DIY Herbal Brewing | Elder Flower Champagne 🥂
If you saw our post yesterday, you know we were out on a run and gathered some elder flowers to make elder flower champagne!
Ini harvesting elder flowers - make sure to harvest at least 30 ft away from the road if you're harvesting near a busy road.
Today we're going to share the very simple recipe we used to start this process!
Equipment includes 1 gal glass container, airlock and rubber stopper, brewing yeast, sugar, flowers, lemon and water.
We've made a lot of herbal brews around the homestead through the years. We love using herbs, fruits and spices that grow in our area to make unique and tasty beers.
Elder Flower Champagne
To start, gather about a pint of fresh elder flowers.
Get correct ID from Sambucus spp (most commonly nigra and canadensis.) Make sure to knock the bugs off.
Star San sanitization we're using.
Sterilize your brewing equipment.
We gathered this 1 gallon glass jar from the recycling center- oftentimes cheap sangria will come in these and they are prevalent at our recycling centers.
Champagne yeast. You can go many different ways here. Wait for the wild yeasts from the flowers to dominate (explained below) or use a cultivated yeast variety- could be for beer, wine or in our case we chose champagne. It all boils down to what type of brew you're going for and how much sugar you're adding = alcohol %.
An airlock and rubber stopper are easy to find online or at a local brewing shop.
We used Star San specifically made for brewing as we've had troubles with off-tasting phenols developing in our beers (bleach, boiling water and peroxide didn't seem to cut it so we've upped our game!)
Sterilize all of this following the directions on the Star San.
1/2 gal of boiled water with sugar added.
While you're doing this, you can start boiling 1/2 gal of water...
And measure out 4-6 cups of organic cane sugar (or other comparable sugar you may have on hand). This is what the yeast will eat.
After water reaches a boil, combine the sugar and pour it into the sterilized gallon jar.
Putting elder flowers into just-boiled sugar and water solution.
Carefully put the elder flowers into the jar...
And let them steep with the stopper in for at least 20 minutes so the flavors can really come out.
Elder flowers steeping.
We put in the zest and juice of one lemon to bring in some high notes.
Zest and juice that lemon!
After that point, add fresh water to fill the remainder of the gallon. When the solution has reached about 104°F (40°C), add champagne yeast (most packets are for 5 gal batches so you can use a 1/5 of the packet and store the rest in a refrigerator.)
Your brew is ready to start fermenting!
You can also use the wild yeasts from the elder flowers and to do this simply put the flowers in water and let them sit for 4 days. After it starts bubbling, you can add the remainder of the ingredients.
We chose to use a cultivated yeast this time to get a specific type of brew and to account for a higher alcohol percentage.
Keep your ferment in a cool and dark place and keep an eye on it. It should start bubbling within 12 hours and will continue for 2 weeks.
It's really easy! We'll be making more beers, including a mugwort beer we love, throughout the summer so stay tuned for more basic herbal brews!
Also, don't forget, we're having a fun contest that will run for one more week! A great way to make some SBD and get some laughs!!
▶️ DTube
▶️ IPFS
Oh yeah! This is an awesome inspiration!! Elder Flower Champagne sounds like such a fun bubbly treat!! I don't generally drink alcohol but this would be something fun to have a glass of with friends!! It looks so easy to do! I am not sure where or if Elder Flowers grow in our environment. Will have to stay on the lookout!! Awesome Bloogging!!! You are real pro's!! Awesome 🌿☘🌿🍾🎵🎶
you're so sweet! thanks for sharing the enthusiasm and kindness! it is super easy and you can really make simple low alcohol brews like this with many ingredients (including basic kitchen herbs) found easily nearby. You live in Canada right? whereabouts? elders are found allll over the world!
Likewise! I enjoy fun bubblies for sure!! It would be super fun if you did a follow-up video sampling your brew when it's ready! Haha....full circle. I am in the Calgary area, just east of the Rocky Mountains. You are right!! There's so many wild herbs to create with! It's just so awesome 😊🍾☘🌿🐴
:) so so awesome! okay thanks for the details. we'll for sure try to do a follow up vid- we may bring this stuff to a solstice party we go to every year-- if it's ready in time! cheers!
