Gareth
Guru
- Joined
- 4 Dec 2012
- Local time
- 5:44 PM
- Messages
- 38
OK, strictly speaking, Bucks Fizz is a cocktail comprising of 1 part Champagne to 2 parts Orange juice, and this little brewing escapade has been inspired by those bloody awful commercially made bottles of Bucks Fizz found on the shelves of supermarkets during the run up to the festive season.
4 years ago I thought that it would be nice to serve Lois a Home-made Elderflower Bucks Fizz on Christmas morning, and it has now become one of our Christmas traditions. This is another one my naturally occurring captured Yeast methods of brewing, which I enjoy doing so much and is so easy to accomplish, resulting in it being virtually non alcoholic if consumed up until about the 10-14 day mark, and increasing in Alcohol ABV% from then onwards. It is also one of those fizzy naturally carbonating drinks that ferments under pressure in the bottle: So you will need to use plastic pop bottles..........you have been pre-warned.
You will need the following;
A 2 gallon/10 litre bucket.
Enough Plastic screw top fizzy pop bottles to accommodate at least 5 litres.
A wooden or plastic spoon
A large saucepan
A funnel
A filter of some description: I like and use a wire mesh bowl filter from a coffee maker.
A piece of muslin cloth to cover the bucket with.
A thermometer (but it's not really necessary)
And a home brewing hydrometer (only if you wish to keep track of the ABV%)
Ingredients:
30 grams of Dried Elderflower (or 10 fresh Elderflower heads when in season). You can buy dried Elderflower on-line from: Purple Sage Botanicals and from other on-line retailers
3 litres of Orange juice; freshly squeezed or from a carton (can you guess which I use?).
400 grams of clear Honey.
350 grams of White Granulated Sugar.
Lots of boiling water.
Method:
Add 25 grams of the dried Elderflower to 2 litres of boiling water, and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Then dissolve the Honey and the sugar in this solution, whilst stirring well. Remove from the heat and pour the contents of the pan into the plastic bucket. Allow to cool to below 40 degrees centigrade (or about body temperature), and then stir in the 3 litres of Orange juice. Stir occasionally over the next couple of hours; 5 or 6 times is sufficient. Sprinkle the remaining 5 grams of dried Elderflower onto the surface of the solution without allowing too much of it to sink. Cover the bucket with a piece of Muslin to keep any bugs and insects out, and allow it to stand for approx. 3-4 days to allow the naturally occurring Yeasts to flourish. When you can see a few frothy bubbles appearing on the surface, give it all a good stir, filter and bottle the mix into plastic screw top fizzy pop bottles.
Allow the solution to ferment for another 7 days or so in the plastic bottles before drinking.
By day 28, you will have a really nice tasting Dry Elderflower Bucks fizz and at 42 days you will have an exceptionally tasting Brut Elderflower Bucks Fizz.
4 years ago I thought that it would be nice to serve Lois a Home-made Elderflower Bucks Fizz on Christmas morning, and it has now become one of our Christmas traditions. This is another one my naturally occurring captured Yeast methods of brewing, which I enjoy doing so much and is so easy to accomplish, resulting in it being virtually non alcoholic if consumed up until about the 10-14 day mark, and increasing in Alcohol ABV% from then onwards. It is also one of those fizzy naturally carbonating drinks that ferments under pressure in the bottle: So you will need to use plastic pop bottles..........you have been pre-warned.
You will need the following;
A 2 gallon/10 litre bucket.
Enough Plastic screw top fizzy pop bottles to accommodate at least 5 litres.
A wooden or plastic spoon
A large saucepan
A funnel
A filter of some description: I like and use a wire mesh bowl filter from a coffee maker.
A piece of muslin cloth to cover the bucket with.
A thermometer (but it's not really necessary)
And a home brewing hydrometer (only if you wish to keep track of the ABV%)
Ingredients:
30 grams of Dried Elderflower (or 10 fresh Elderflower heads when in season). You can buy dried Elderflower on-line from: Purple Sage Botanicals and from other on-line retailers
3 litres of Orange juice; freshly squeezed or from a carton (can you guess which I use?).
400 grams of clear Honey.
350 grams of White Granulated Sugar.
Lots of boiling water.
Method:
Add 25 grams of the dried Elderflower to 2 litres of boiling water, and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Then dissolve the Honey and the sugar in this solution, whilst stirring well. Remove from the heat and pour the contents of the pan into the plastic bucket. Allow to cool to below 40 degrees centigrade (or about body temperature), and then stir in the 3 litres of Orange juice. Stir occasionally over the next couple of hours; 5 or 6 times is sufficient. Sprinkle the remaining 5 grams of dried Elderflower onto the surface of the solution without allowing too much of it to sink. Cover the bucket with a piece of Muslin to keep any bugs and insects out, and allow it to stand for approx. 3-4 days to allow the naturally occurring Yeasts to flourish. When you can see a few frothy bubbles appearing on the surface, give it all a good stir, filter and bottle the mix into plastic screw top fizzy pop bottles.
Allow the solution to ferment for another 7 days or so in the plastic bottles before drinking.
By day 28, you will have a really nice tasting Dry Elderflower Bucks fizz and at 42 days you will have an exceptionally tasting Brut Elderflower Bucks Fizz.
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