brewing 2ne1

Elderflower Champagne

Finally bottled my brew. Interesting. It’s still very cloudy, not yeasty though. Something in the process (maybe the handful of citrus rind I discovered at the bottom of the bucket, maybe the pressure aspect of the barrel) has left it a little syrupy in consistency which I think is the reason the cloudiness has not settled out.

The light syrupy consistency is not because it’s saturated with sugar as the SG measures at 1015. If this is correct (the viscosity could be affecting the reading) then that’s approximately 4.1% alcohol. It tastes a little stronger. I think if the viscosity was not present the SG would read a fair bit lower. Nevertheless, the fermentation has stopped and, possibly due to an air leak in the barrel, is not very fizzy.

I’ve bottled it all and added a little sugar to each in the hope that a secondary fermation will magically kick in and fizz them up. Given that it looks like the fermentation has already stopped quite possibly with sugar still present my hopes aren’t too high.

Taste-wise it’s good. The lemons come through still with that slight rough/rasp effect you get with traditional lemonade (the slightly bitter, cloudy stuff). Elderflower nose and sweetness is still there too. More still than fizzy.

Overall it’s turned out very different to other Elderflower Champagnes. Not sure if it should be called Elderflower Champagne. A sort of traditional still lemonade with elderflower and an alcoholic kick.

“Traditional Elderflower Still Lemonale” ?

dylski