Dandelion wine

[arh13p]

I am starting to pick dandelions and was wondering if I can simply just freeze them after picking until I have enough to work with?

 

[Bearpaw]

Hey,
Ofcourse you can.
The smartest thing to do is taking the flowers of.
You can do that by taking an fork and ripping the flowers of their sticks.
Freeze only the flowers in a ziplock bag without (or almost without) any sticks.
The sticks give a bitter taste.

Succes, bearpaw

 

[Bearpaw]

Sorry,
Thought it were those little white flowers you meant.
The smartest thing to do with dandelions is taking all the yellow leaves of and trow as many green away as possible.
They gave an bitter taste.
I also froze them this year, it is possible.

Success, bearpaw

 

[HillPeople]

Dandelion Wine- 2013

Remember there was a time when people sprayed herbicides to get rid of dandelions? Stupid fools. Here's the start of this years 5 Gal. batch. The Field and 2 1/2 Gal. of dandelions. Recipe for 5 Gal. to follow.

 

[arh13p]

Nice! So do have to remove all the small green leafy things below the flower yet?

 

[Stressbaby]

This link has a recipe for which the green parts are not removed.

 

[HillPeople]

Thanks for posting the recipe link. That is essentially what I'm using, but with less sugar and 2 lbs. of white raisins. Aiming for a starting SG of 1.085, end .998.
Dandelions are currently steeping. Will boil with peels from 12 oranges tonight, oranges squeezed and strained for juice to be added after cooling.

 

[saramc]

I am starting to pick dandelions and was wondering if I can simply just freeze them after picking until I have enough to work with?

You can also cover the prepped flowers with just enough water and then freeze them. Think of it as a new take on 'packed in water'. Allow whole thing to melt and you have the beginning of your must.

 

[Swediepie]

I just picked my dandelions today! I biked to a nearby field and picked away (stuffed two gallon-size ziplocks in anticipation of using only the petals for a one-gallon batch) and a man saw me and stopped, and asked why I would need so many dandelions. When I told him, he asked me to please leave some flowers for him to pick as well!

 

[HillPeople]

I ended up using 10 lbs. of sugar in my 5 gallon batch for a starting SG of 1.097.
Mixed a yeast starter using Lalvin EC 1118 in a cup of 100 deg. water, let it rehydrate and cool to 70 deg, then added 1/2 cup of strained must and let it foam for 3 hrs.
Added 5 tsp. of Fermax to the must and pitched in the yeast.
It's currently bubbling away nicely.

 

[spinnychick]

5 gallons? My hat is off to you... I spent an entire afternoon yesterday crawling around to get half of what I need for a one gallon batch! I'm used to doing the crawling AFTER drinking the wine...

 

[HillPeople]

First racking 6/4/2013. SG of 1.038. Tasted good, still slightly sweet, aroma of citrus and clove.

 

[HillPeople]

Second racking 7/7/2013. SG of 1.036 for an ABV of 8.1%
Lost most of the clove aroma. Good body, smooth, semi-sweet, flowery, no off aftertastes. Reminded both my wife and me of a good Reisling. Will let clarify and bottle in a couple months.
I'd definitely make this again. Looking forward to trying it at the end of the year.
Liquid sunshine.

 

[Frjen]

Hello

I'm making my very first dandelion wine now, it's been fermenting for almost 8 weeks and nearing 10% abv, SG 1110 - FG 1040. Is your wine finished ?

 

[HillPeople]

Yes- it's done fermenting. I'm going to leave it at 1.036 simply because it tastes so good right there, even though I prefer dry wines. Will clarify it soon and bottle end of August or so.

 

[Frjen]

Hello

I just got mine down to 1038, is just fermenting so slowly I think I'll wait a couple more days.

 

[HillPeople]

Dandelion update

9/8/2013
SG at 1.033, ABV = 8.5%
Added bentonite slurry mixed with 1/2 qt. wine to the 6 gal. carboy.
It was pretty clear to begin with and we probably could have bottled this weekend, but decided on additional clarifying.
It tastes great and I will definitely make this again.
Alcohol sunshine!

 

[barbl72]

I have 2 gallons of dandelion wine I started last April. I've done everything according to Jack Keller's recipe, but it just won't clear! I added SuperKleer about 10 days ago and it started to clear at the top, but then just stalled. What can I do? Please help!

 

[HillPeople]

Mix up a slurry of bentonite in boiling water- maybe something like 2 tablespoons in a cup of water. Let it sit overnight. Whip it up the next day, extract a cup of wine, and mix in a tablespoon of the bentonite slurry. Pour it back in and stir. You'll be amazed.