The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Food & crafts => Recipes => Topic started by: Ginny B on June 16, 2009, 04:35:14 am
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If you like elderflower ... you'll love this
1 lemon cut up small
20 cups water
3.5 cups of sugar
11 tbls white wine vingar
3.5 cups of rhubarb cut up small
put all together in large container and stir twice daily for 4 days. strain and bottle in water/juice bottles ( must have tight fitting screw lids ) keep for about 2 weeks, then chill and enjoy ... open tops slowly !!
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Oh I am so going to have a go at this! Have just opened a bottle of my elderflower champagne (just to see if it worked of course!) and whilst very very sweet - it is good! Love the idea of a rhubarb one - thanks!
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certainly didn't find this too sweet and i don't have a sweet tooth ... couldn't believe how easy it was to make though ... and deafinatly the colder the better ... let me know how you enjoy it !
Ginny
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Lol you should have seen my OH's eyes light up when I told him about this recipe! Will definitely give it ago. How many litres does it make? I'm guessing no more than 2. We have some spring top bottles that we use for making ginger beer and have a couple of bottles spare for this experiment!
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hi MM ... makes abouts 3 litres i think ... hope u like it ... we did !
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We planned to do it today, but ran out of time!
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Looking at the ingredients, I'm uncertain and don't want to make any errors while driving ... will this produce an alcoholic drink or just a really nice fizzy one?
Looks like a worthwhile use of some of the rhubarb in my garden I never use!
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This might sound daft, but i'm not sure ! as it doesn't contain yeast i thought not, but it does seem it 'bubble' well and perhaps the other ingrediants react together? what i can tell you is that i giggle alot after a few glasses !! ... but then perhaps thats just me !!
Ginny
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It was the lack of yeast leading me to wonder!
I don't suppose someone could drink an entire fresh batch and then see if they can walk in a straight line please?
...even if that straight line is directly to the loo :)
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I just put some rhubarb in the freezer as well- I might have to get it back out again to try this!
Beth
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This Rhubarb Champagne is bloody FANTASTIC!! We love it. We are now on our 3rd batch - 1st batch was drunk in one day! Just to warn you all - when we did our last batch it was already bubbling as we bottled it and then following morning we discovered that one of the bottles had exploded all over the kitchen during the night. Put it in the fridge as soon as you can see bubbles rising in the bottle - saves on alot of cleaning time!
I hope its not too alcholic as our children love it!!
Thank you very much Ginna B for giving out this recipe!
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I suspect if you got through your first batch in one day, we don't need to worry TOO much about alcohol levels...
...could you still walk at the end of the day? ;)
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Yes and I never drink alchol so if it was alcholic it would have gone straight to my head!
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That sounds promising. I need to make up a batch to ensure I actually like it first... and then the next batch should be accompanying me on a BBQ with some friends soonish .. which I'll be driving home from!
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I also added a few Black currants for colour
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It is rather good isn't it !! ... although be aware ... after posting this recipe I asked my science teacher sister what she thought and she said that the sugar and fruit will react together to create alcohol ... at varying degrees depending on the fruit ... hic ... better have another glass
bottoms up
Ginny
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Drat. Thanks for the warning!
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Yes the summer is here and we are making our first batch of Rhubarb Champagne. If any of you haven't tried this then do 'cause its fabulous!
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Thanks for 'bumping' this - have spotted it on FB too ;D
Just need some rhubarb!!
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All I am going to say if you cork it securely BEWARE OF FLYING GLASS ??? :farmer:
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That sounds awesome, gues what i will be making this weekend!!!
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just about to make but do not have a plastic bucket, can i use my stainless steel stock pot?
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I made it in a large plastic bucket (wasnt' sure about the metal ones because of the white wine vinegar?) bottled it up today - smells fantastic already!!!
