Elderflower wine, 2021

Just harvested, June 2021

The elders are flowering, including those in my garden.  I have several small ones, all seeded by birds and frankly unwelcome;  I call them weed trees.  However, I also lack the time and motivation to cut them all down (again) and so I will make use of the flowers instead.  And I will probably make use of the berries later too, whether as chicken feed or home brew.  And then maybe in winter I or the husband will get around to chopping them down (again).

To make elderflower wine I picked about 32 flowerheads and gently rubbed the flowers off the stems into a container;  my recipe calls for 500 mL of flowers to 4 L water, and I'd decided to make 8 L--despite not quite having 1 L of flowers.  I also have run out of wine making yeast, so just used regular bread yeast.  I'm sure it'll be fine.  

The brew (including flowers, water, sugar, yeast, lemon juice and a mug of strong tea) is fermenting nicely in my stock pot, there to remain for two weeks before straining into demijohns to continue for another few months before we start drinking--it's best cracked into straight away, and makes a light, refreshing drink.

On a side note, we checked 2020's elderberry/blackberry wine just two weeks ago, to see if it was ready for bottling, but it's still showing signs of fermentation.  Hope to start drinking that by autumn.

And for your viewing pleasure, a gratuitous photo of Cookie and the Peep, who are both now the same height;  Peep is just about 3 weeks old.  We're hoping she's a girl, and will continue referring to her as such (right up to the time we eat him).

Cookie and Peep, June 2021