[taytors]

Has anyone got a recipe for dandelion wine? 
Got loads of the things this year on lawn and lots round and about
thinking I could maybe use them

[Elvira]

Not tried it but this is out my fave book (CJJ Berry)

675g dandelion heads (pick when fully open)
1.5 kg sugar
2 lemons
1 orange
500g raisins or 280ml white concentrate
1 tsp grape tannin
4.5l boiling water
Yeast and nutrient

Pour boiling water over the heads and leave for 2 days in covered bucket, stirring from time to time. Add sugar and rinds of the lemons and orange and boil for 10 mins. Add juice and pulp pf lemons and orange. Allow to cool and add yeast, tannin and nutrient.  Leave for 3 days in covered bucket in a warm place. Strain into fermentation bottles and add concentrate. Once fermentation stops, rack and top up. 

If you make the wine now it will be ready by Christmas but is best kept for a further 6 months after that.

Good luck! 

[nobby400]

Not tried it but this is out my fave book (CJJ Berry)

675g dandelion heads (pick when fully open)
1.5 kg sugar
2 lemons
1 orange
500g raisins or 280ml white concentrate
1 tsp grape tannin
4.5l boiling water
Yeast and nutrient

Pour boiling water over the heads and leave for 2 days in covered bucket, stirring from time to time. Add sugar and rinds of the lemons and orange and boil for 10 mins. Add juice and pulp pf lemons and orange. Allow to cool and add yeast, tannin and nutrient.  Leave for 3 days in covered bucket in a warm place. Strain into fermentation bottles and add concentrate. Once fermentation stops, rack and top up. 

If you make the wine now it will be ready by Christmas but is best kept for a further 6 months after that.

Good luck! 

Sounds good but when do you add the Raisins

[Elvira]

Hmm - doesn't say but given they are an alternative to concentrate I assume at the time he says to add the concentrate? 

[taytors]

Cheers definately give that a go

[ecky]

Do you strain flower heads before adding sugar and rinds or reboil all for 10 mins
ecky

[Elvira]

Recipe says strain after the 3 days in the bucket so leave the flower heads etc in until then

[compostqueen]

I've not made it myself but I have drunk it and it's lovely. It's like a good sherry 

[sheridan]

I made some last year following this recipe, which was my nans.
For each gallon of wine you want to make, pick a pint or so of petals. Only pick them on a sunny day, before noon. The sap needs to have risen.
Then pick them off ( wear gloves unless you want luminous hands), and add them to enough boiled water to cover them. Leave them, covered, for 3 days.
Strain. It will smell vile.
Add juice of 4 oranges per gallon, and sugar, 1.5 kg per gallon. Bring to boil. Add at this point, if you like the taste, a few cloves. Cool.
Add wine yeast ( I use chablis yeast) and nutrient. I never bother with campden tablets.

Leave it to flibble away with an airlock for at least 4 months. Rack off. It'll probably bubble away again in it's new demijohn. Rack off again if necessary. Do not drink until the New year because it'll be horrible. It's only nice after Christmas! And it's only nice when chilled, I find, lovely with a bit of fizzy water to take the edge off. I find mine always comes out very strong compared to my eldeflower or birch sap, it's more of a "blow your head off" vintage.