlled batch I am going to work by weight.

For 20 litres, aim for about:

200g loose stripped elderflowers

That means mostly the tiny cream flowers, with as little green stem as reasonably practical.

As a rough guide, this may take:

  • 40–50 very large full heads
  • 65–80 average heads
  • 100 or more small sparse heads

A useful trick is to strip 20 heads first and weigh the flowers. That gives a good estimate for how many more are needed.

Stripping the flowers

I do not mind stripping out the stalks, so I will remove as much green material as possible.

A fork works well:

  1. Hold the elderflower head by the main stalk.
  2. Pull the tiny flowers off with a fork into a bowl.
  3. Pick out any obvious green bits.
  4. Do not wash the flowers unless they are dirty.
  5. Weigh the stripped flowers.

A few tiny stems will not ruin the batch, but the less green material, the cleaner the flavour should be.

Ingredients for 20 litres

  • 20 litres water
  • 3kg white sugar
  • 200g loose stripped elderflowers
  • 8 lemons, zest and juice
  • 6–8 tablespoons cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
  • 2g EC-1118 yeast
  • 2 teaspoons yeast nutrient, optional but useful
  • 120g sugar for priming before bottling

Use the yellow zest of the lemons, but avoid the bitter white pith.

Method

Dissolve the 3kg sugar in a few litres of boiling water, then add cold water to bring the volume up towards 20 litres. Let the liquid cool below 25°C before adding the flowers or yeast.

Add the stripped elderflowers, lemon zest, lemon juice and vinegar. If using yeast nutrient, add that too.

Rehydrate the EC-1118 yeast in a small cup of lukewarm water for 10–15 minutes, then stir it into the fermenter.

Cover loosely at first, or use a fermenting bucket with an airlock.

Leave the flowers in for 48 hours, or 72 hours maximum, then strain them out. This is one of the key changes. The aim is to capture the fragrance without extracting bitterness.

Return the strained liquid to the fermenter and allow fermentation to continue under airlock until it calms down.

Using the hydrometer

The hydrometer should make the process much less mysterious.

Take a reading before adding yeast. This is the Original Gravity, or OG. With 3kg sugar in 20 litres, I expect it to be roughly around 1.050–1.060, though the actual reading matters more than the estimate.

Once fermentation slows, take another reading. Then take a second reading 24–48 hours later.

If the gravity is still dropping, fermentation is still active.

For example:

  • 1.020 means it is still sweet and fermenting.
  • 1.010 means it is getting drier but still active.
  • 1.000 means it is nearly dry.
  • 0.996–0.998 is dry, which is quite possible with EC-1118.

For this method, I want to bottle when the reading is around 1.000 or below and stable for two days.

That way the fizz comes from a known amount of priming sugar, not from guesswork.

Priming and bottling

Once fermentation has calmed and the hydrometer reading is stable, add priming sugar.

For 20 litres, use:

120g sugar total

Dissolve the sugar in a little boiling water, cool it, and stir it evenly through the whole batch before bottling.

This is called bulk priming and gives every bottle the same chance of carbonating properly.

I intend to use proper swing-top beer or cider bottles, but I will also fill at least one plastic fizzy drinks bottle from the same batch. The plastic bottle acts as a pressure gauge. When it becomes firm, the glass bottles will also be under pressure and the whole batch should be moved somewhere cool.

Bottle safety

Only use bottles designed to hold pressure.

Good options include:

  • PET fizzy drinks bottles
  • Proper beer or cider swing-top bottles in good condition
  • Champagne bottles with suitable closures

Avoid:

  • Wine bottles
  • Jars
  • Decorative glass bottles
  • Thin glass bottles
  • Anything chipped, cracked or suspect

Check swing-top bottles carefully. The glass should be sound, the wires firm, and the rubber seals soft and intact. Replacing old rubber seals is a good idea.

Store the bottles in a crate or lidded box somewhere cool, and open the first one over the sink or outside.

The plan

This year’s elderflower champagne plan is:

  • Wait for a dry sunny picking day.
  • Use 200g loose stripped flowers.
  • Steep for no more than 2–3 days.
  • Strain off the flowers.
  • Let fermentation calm down.
  • Use the hydrometer.
  • Prime with 120g sugar for the full 20 litres.
  • Bottle safely, with one plastic pressure-test bottle.

When elderflower champagne works, it really is a fabulous drink. This method should hopefully keep the magic, but remove some of the guesswork.