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WP Hello mate are things stationary now or is it until tonight ;D Of course you can use stainless for any wine making project.DO NOT USE METAL OF ANY SORT IN WINE MAKING OTHER THAN STAINLESS.sieves jugs ladles spoons must be S/S or plastic.All sorts of nasties can come from iron.Be carefull with bottles only use plastic or old sterilized champagne bottles.Wine bottles can and do explode with some force hence my previous warning BEWARE OF FLYING GLASS It is a good idea to wear a welders type of glove to protect your hand when moving fermented wine Looks daft but not as daft as walking about with 1/2 a mile of bandage around your lower arm if you get to the hospital quick enough ??? :farmer:
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Thanks wiz i will have go l;ater on this evening and then hopefully bottle up on Thursday, is it ready to drink straight away? coz its my B'Day friday so would be a very nice drink for special funday friday :wave: :o
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Not really it will need time to get to BUBBLY I'll be watching What does Princess think to you having a birthday? :D :farmer: :wave:
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Hez ivry thing stopped gooin round W.P.Did you get your rhubarb started? Do you reckon it'll be ready for Friday?Whats Jess say to all this.Tell her it's not Tibetan Cow it's an acquired taste ??? :D
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I bottled mine last week (made 9 and a half bottles BTW) colour looks absoilutely gorgeous! Put it in the garage today and it's started getting bubbly! Good job it's away from the bike in the garage - just in case!
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Havent got round to it yet Wiz, hopefully tonight! so when it is ready for bottling do you pour it through a muslin cloth into plastic bottles? like little 1 pint pop bottles or something?
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I am bottling mine up tommorrow... can i make something else with the strained rhubarb?
Wizard you must have some ideas :) :)
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what bottles are you using dizzy? i have a couple of empty tonic bottles (still got some gin in the other bottle :o) and some plastic water bottles?
Also how long did you leave it for? i made mine yesterday and stirred it twice a day so far, but how do you know when to bottle up? or do you just do it on day 4? and did you strain it through a muslin cloth before bottling?
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we bottled without straining - I'd suggest straining!! although ours needs another week before we can open, its already got lots of stuff floating in it (yuk)
I stirred twice a day for 4 days
scarlett (the 3 year old) has asked me to click on the pig :pig: sorry about that, totally irrelevant ;) ;D
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Now I do not want to spoil anyones fun and pleasure.Some of you seem to want to make a fruit champagne or petal like dandelion or elderflower.
not much will happen in 4 days but if you bottle your fluid in this sort of time it is still fermenting and is likely to explode the bottle all right so I'm using a plastic pop bottle Split half made wine all over the airing cupboard pantry shelf etc;etc;So lets try doing it reasonably safely shall us.If you are making any pretend champagne which can be very nice pleasant on the palate juice.and use sterilized champagne bottles only The local restruant will let you have some I am sure I've never had any bother scrounging a dozen or 2.I will over the next day or two do a recipe or two in the recipe section as I am always off track I am told I will tell you how to make a nice wine from petals.Just gimme time and do as you like anyway I can only tell you my past experiences :) ;) :D ;D >:( :( :o ??? all these at some time or other :farmer: :wave:
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i got lots of plastic bottles lined up ready to go..
mmm if i half fill them will they still blow up?
I think my nieces would find thet rather amusing :D :D
So before I do it
plastic yes or no no really got access to champagne bottles if i get them how would i cork them
probably real daft question..
Need my bucket for elder flower cordial now.... :wave:
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i've just finihsed bottling mine and used empty 2l coke/irn bru bottles. i reckon if i open the lid every day to let out the extra gas, then we should be fine (hopefully anyway). it's a gorgeous pink colour and really looking forward to tasting it properly in acouple of weeks.
oh and, no, i didnt sterilise the bottles dizzypig, cos i reckon we'll have them finished long before they go off!
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Its a special cork for the job If you have a look at one its tapered backwards and a knob on the top When its soaked it is quite soft and will push into a champagne bottle quite easily Then you wire it to stop it blowing out.Easy enough to get the bottles from the local restaurants but the corks seem to be only available at Home Brew Shops as is the wires.Its all on the net look in Shop 4 home brew's site They do corks and plastic closures also cages for use with champagne bottles ;D :farmer: :wave:
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Its yummy!! really nice :)
just on my second bottle to see if its alcoholic or not ;)
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Just had my first bottle. Well - when I say my first bottle I mean the inch that was left in the bottle when I had opened it and it went off with a bang spewing most of its contents across my lawn! The inch left was yummy though!