Will it be ready by then??! I am so looking forward to solstice ceremony. How do you celebrate it?
Hope so, depends if yeast is hungry. Since moving to the ozarks our friends host a weekend party with plenty of live music, dancing and river floating. So we celebrate there every year.
That sounds like great fun! A real nice way to celebrate. Where did you move from?
The last place we had a home was Taos New Mexico. we had been fairly nomadic before that, both before and after we met.
Oh yum!!! Now I know what to do with my beautiful elder tree which the rest of my family like to carelessly hack down to size because it has no purpose in their eyes. Guess I won't be sharing the bubblies
haha ;) sounds like you've defended its life= your bubbly ;) lol! also you're probably familiar with the powerfully medicinal elderberry syrup - another blessing of this plant. totally worth saving!
Definitely!
Oh my gosh elders have a million uses... their berries make a divine wine and a great cough syrup!! Plus. They are MAGICAL!!! Xxx
Posted using Partiko Android
LOVE YOUR PASSION :)))))
So much so I'm going to write about it for You!!!
😘😘😘😘
Oh I agree @mountainjewel. Such passion is contagious
The older I get the more alcohol kicks my ass. But this looks fantastic.
I've been meaning to start brewing some mead.
haha yeah. i find the herbal brews, enjoyed responsibly ;), don't have the same pains as the mass produced stuff with all of the sulfites. for me, that's the stuff that's really responsible for any uncomfortable repercussions. this stuff is super easy to make, tasty and oftentimes you get the benefit of the herb, and you can brew with so many different herbs (we get a lot of our ideas/inspiration from this book https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Herbal-Healing-Beers-Fermentation/dp/0937381667)
mead! can't wait til our bees start really producing!!
Hmm, that's interesting about the sulfites.
I'll have to up my time table and see if I can survive it :)
Oh my god... MEAD!!! Plus... honey vodka 😉
Posted using Partiko Android
haha yesss!!! can't wait for the mead. one of my favs. and from our bees and made with our herbs oooooooh!
now im aware of the fermented liquids...u r awesome. sharing is great . thank you.
glad to be helpful! it's quite easy and a practice humans have had for a long time.
Can't wait to hear about the first tasting. Have you made this before? what kind of flavor do you get?
This is our first elder brew, but we've played around with herbs, fruits, wines beers and meads. I'm excited to try it too. Never made a champagne type brew before so I'm stoked.
Haven't started the video, SUBSCRIBED! Thank you for a DIY video! I have been saying since I joined a month ago that we need DIY videos. Ok, watching now. Very well made video. Personally not a champagne (sparkling wine, All Champagne is from a place in France) however, I appreciate what you did here :) Keep up the DIYs!
Glad you've found what you were looking for. DIY is super important to us both and we prioritize education and empowerment. Hope you'll keep enjoying our content. I appreciate the accuracy of naming, although champagne is so funto say... Thanks for your positive feedback, nice to connect.
How cool. Elderberry is so good for you. I bet it also makes for a tasty brew.
It's a great widespread herb with so many uses. It truly is our elder... Hope it turns out well,
mmmmmm!!!!!!! i'm going to try this one for sure!!!!! cheers you two!!!!!
Nice! Are they any wild elders near where you live? I saw in one of your vids you had planted so me in your FF. What a great plant!
Just made a second gallon yesterday. Elder flowers come but once a year... Now it's just a matter of time until we have an over abundance of honey and we can brew with honey. Cheers right back atcha!
now that = a double cheers!!!!!! your own honey mixed with the botany of the land? oh geez!!!! huge mead fan here! bustin' out the carboys soon. ;) yesssss! :) we have elderberry in the FF....but we also have wild colonies. it's soooo ON!
Loving it! Tis the season to bust out carboys. As always, deep appreciation for your enthusiasm and good vibes.