Guest Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 just checked and it's got mould on the top! I assume that's not meant to happen, why did it do that? Should I chuck it out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I've never made any but could the seal not be tight enough, or could the tops of the bottle got some on when you poured it in and thats gone mouldy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Poet, did you resolve this? Just wondering at what stage you had the mould, and if you decided to chuck it and start again? My decanted bottles have a sediment at the bottom, and one of the bottles has been disturbed (by me looking at it, picking it up and turning it etc ) so some of the sediment has collected at the top, it doesn't look good. Is this what you've had? Or have you discovered a new form of penicillin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 nope, chucked it out, sticking to cordial in future. we left it for 2 days (as per recipe) wasn't fermenting so added some wine yeast, left for another 2 days by which time it had green mould on top (like on bread). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 My cordial went mouldy - well, a couple of the lemon slices did They were really bright green, so I had to chuck the lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 How odd I'll keep a closer eye on mine this year, I have noticed more sediment. I've noticed more bits in the cordial too, but it could be lemon. Mind you I'm hoping to make some more this weekend. I hope you both have better luck in the future with this. Roll on Autumn, for the berries Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 my cordial was okay, the cordial recipe calls for citric acid whereas the champagne doesn't. Citric acid is a preservative so I think that helps the cordial not to go mouldy, in theory anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RutlandRooster Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 I always put citric acid in the cordial as it acts as a preservative Forgot to use it once and it went cloudy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Well, I ended up decanting my cordial again, and straining through multi layers of muslin (well, net curtain actually!) as the inclusions were growing fur It now looks and tastes OK, no bits in the cordial either. I don't get it as there was 50g of citric acid in it as well as the lemons My elderflower champagne is fine though, and I have just decanted batch no. 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew and Alan Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 hiya What are you fermenting it in? is it covered? doesn't have to be airlocked , just something to keep flies out. Ours is fermenting away as we type! we just filter it all through thick cheese cloth before we bottle it. did you put in enough lemon juice? or orange juice instead? have done it for a few years now and never worried! it does clear itself once left to mature for a year. then just filter it through a coffee filter. the only thing to think for the future is to scald the inside of your fermenting container first? but you probably have done that anyways! dont give up on making champagne as it tastes great!!! if you wana see a disgusting looking champage try making it from celery x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Mine has sediment in it even though it was double filtered through muslin. I made mine in a bucket, covered it with a tea towel and left it in the kitchen for two days and I didn't get mould. Maybe it's the stages that the flowers were picked at - my fresh flower champers is a different colour to the frozen flower stuff.... BeckyBoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie Jones 67 Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 Is it natural for the champagne to be dirty water colour to start with, I've decanted mine into 2 litre plastic bottles and am opening them daily to allow the carbom dioxde to escape and have to do this for another 10 days. Once this is done am I able to put into nice glass bottles. Got my 2nd batch of champagne and 3rd batch of corial on the go. Elderflower champagne & cordial virgin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Our cordial has turned out reasonably well, but probably needed more flower heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 It's very trial and error, isn't it? Also depends on the weather conditions too. When we did our re enactments, before ES was born, we made this every year as it's very 17th Cent! Although we used exactly the same recipe each time it was always a bit different especially the year that it blew up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Agree, some years are better than others. This year I think it was very late here and then blink and it was all over! I planted more elder trees when we moved here so hopefully we'll have nice shrubs romping away now that they've lasted this long! And flowers within reach! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
