Had a bottle of this last night and it was great. see http://www.badgerbrewery.com/beers/champ.asp
great taste of elderflower
has anyone else tried it?
any ideas on how to recreate? i am guessing chuck in a few elderflowers into the boil of a pale ale.
Badger Champion
- bitter_dave
- Even further under the Table
- Posts: 2170
- Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2005 1:00 pm
- Location: Whitley Bay
In the most recent journal of the Craft Brewing Association, Brewers Contact, there was a short piece on brewing with elderflowers.
Unfortunately journal articles under a year old are not put on their http://www.craft brewing.org.uk/, but I'll dig out my copy later and give you a gist of what it says
Unfortunately journal articles under a year old are not put on their http://www.craft brewing.org.uk/, but I'll dig out my copy later and give you a gist of what it says

- bitter_dave
- Even further under the Table
- Posts: 2170
- Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2005 1:00 pm
- Location: Whitley Bay
Ok, the article is very short, and can be summed up as follows:
Wait for elderflowers to be totally ripe before harvesting them - this is when they can be shaken off into a carrier bag. They are ready to use when they turn cream. Better to shake off, not snip - snipping can add astringency and tannins.
You need lots - 80g of flowers require 2 or 3 carrier bags of heads.
The writer added 80g of ripe flowers to 40 litres of wort 15 mins before the end of the boil (a 1042 pale malt with 40 IBUs of Challenger), another person added a handful to an adnams clone.
Hope this makes sense, if not let me know.
Btw - plug: Craft Brewing Association is a good thing to join - you get a newsletter four times a year, and they have local groups you can meet up with.
Wait for elderflowers to be totally ripe before harvesting them - this is when they can be shaken off into a carrier bag. They are ready to use when they turn cream. Better to shake off, not snip - snipping can add astringency and tannins.
You need lots - 80g of flowers require 2 or 3 carrier bags of heads.
The writer added 80g of ripe flowers to 40 litres of wort 15 mins before the end of the boil (a 1042 pale malt with 40 IBUs of Challenger), another person added a handful to an adnams clone.
Hope this makes sense, if not let me know.

Btw - plug: Craft Brewing Association is a good thing to join - you get a newsletter four times a year, and they have local groups you can meet up with.