hi i made elderflower wine a month ago - the recipe said leave the elderflowes to soak the elderflowers for 2 days, but the copy i had written out said 2 weeks! so it all sat in a bucket for 2 weeks! flowers, lemons, sugar, water, vinegar, citric acid, everything..... then i opened it to strain and bottle it (having not looked in at all, wanting to keep it sealed and uncontaminated) - and it had a layer of scum on top, not mould, and it didn't smell at all, but all mixed in with the elderflowers was greyish scum. it smelt wonderful and fresh still, not gone off or mouldy so i thought id bottle it anyway, just in case it was ok. it looks very cloudy though. my recipe was with no yeast, i guess it just works with the natural yeasts in the flowers or something..... please can somebody tell me if this is ok to drink? i really hope so! i made some elderflower champaign at the same time and it was lovely. its my birthday tomorow and id love to serve it but i want to check 1st if it will be ok, id hate to poison everyone! thanks, kim

That is a very difficult question. First doing what they call a malolactic fermentation is OK, I guess, but I would have used a hydrometer to see if it had actually fermentented totally out. Even with the malolactic fermentation you should really know where it had stopped. If malolactic fermentation, called MLF, doesn't stop it can produce lactic acid. The stuff that is in milk. If the alcohol is where you wanted it to be adding 1 crushed campden per gallon and 1/2 teaspoon of potassium sorbate per gallon would stop all fermentation. Usually it takes a few months to naturally clear a wine. There are some clearing agents that will do it faster.