Dandelion wine

[Ashley Layton]

I just started my first every wine at the beginning of June, Danelion! It's only a one gallon batch, used 12 cups of petals, a little over 1 gallon of water, steeped them and then left it to cool... Added the peels(with all the white removed) of 2 oranges, 2 lemons, as well as the juice from one of each and a half cup of golden raisins.. I left this all for 3-5 days, punching it down daily.. strained everything out and started secondary
I used lalvin k1-v1116 and 2 tsp go-ferm. SG was 1.095 starting out.. racked it after about 6 weeks, there was a substantial amount of dead yeast and what not in the bottom of the carboy! I did not check sg at this time tho... Been watching it since and hasn't been much activity in the air lock ( there are fizzies in the wine itself tho!) so I check today and it's at .990 so from what I've gathered it's done! It had a descent amount of sediment again and is still cloudy so I racked it again.. I did taste it and it has some nice warmth and flavor to it, wouldnt call it dry but also not exactly semi sweet either.. Wondering what my next step should be, from what I've read I should add sulfates and potassium sorbate? I do plan to back sweeten a little so I know I do that last

 

[winemaker81]

Welcome to WMT!

Rack off the sediment, add K-meta (sulfite, NOT sulfate), and give it 3 months.

Sorbate is necessary only when backsweetening, so do not add it now.

If the SG is 0.990, you're not tasting sugar.

In 3 months, taste the wine again. My guess is a small amount of sugar will bring out the aroma and flavors (common in non-grape wines), but you can make that decision at that time.

 

[ChuckD]

If you decide to add a little sugar before bottling you should add the potassium sorbate at that time.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Welcome to WM

It takes a while for all the floating yeast to settle out, I am not surprised you had more. Practically speaking a slight dust of yeast is cosmetic, home wine isn’t always 100% transparent.
You are in a point where oxygen exposure can make off flavors so K meta is important.

 

[Ashley Layton]

Welcome to WMT!

Rack off the sediment, add K-meta (sulfite, NOT sulfate), and give it 3 months.

Sorbate is necessary only when backsweetening, so do not add it now.

If the SG is 0.990, you're not tasting sugar.

In 3 months, taste the wine again. My guess is a small amount of sugar will bring out the aroma and flavors (common in non-grape wines), but you can make that decision at that time.

How much k meta should I add to a single gallon? I have the powder not tablets... Im finding alot of conflicting answers! Do I mix it with water and then put it in or?

 

[Ashley Layton]

How much k meta should I add to a single gallon? I have the powder not tablets... Im finding alot of conflicting answers! Do I mix it with water and then put it in or?

I ended up taking 3 oz of wine and adding 1/8tsp then added 1 oz of the mixture back to my carboy to get the correct ratio for a single gallon.. should I be stirring it at all over the 3 months or just leave it alone? Also when I add the sorbate and back sweeten in three months should I be racking again since I'm supposed to wait 2-3 days before bottling?

 

[winemaker81]

How much k meta should I add to a single gallon? I have the powder not tablets... Im finding alot of conflicting answers! Do I mix it with water and then put it in or?

The standard dosage for K-meta is 1/4 tsp in 19 to 23 liters of wine. When I have small containers (4 liters is small for me), I stir 1/4 tsp K-meta into 5 to 6 Tbsp water, then add 1 Tbsp of the water to each container.

Another option if you have a finely graduated scale is to measure how many grams in 1/4 tsp K-meta, then divide that number by 5 or 6, and use that many grams in a gallon. I purchased an inexpensive electronic kitchen scale that measures to 0.01 g accuracy -- working in metric makes measuring small amounts a LOT easier. Note -- if my scale was accurate to 0.5 g, I'd probably consider it good enough.

Some folks fine tune K-meta additions, targeting specific ppm results, etc. I don't bother with that, as SO2 testing is relatively expensive and there are so many variables that affect how SO2 is consumed, that I don't consider it a useful effort. I just go for the ballpark.

The problem with stirring the wine when adding K-meta is that there is likely some fine lees (yeast hulls) and this will get mixed in, plus it introduces O2. At my last racking before bulk aging I add the K-meta to the receiving container while racking. When adding K-meta during bulk aging, I do so with the understanding that it will not mix evenly.

Most of my wines are bottled in 4 to 7 months, so I add K-meta after 3 months, and at bottling time I will rack and ensure the next dose of K-meta is well distributed. Some folks will be horrified at my cavalier attitude ...

Don't add sorbate until you're backsweetening. It's completely unnecessary unless new sugar is introduced to the wine.

If your sorbate is fresh, there is no need to wait to bottle after backsweetening. Please understand that I've been making wine a long time and trust my judgment on backsweetening. So I normally bottle immediately. If you're unsure if the wine is sweet enough, then waiting a few days or weeks, then re-tasting makes sense.

Keep in mind that it's far easier to add more sugar than to take some out ...


A large part of winemaking can be summed up in two words: Patience, Grasshopper.

A lot of new winemakers want to touch theirs constantly. Touch 'em only when absolutely necessary.

 

[Ohio Bob]

Once you add the Kmeta and put on the airlock, just leave the carboy alone, do not open it. This only invites oxygen and bacteria in, both of which are bad for the wine, and is the reason you’re putting in the Kmeta to begin with.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I am one that uses a scale. My dosage which is standard is 0.30 gram per gallon. Some folks I know will keep a 1/10 dilution on hand for small treatments. Your technique in dilution was good.