Dandelion Wine Recipes

DANDELION WINE

Steps:

• Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar and cool to lukewarm.
• Place the dandelion petals, citrus juice and zest into a one-gallon fermentation vessel. Add the yeast nutrient and pour the lukewarm sugar water over the top.
• Dissolve a packet of champagne yeast or other wine yeast in lukewarm water. Allow it to stand for 5 minutes to rehydrate and then pour it into the wine. Top off with a bit of extra water to bring to fill the carboy, but be sure to leave at least an inch of headspace.
• Cap with an airlock and ferment for about 3 weeks or until fermentation has stopped. It will take a bit longer if you don't use raisins because they provide extra micro-nutrients to get the yeast working faster.
• Siphon the wine into a clean container, leaving the yeast sediment behind. Allow the wine to ferment in secondary for at least 6 to 8 weeks, checking the water lock periodically to ensure that the water hasn't evaporated.
• Sciphon the dandelion wine into a clean container, again leaving the sediment behind, to prepare for bottling.
• Bottle the dandelion wine in corked wine bottles for longer storage, or flip top Grolsch bottles for tiny batches you're not planning on storing long.
• Allow the wine age in the bottle at least 2 months before drinking, ideally 6 months or more. Note: During aging, the wine should be kept somewhere cool-ish like a basement or closet on the north side of the house.

MAKE YOUR OWN DANDELION WINE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Snip off most of the calyxes (green parts) from the base of flowers and all of the stems. It's OK if a little of the green goes in, but too much will result in a bitter wine.
• Compost or discard the calyxes and stems. Put trimmed petals in a nonreactive vessel (no aluminum, copper, or iron).
• Bring water to a boil and pour over flower petals. Let mixture sit for 2 hours.
• Place a colander lined with cheesecloth or butter muslin over a large, nonreactive pot and strain dandelions, pressing gently on the flowers to extract as much of the liquid as possible. Compost or discard dandelion petals.
• Place pot over high heat and bring strained dandelion infusion to a boil.
• Stir in citrus juices and sugar, mixing to dissolve sugar.
• Add lemon and orange zest and chopped raisins. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
• When mixture has cooled to room temperature, stir in yeast nutrient or cornmeal and wine or baking yeast.
• Cover and leave at room temperature for 10 to 14 days, stirring 3 times each day.
• Strain into a sanitized 1-gallon jug and seal with either a fermentation lock (available from online homebrewing and winemaking supplies) or a balloon with a single pinprick in it. The pinprick allows gasses to escape during active fermentation, but the balloon still keeps detrimental bacteria out.
• After 3 weeks, siphon or carefully pour the liquid into another sanitized jug, leaving behind any yeasty sediment.
• If there is more than 2 inches between the top of the wine and the rim of the bottle, top off with a simple syrup of equal parts sugar and water.
• When wine is clear, rather than cloudy, wait 30 more days and then siphon or carefully pour it into another jug, leaving behind any yeasty sediment on the bottom.
• Refit with an airlock or pricked balloon.
• Repeat this procedure every 3 months for 9 total months until almost no sediment is forming on the bottom of the jug anymore.
• Funnel into sanitized bottles and cork bottles.
• Age for another year before drinking.

DANDELION WINE

Steps:

• 1. Place dandelion flowers in a large heatproof container. Pour boiling water over top. Cover and let steep for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours. When making dandelion wine, cleanliness is key. Make sure your kitchen counters, hands, and all utensils are sterile.
• 2. Pour the resulting tea through a fine-mesh strainer into a large pot or saucepan, pressing the petals to extract as much flavor as possible. Discard blossoms and bring tea to a boil.
• 3. Place sugar in a heatproof 1-gallon jar. Pour boiling dandelion tea into jar and stir to dissolve. Add lemon and orange slices. Cover jar and let liquid stand for 2 weeks at room temperature, shaking every couple days.
• 4. Pour dandelion wine through a fine-mesh strainer lined with a coffee filter into a clean container. Serve or cover and store refrigerated for up to 3 weeks.