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This sounds fantastic - going to have a go tomorrow if I get the chance! ;D
One question - I have a couple of demijohns here, with bubbler caps. I'm assuming I can put the initial mixture into there, to sit for its four days. However, after the straining, could I not just put the resulting liquor back into the same demijohn, and with the bubbler cap still on? That way it could settle in there until the bubbling stops (i.e. fermentation over), and could be safely bottled from there................ or am I missing something, for example does it need to ferment under a bit of pressure inside the bottle to turn out like champagne for example? ???
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Hey up Womble I don't see the point Top and tail the Rhubarb and chop it int 3/4" bits.Put all the bits into a clean plastic pail and cover with boiling water.Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to cool to blood heat.Mix a bag of sugar with 1/2 a gallon of boiling water and stir until it dissolves when it cools to blood heat put it into the pail stir well.Put 2 heaped teaspoons of yeast into a mug and add some of the liquid from the pail .When the yeast starts to work (Turns the sugar water all frothy empty the mug into the pail and recover the pail with the damp cloth.Stir daily for a week.strain the contents of the pail through a double piece of muslin into your demijohns sharing it equally Top the demijohns up to the neck with boiled cooled water and fit an air lock.When the wine has all but ceased bubbling and all the debris settled on the bottom syphon off the wine into sterile champagne bottles try not to disturb the lees in the bottom of the demijohns cork the bottles. If it blows the corks out recork it with another clean cork.(You bottled it to soon).Leave for a month then try it see if it is nice.It should be clear as crystal with no bits floating in it ??? :D :D :farmer: :wave:
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Hi all,
This is probably a daft question but just made a brew and was wondering if my pot should be covered for the first four days. Was also wondering how i had went for people using 2ltr pop bottles? any explosions or did it work fine?
Was also wondering if anybody new a good elderflower as it's just coming in to bloom here.
Thanks Rob. ;D
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Well, I decided to give it a go after such good reviews. I've got a tasty drink but no fiz whatsoever :-\ I don't know what I done wrong apart from sterilising :'(
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Just on day 4 and it's bubbling like mad, didn't manage to get any champagne bottless so gonna have to use pop bottles, will take the advice of opening it each day to let a bit of fizz out.
Rob. ;D
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Well, I decided to give it a go after such good reviews. I've got a tasty drink but no fiz whatsoever :-\ I don't know what I done wrong apart from sterilising :'(
+1 :-(
I'm on day 4 now too, and very minimal fizzing. Perhaps there wasn't any natural yeast present - do you think I should add some?
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Womble - I'd be VERY wary of adding anything to this! When I made mine, there was absolutely no sign whatsoever of bubbling or fermentation at all! Decanted it into bottles at day 5 thinking nothing ventured nothing gained, and now it is unbelievably fizzy! In fact, if I do it again - I will probably leave it longer before bottling and use my beer-making hydrometer to see the alcohol levels.
Enjoy!
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My lot does not appear to be fizzy and its been bottled for 2 weeks now...
tastes lovely but bubbles would be perfect.. :chook: :chook:
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OK, so following Greenerlife's advice, I've just gone ahead and bottled mine, bubbles or no bubbles!
Here are some pics of the process. It was all pretty easy, even with the hens insisting on helping!
(http://anoutdoorlife.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/01.jpg)
Coincidentally, the hen at the back of this picture is actually called rhubarb, so I guess I should forgive their curiosity!
The recipe was really quick to follow - just add everything to the jar, and leave to mingle for four days, after which it looked like this.
(http://anoutdoorlife.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/3.jpg)
As I said in my earlier post, I was a bit concerned that there was only minimal bubbling, but there was a little, so I'm hoping there is enough yeast to continue the fermentation a bit whilst its in the bottles - only time will tell!
The next stage was to strain the mixture through a clean cloth, ready for bottling. I didn't have the proper gear for doing this, so instead used our stainless steel vegetable steamer, which turned out to be absolutely perfect!
(http://anoutdoorlife.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/4.jpg)
So there it is! At the moment it tastes very sweet, with bags of rhubarb flavour, and a slight hint of ginger beer. I've left the bottles to mature for a few weeks longer, and as long as they don't all explode, will report back on the results in due course!!
(http://anoutdoorlife.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/5.jpg)
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Womble I think that first picture could be taken as mental torture to these poor chooks! ;D ::) :P
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where oh where are all my bubbles????????????????????????????????????? :-\ :yum:
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My champers looks a lot more pink than in the pictures and was bubbling after four days, only a thought but if the rhubarb is more ripe (mine was dark red when i started) does that help the fizz?
