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dug

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Just got this one into the brew barrel last night.

500g 120ebc crystal
500g dark dme
1kg light dme
1kg light wheat dme

30g east kent @ 60 min
10g nelsin savin @ 10min
10g Galaxy @ 10min
60g Elderflowers @ 5min
5g Nelsin Savin @ 0min
5g east kent @0min

1 pkt notigham yeast

"dryhop" with about 50g or so of elder flowers after a week in the fermenter. I'll pour 500ml of water over the flowers to kill off any wild yeasties.

Hopefully the nelsin won't overpower the elderflower too much. OG ended up at 1.044 and IBU was calculated at around 23.
 
Interesting, I remember seeing a BBC Tudor recreation program a while back where they made elderflower ale - probably fermented on some wild yeast they'd caught in the field. I can't say elderflower strikes me as being an excellent herb for ales - it makes an excellent wine. But is it perhaps a bit too delicate for ales, what with the malty flavours and the intensity of the hops?
 
Yes the flavour might get bumped out by the malt and hops, (especially the nelsin savin), but I'll be using about 100-120g of flowers which is about what I use to make 2l of elderflower cordial. So I'm hoping it will show though and the floral noptes from the elderflowers will compliment the citrus/fruityness of the hops.

Other elderflower beer recipes go for mostly lights malts and maybe not so much hops. But hey brewing is like cooking.. you have to experiment :)

elderflowers have lots of yeasts in them, lots of recipes for elderflower champange don't add yeast but use the wild yeast in the flowers.
 
dug said:
Just got this one into the brew barrel last night.

500g 120ebc crystal
500g dark dme
1kg light dme
1kg light wheat dme

30g east kent @ 60 min
10g nelsin savin @ 10min
10g Galaxy @ 10min
60g Elderflowers @ 5min
5g Nelsin Savin @ 0min
5g east kent @0min

1 pkt notigham yeast

"dryhop" with about 50g or so of elder flowers after a week in the fermenter. I'll pour 500ml of water over the flowers to kill off any wild yeasties.

Hopefully the nelsin won't overpower the elderflower too much. OG ended up at 1.044 and IBU was calculated at around 23.

Is elderflower available in Australia in any form? The wife loves this flavour and I'd love to make a small batch of light ale with this spliced into it.

Any advice thanks?

Cheers,

Pete
 
Elderflower is growing - and flowering - at the moment, Gigantorus. So you might be able to sidle up to a neighbour and say, 'hey, mind if I deflower your tree?'

The trick with elderflowers is to get the flowers but not any other part of the tree into the brew - so you have to pick the sprays of flowers, and then remove each flower carefully from the stem. Annoying, but it does work.

Alternatively, go to a naturopath or organic food supplier. They love that hippy shit, and you can often find bags of elderflower tea or just dried elderflower petals for sale. This might be your best bet in Brisbane, actually, as I'm not sure how the tree would adapt to your climate.
 
I'd definitely give a country elderflower wine a go - sugar dissolved in boiling water. The whole is then poured over a heap of elderflowers, and this is left to steep overnight. In the morning when it cools sufficiently, pitch yeast, and let it ferment out.

After a few months in bottles it will develop a delicious and distinctive elderflower flavour. I'm not sure what magic happens.... we've made two elderflower wines so far, just a country wine, and a mead; the country wine works best, though I think the elderflowers have worked their magic on the mead as well, really helping to clarify and give flavour to the brew as it ages.
 
I have elderflower growing now. Apparently you can use the berry's for wine once cooked. I'll be using the flowers for beer and other beverages as well.
I also have Mugwort growing. I was reading this was a herb used quiet often in beer back in the early days. I'll have a crack with it one day as well.
 
Yep we've got a mugwort. It's also not hard to find that at naturopaths and organic shops - look for brands like 'Hilde Hemmes' Herbals'. I just pinch the occasional stem off the mugwort and set it on a tray to dry with all these other leaves. Hopefully when it gets a bit bigger and healthier I'll be able to prune it more severely to get more mugwort supplies.
 
Although our elderflower will happily bloom for long parts of the year, we haven't to this day got berries. Maybe it just doesn't feel up to it in this climate :(
 
Very disappointed in you TimT...on seeing the thread title I was sure it was one of yours!
 
TimT said:
Elderflower is growing - and flowering - at the moment, Gigantorus. So you might be able to sidle up to a neighbour and say, 'hey, mind if I deflower your tree?'

The trick with elderflowers is to get the flowers but not any other part of the tree into the brew - so you have to pick the sprays of flowers, and then remove each flower carefully from the stem. Annoying, but it does work.

Alternatively, go to a naturopath or organic food supplier. They love that hippy shit, and you can often find bags of elderflower tea or just dried elderflower petals for sale. This might be your best bet in Brisbane, actually, as I'm not sure how the tree would adapt to your climate.


Tim, Was speaking to one of my sisters this morning and mentioned I might buy some dried elderflower online to make a batch of beer and she advised me that she has a young bush which is flowering at the moment. :) Looks like problem solved.

Mr Wibble, Was speaking to Sandra at the Mudbrick Cottage Herb Farm at the back of the Gold Coast yesterday enquiring about buying an elderflower tree. I asked if it would grow well in my area north of Brisbane and she said:

Yes it would grow there. It is very hardy in fact so hardy that you would be wise to put a root barrier around it if growing it in the garden.
It does grow well in large pot with a good quality potting mix - we use searles certified organic and some fertiliser we us organic extra.

So watch those roots.

Cheers,
Pete
 

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