My first batch..elderflowers??

You could have put them in a sterilised nylon jelly bag and weighted with a sterilised stone :)... other recipes suggest just using the water that the flowers have been steeped in. I've never tried it myself, because I prefer the berries.

..but I'm sure it will be fine - my first ever batch was elderberry - I hadn't a clue what I was doing; downloaded a recpe from the net and charged in. It was quite beautiful! (And, in flavour etc. equivalent to wines sosting UKP 15 per bottle).

Good luck!!!

Just stir daily. Eventually the petals will become waterlogged and sink. Also, as the yeast turns the sugar you added into alcohol, the liquid will become lighter and the wet petals will sink. I figure the yeast will eventually break up the petals as time goes on -- I noticed that after 'bout 5 days, even raisins soften to a sludge, what chance to flower petals have?

I usually pour hot, not boiling, water over the flowers. I also find that the action of the yeast raised them to the surface in a crusty cap. Now I use a mesh bag to contain them, makes racking to secondary easier.

You're > I just finished my first batch..it called for sprinkling the

Now, I've been looking for an elderflower expert. A friend recommended a recipe for 'elderflower champagne' as follows:

3.5kg (7.7lbs) sugar in 3 imperial gallons of water zest and juice of 2 lemons about 5 tablespoons white wine vinegar. 7 elderflowers

steep flowers in sugar water for 24 hours, bottle and ferment for 14 days (I used one plastic pop bottle in order to monitor the gas pressure). Fermentation is supposed to rely on wild yeast and is supposed to produce a sweet, sparkling, aromatic beverage after 2 weeks.

After 2 weeks it was still impotably sweet and only slightly gassed, despite plenty of visible yeast flocculate. Experimentally, I have decanted a gallon into a demijohn and added some yeast nutrient. There is some airlock activity, but very slow. Is it likely that I can rescue this by e.g. pitching a wine yeast, or should I just leave it be for a month? or chuck it away?

Just to clarify, the bulk of the must is indeed in 1.5 litre Grolsch bottles. I only used one 500ml plastic bottle, because one can monitor gas pressure without opening the cap by squeezing it.

I have abandoned hope of a sparkling brew. I am simply hoping to salvage something drier and vaguely drinkable. I may try bottling it before the end of fermentation to get some degree of spritz, if possible.

Thanks for your help.