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Certainly too early for elderflowers out here but it could be a good year for them if the hawthorns are anything to go by.

I have made a couple of batches of Elderflower wine / champagne / beer whatever you want to call it I used some recipe from the interweb and no yeast (it has its own apparently <!-- s:? --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_confused.gif" alt="" title="Confused" /><!-- s:? --> )

It was nice but a bit sweet for me but my better half loved it which is more than you can say for my beer

If you can see what you think are Elderflowers this early then they are not elderflowers... The common mistake is to confuse Elderflowers with 'cow parsley'. The flower is very similar but the 'cow parsley' is out in May so you may have seen these.

DO NOT ATTEMPT MAKING CHAMPAGNE WITH COW PARSLEY... It won't work and whatever resides in the bottle will taste disgusting. Cow parsley usually grows at side of the road and has a long green stem, it doesn't get very tall either, (1m apx). Elderflower grows on trees so if it's in any way mature it'll have brown bark.

I gave elderflower champagne a go last year and I just relied on wild yeasts present in the flower. Unfortunately my batch didnt ferment, yeats must have died...

However the drink was still very pleasant when supped cold, rather like a flat lemonade. I used the Fearnely Whittingstall recipe which I'd reccomend.

There are definitely elder flowers out tyrrelstown way already, 3 weeks ago. I see them cycling home from work and I'm sure they are elder as I know the trees and the green berries etc they develop into and I know that cow parsley stuff. The smell of cow parsley would be enough to make you wonder if you were trying to brew with it.

looking like a good omen for the summer in Tyrellstown! I'm in the sunny sounth east and it's only budding right now..

50 points to the first man (or woman) among us who does a 'Cow Parsley' brew and is able to hold it down...

Had a lovely pint of Elderflower Ale in Stansted airport last week, it was a guest ale in the Wetherspoons. I am thinking of making an elderflower cordial to add to a summer ale. Would there be any other way of adding these to a brew without adding the wild yeasts etc?
I too did the Hugh Fearnley recipe a couple of years back, but it was too sweet for my liking and explosive in the bottle!