How to Make Elderflower Wine

[@TheBruSho]

Ok wow I was about to make some of this but wasn't sure where to start but now I know, thanks Daryl!

[@Kveiksmithdaryl]

Enjoy, hope it goes well!

[@Medietos]

To the point and professional t young man, thanks! My simple wine was made without a water lock, wine yeast, germ-killer, wine yeast, damejeanne, hose.. happy with the result, not too high alcohol% due to little sugar and yeast, 6%-7% I believe (judging from my tipsiness) Much more work than you, having to rebottle etc, because of the thicker, opaque residue.

[@jonathang.5092]

Hi Daryl. I'm missing your content! Any new uploads in the pipeline? Or have you been assimilated and become one with the kveik?

[@Kveiksmithdaryl]

Hahahahaha so sorry I only just saw this comment. I've been taking an unplanned break but I'm hopeful that soon I'll be back making videos. Life got in the way of brewing this year!

[@jonathang.5092]

@Kveiksmithdaryl well as long as you're OK fella, that's the main thing. Have a happy Christmas! Will look forward to some awesome brews in the new year.

[@jadedphoenixprojects]

I can't believe you don't have more subscribers. Thanks!

[@elmerenges]

This looks promising. The new channel name is great :D In my head it is now sound like a class name from an RPG, like you are Daryl, the master Kveiksmith.

[@Kveiksmithdaryl]

Ha ha thank you so much!

[@Tinystrom]

This gave me an idea to maybe make Honeysuckle Wine in the same manor which is my local spring/summer edible flower! We would eat them on the playground as kids. Cheers Daryl!

[@Kveiksmithdaryl]

Wow that sounds fab! Hope it goes well!

[@wmtarr886]

I grew up in ZA so honeysuckle works. Other things to try are jasmine and anything else that has a massive floral show that insects love (hey, that's where we get honey from some time later)

[@yuridanylko]

Mangrove jack CY17 is allegedly a "great fit" for elderflower, gonna give it a try in an elderflower lemon zest mead.

[@zeddicus1980]

Ok, I will have to ask. From one Kveik friend to another. Will there be any more videos coming? Things did get way too quiet here 😉

[@Kveiksmithdaryl]

I'm desperate to come back, this year has been super busy and sadly I've not had the time to make videos as often as I'd like to. Fingers crossed I'll be releasing more regualr videos in the new year

[@rachelalder2182]

Urm ... You put in the campden tab at the same time as the yeast ... Urm ... Does that work ?

[@Kveiksmithdaryl]

It did for me, but you're right to question it. The recipe I followed said to do so and I've brewed this twice without issues

[@johnboyle7984]

No more videos?

[@carlmerritt4355]

Just found this channel. Love the content, would love to see more

[@Kveiksmithdaryl]

Thanks so much for watching, I'm hoping to make more videos soon. Life got in the way of this channel this year and I've not been able to spend the time on it I'd like to. But hopefully that'll change soon!

[@SowViableGardens]

Is yeast nutrient the same as nutritional yeast?

[@wmtarr886]

the other method is to gather, cover with water, crush and allow open natural fermentation; once you get a good one going it needs mistreatment to die. Believe it or not, I have an elderflower tree about 5m away from a window here in London.

[@Kveiksmithdaryl]

I keen to try this method, hoping this year to do two batches and compare

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

@@Kveiksmithdaryl careful when using any part of the elder plant without heating them: all parts contain cyanogenic compounds. Your body converts those to cyanide when ingested. Usually not enough to kill you, bit depending on how much you consume enough to make you sick. Not joking here. Now, the good news is that those cyanogenic compounds are very volatile and will evaporate a little above room temperature and most of them will potentially go away during fermentation. Still, it’s better to get rid of them entirely. Stems and unripe fruit contain most cyanogenic compounds. That means for elderflower wine or mead, simply pouring recently boiled, piping hot water over stemless flowers will do the job. For elderberry wine, an easy way to handle it is to cover the ripe, stemless berries with hot water, bring them to a boil, kill the heat. You don’t need more. Added advantage is that the berries will pop, more juice will be extracted, and that means more flavour. Elderberry wine can taste a bit one dimensional and ‘flat’. Add lemon zest (no pith) and perhaps a little bit of lemon juice. Or use apple juice instead of water (or part apple juice, part water). Place the berries in a fine mesh brewing bag and use a wide mouth fermenter for easy removal. If making elderflower wine/mead and fermening the flowers instead of a ‘tea’ made from the flowers, a brewing bag is handy too. It can he a pain to rinse the bag, but your ferment can keep trucking along with minimal handling and therefore minimal risk of infection or oxidisation: fish out the bag, close that fermenter back up, airlock in place, all good. 😊 When using berries, remove them after 3-7 days as the seeds also contain a lot of tannins and you don’t want to over-extract those. To combat pectic haze (all berries contain a lot of pectin), use pectic enzyme (aka pectolase). Add according to packet instructions prior to fermentation for best results. Also very useful for juice extraction with any fruit. Elderflower/berry mead? Use honey instead of sugar. It’ll blow your mind of you already like the wine. Just let it age for a few months to bring out the honey notes. Either use 100% honey to the same starting gravity as your wine must, or down to 50-50. Thought I’d add the bits about elderberry wine/mead as the flowers you don’t use turn into berries… and you might be tempted to use those as well. Definitely worth it IMHO as long as you know what you’re doing to keep safe. Happy brewing!

[@wmtarr886]

@@eddavanleemputten9232 uff have you tried measuring the amount of bark and extra tree stuff you'd need to get to (say) aspirin or paracetamol any household chemical level of poison ? I reckon you'd need to boil kg's of the stuff and then go to some length to extract the poison rather than the good stuff, sigh.

[@wmtarr886]

@@eddavanleemputten9232 are you one of those people that knows that a mug of water in a microwave will explode ?

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

@@wmtarr886 Aspirin is salicylic acid. Paracetamol is… paracetamol. Those are two different chemical compounds and have nothing to do with the cyanogenic compounds in the elder plant. That’s like comparing apples to oranges to peaches. If you’re referring to the concentration of salicylic acid contained in willow bark and to how much you’d need to extract to reach toxic levels, I agree that a massive concentration would be needed. As for elderberries and other cold extracts of the elder plants causing people to get sick, there are documented cases. And allow me to quote myself: “Usually not enough to kill you, but depending on how much you consume enough to make you sick.” Depending on the concentration, on how much you drink, on your body weight, and on the speed of your metabolism, I advise caution if the parts of the elder plant (in the case of your video, the flowers) have not been heat-treated. Nothing more, nothing less. Even simply using very hot water should be enough to keep things safe. Sorry you’re offended.

[@wmtarr886]

just posting here to say I'm missing Daryl's videos; hey, maybe he is canoodling with a lady-person or so busy brewing spring-wine or something he has no time to video (I've heard they take time). I'm just passing by.

[@Kveiksmithdaryl]

Haha! Only just saw this message, unfrotunately life got in the way of making videos this year, but I'm hoping to get back at it soon.

[@serenajonatan6629]

Quality work pal!! You really need S M Z E U S!!

[@Kveiksmithdaryl]

Thank you!