Rob. ;D
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At the risk of a major being sent to Coventry.I have never seen oat like it.When I do some it is all pale pink and crystal clear.That on the pictures on here is ? I have in several places told you how I do it and now after the pictures I understand why yours is ready in 6 days and mine not until Christmas.Looks like watter out the Humber and I bet it tastes awful of yeast.ugh bloody horrid. I will make some and give some to Jackie and Sheila for Christmas then they can tell you the difference LOL .If mines dry oh heck egg on face etc;but I can guarantee it will have bubbles in it :farmer: :wave:
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Well.............. It flippin well worked!! Fizzy, tasty, not too sweet, and also tasted very much of rhubarb!
In fact, it worked soooo well that we (hic!) somehow finished off the whole bottle ;D
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Could you see through it Womble, was it crystal clear, did it have an overpowering taste of yeast ? NO! I bet Uncle Bulgaria wouldn't pass it :D.Another thing the longer you leave it to ferment out the higher the alcohol content."Sum foke ud drink oat" me Dad ud say."Don't know why you bugger abaht wi that weasull watter, wots up wi good honest ale boy?He used to drink Holes Newark Ales Old and Mild from the barrels. Now that was genuine Weasel Wee phew If you could drink that you could surely drink anything ??? ;D ;D :farmer:
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Tried my first batch this weekend tastes great, my neighbours also liked it very much, so going to do another batch for the village BBQ. Wizard your right some of us would drink owt! (northern) but thats one of the few things the army taught me in 12 years? oh and never eat the yellow snow? When you say the longer you leave it to ferment out the more alcoholic it gets, does that mean in the bottle or when it's first out in the pot?
Rob. ;D
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Hello Rob The amount of sugar you add To the must (Don't go over 2 lbs per gallon of must it will only make the finished product sweet and it can kill? spoil the fermentation if there is to much sugar)Do it as you have the first go but leave it in the pail and stir every day for a fortnight keep it coveredwith a damp tea towel.Then pour it into another sterilized pail through a double layer of muslin.Compost the solids and leave the strained wine to settle for a day.Then syphon into sterile champagne bottles DO NOT USE WINE Bottles.Drop 2 or 3 unwashed raisins into each bottle the yeast on the raisins will make enough gas to shatter a wine bottle.It will be very fizzy but not clear as crystal Some folk use plastic bottles If you do don't use litre ones because if it splits the bottle it wastes a litre of wine If you keep your eye on the plastic ones and you see they are swelling up release the cap and let some of the gas out.Carefull you may get drenched if you have left it to long.Do some with some Goosegogs and next year Elderflowers (no green stalks) Try some with dandelion flowers (Yellow petals only) go on it only costs a bag of sugar and a Tsp of yeast ;D :farmer:
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Could you see through it Womble, was it crystal clear, did it have an overpowering taste of yeast ?
Nope! It was a mild pink colour, was as fizzy as lemonade, and had a lovely taste of rhubarb ;)
Overall, it was a bit like a rhubarb version of ginger beer really. Now, I'm not saying mine would win any prizes, but given that Mrs Womble once promised to divorce me if I EVER, EVER filled the bath with bubbling demijohns like my Dad does, even she was pretty impressed with the result (8/10 apparently).
OK, so I will try some 'proper' recipes now, as I have 10/10 to aim for, but I'll definitely be doing this recipe again too (thanks Ginny B!! :yum:)
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I can confirm that this rhubarb champagne does contain alcohol - albeit - probably small quantities.
I am allergic to alcohol and VERY sensitive to it - but tried a sip of this and straight away felt the effect (not in my head but in my mouth and throat)
Mind you - ours has gone a grey colour and is fizzy and too sweet I think.
Anybody got any ideas about what to do with the leftover rhubarb?
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We did a load of this recently and it worked well, forming an incredible amount of fizz. When young it was quite refreshing and now, after about 6 weeks, it tastes quite boozy. But it has never really tasted of Rhubarb. Has anyone tried a variation on this method to make it taste better? Stewing half the fruit first perhaps? Or mashing it up? Olly :yum:
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By the way, shouldn't this thread be in the Brewing sub-board?...