Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Eating and Drinking => Homebrew => Topic started by: Elcie on April 06, 2010, 16:32
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The dandelions are out now and I have finally remembered to ask the question on here!
How do you make dandelion wine? The only wine I have made so far is the kit from Wilkinsons. Any advice much appreciated.
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I have copied this from the web but its the same recipe that we have used. It always make a very nice white wine. Dont forget its just the yellow flowers you want to pick.
1oz whole ginger
5 pints of dandelion flowers (stalks and leaves removed)
8 pints of boiling water
3lb sugar
Juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange
½ oz yeast
Place the ginger and the dandelion flowers in the boiling water and allow them to stand for 4 days stirring from time to time.
Strain the liquid after the 4 days through several thickness of fine muslin
Stir in the sugar, fruit juices and the yeast.
Keep in a warm cupboard or room (65 to 75 Fahrenheit) and allow it to ferment
When you are sure that the fermentation is complete (bubbles have ceased) stir the wine. Keep it for 3 days and allow to settle.
Strain the wine once more and pour it into a corked demi-john (not bottles)
After 6 months of maturing pour it into bottles then keep for a further 4 months before enjoying your first bottle of home made dandelion wine
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Thanks for that advice, I keep seeing the dandelions as I'm driving around. Just got to go and pick them before the lawnmowers appear!
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St George's Day was always the traditional day for picking the dandelions for wine-making. Suggest you wash the flower heads well too, especially if picking from a public place or cow field :D
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i started off a batch of dandelion wine yesterday.
i went to wilkos and spent about £40 on loads of bits and bobs including a big 5 gallon brewing butt.
laura went over the allotments picking all the heads of the dandelions then we separated the flowers from the green bits on the back, about 2 hours of picking and separating resulted in about 5 pints of usable flower heads.
we boiled up 2 litres of water and added it to the brewing butt along with the flowers, a couple of squeezed orange and lemons and a campden tablet.
its now steeping under the stairs and we're giving it a quick stir every 6 hours of so.
tomorrow we'll boil up the mixture for 10mins then strain through an old tea towel, add the sugar and then top up with about 6 litres of cold water and the yeast.
Question
should we then put it straight into demijohns under an air lock or should it go back into the bucket for a couple of days?
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4 days is the norm stirring daily in fermenter,might be worth adding a can of white grape juice or 1.5 lbs of chopped sultanas
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Just a further bit of information for anyone who is pushed for time.
My Grandfather was an avid home brewer who made dandelion wine from both fresh and dried dandys. He would lay the ones to be dried out in the sun on an old sheet for several days, taking them in at night, until they were thoroughly dry and would use them later. Handy if you're pushed for time.
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mine was racked off last weekend into a clean demijohn and an air lock added but there doesnt seem to be any bubbles coming through, whats gone wrong?
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Is it warm enough? You don't want it anywhere too cold or that can stop fermentation. Try moving it somewhere warmer and seeing if that kicks it off. Failing that, was the yeast fresh? You can try making up a new batch. Take some of your dandelion liquid, add an equal quantity of water and add some yeast. When it's frothing nicely, add an equal quantity of dandelion. Do that a couple more times, allowing the yeast to multiply each time, until you have a pint or so. (This is because your wine mixture already has its full amount of sugar added, and that can 'shock' the yeast when you add it.)
I tend to add yeast at the bucket stage - you can tell if it's working because it fizzes when you stir it. :)