Brewing Master

Question:

It’s definately for real.  I’ve only had it once, but it was pretty good. The stuff I had was 7 or 8 years old, and I have no idea what was in it, unfortunately.  My girlfriend and I made some last spring from a recipe we dug up somewhere….I don’t have it in front of me, but I remember it having oranges, lemons, dandelions, white raisons, corn sugar, etc.  I had forgotton about it, but I guess it’s time to crack a bottle open and see how it’s going.  If it shows promise, I try to dig up the recipe and post it here.

I looked into it a few years ago when living in university housing and htere were literally acres coming in at a time.  After a couple of years, I managed to have a recipe in hand *before* they came, and thought I was ready. Rather than all at once, they came in a wave that lasted weeks Anyway, what the recipes seem to have in common is yellow deandelion flower roughly equal in volume to the amount of finished wine, and something to ferment (honey/sugar/whatvever). Someday I’ll get some . . . hawk — Richard E. Hawkins, Asst. Prof. of Economics    /"   ASCII ribbon campaign These opinions will not be those of              X    and postings. Penn State until it pays my retainer.           /  

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OK, Spring is here and looking at my yard and its massive crop of dandilions, got me wondering.  Is dandilion wine for real, what is it, whats in it? Whats a recipe. Heck I’m just curious, maybe off topic but I bet someone here knows??? Thanks

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Dandelion wine is  for real. I’ve had it twice. Once it was made with honey so I guess it’s a mead. The other time it was made with sugar. They were both horrible. You might ask on rec.crafts.meadmaking. If you do a google search I’m sure you’ll find many recipes. OK, Spring is here and looking at my yard and its massive crop of dandilions, got me wondering.  Is dandilion wine for real, what is it, whats in it? Whats a recipe. Heck I’m just curious, maybe off topic but I bet someone here knows??? Thanks

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Response:

It’s definately for real.  I’ve only had it once, but it was pretty good. The stuff I had was 7 or 8 years old, and I have no idea what was in it, unfortunately.  My girlfriend and I made some last spring from a recipe we dug up somewhere….I don’t have it in front of me, but I remember it having oranges, lemons, dandelions, white raisons, corn sugar, etc.  I had forgotton about it, but I guess it’s time to crack a bottle open and see how it’s going.  If it shows promise, I try to dig up the recipe and post it here. -Darren —–=  Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News  =—– http://www.newsfeeds.com – The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!  Check out our new Unlimited Server. No Download or Time Limits! —–==  Over 80,000 Newsgroups – 19 Different Servers!  ==—–

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"Spring is here and looking at my yard and its massive crop of dandilions, got me wondering.  Is dandilion wine for real, what is it, whats in it? Whats a recipe?" There are as many recipes for dandelion wine as there are beer recipes. Many go back for centuries.  My grandfather at 90 still makes his own, though to me, it’s awful stuff to drink.  One recipe I found on the internet: 1 qt. dandelion blossoms 1 gal. hot water 3 1/2 lb. sugar 2 lemons, cut in chunks 2 oranges, cut in chunks Pour hot water over dandelion blossoms. Let stand for 24 hours. Strain through a jelly bag. Heat juice (throw away what gets caught in the jelly bag) and add sugar, lemons and oranges. Reheat (do not boil), then put in a stone jar. Let ferment. Skim everyday for 6 or 7 weeks, removing fruit after 2 weeks. Put in sterile, sealed bottles. An interesting fact about dandelions is that they are not native to north America.  Colonists brought them here from Europe as a food source a few hundred years ago.  Unfortunately, since then, we spend billions of dollars each year to eradicate these little "gifts" from our forefathers.

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My father’s uncle used to make dandelion wine.  When my dad was just a young ‘un, his uncle would pay him to go out in the yard to pick the dandelions.  The uncle was amazed when my father brought him a huge sack full within about ten minutes.  My father had pounded a few nails into a board & simply swathed the things with his contraption.  Sneaky little bugger. You could also use the dandelions instead of hops or in conjunction with to flavour beer (from what I’ve heard – no personal experience from me), and I just saw a news article a couple of nights ago on how dandelions are becoming popular at the local specialty produce store. Apparently people eat the green part.  Yuck. Kelvin – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – OK, Spring is here and looking at my yard and its massive crop of dandilions, got me wondering.  Is dandilion wine for real, what is it, whats in it? Whats a recipe. Heck I’m just curious, maybe off topic but I bet someone here knows??? Thanks

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I have made dandelion beer twice.  The last time I used no hops – just dandelions.  Frankly it was a bit disappointing since it tasted a bit like Bud.  When I went to do it again, my eyes and nose told me that that was not a good idea. —  Dan Listermann Check out our E-tail site at http://www.listermann.com Take a look at the anti-telemarketer forum.  It is my new hobby!

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My father’s uncle used to make dandelion wine.  When my dad was just a young ‘un, his uncle would pay him to go out in the yard to pick the dandelions.  The uncle was amazed when my father brought him a huge sack full within about ten minutes.  My father had pounded a few nails into a board & simply swathed the things with his contraption.  Sneaky little bugger. You could also use the dandelions instead of hops or in conjunction with to flavour beer (from what I’ve heard – no personal experience from me), and I just saw a news article a couple of nights ago on how dandelions are becoming popular at the local specialty produce store. Apparently people eat the green part.  Yuck. Kelvin OK, Spring is here and looking at my yard and its massive crop of dandilions, got me wondering.  Is dandilion wine for real, what is it, whats in it? Whats a recipe. Heck I’m just curious, maybe off topic but I bet someone here knows??? Thanks

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Anyway, what the recipes seem to have in common is yellow deandelion flower roughly equal in volume to the amount of finished wine, and something to ferment (honey/sugar/whatvever). A friend used to make Gorse Wine. Gorse (furze) is a thorny European plant that sets the hills alive with brilliant yellow flowers every year.

They’re also good at catching chubby little bears all stuffed with fluff . . . hawk — Richard E. Hawkins, Asst. Prof. of Economics    /"   ASCII ribbon campaign These opinions will not be those of              X    and postings. Penn State until it pays my retainer.           /  

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Jack Keller will make wine from anything that isn’t moving fast enough to get away from him.

There *has* to be a joke about stopping a wife mid-shopping spree and a bum knee in here *somewhere* — Richard E. Hawkins, Asst. Prof. of Economics    /"   ASCII ribbon campaign These opinions will not be those of              X    and postings. Penn State until it pays my retainer.           /  

Response:

Anyway, what the recipes seem to have in common is yellow deandelion flower roughly equal in volume to the amount of finished wine, and something to ferment (honey/sugar/whatvever).

A friend used to make Gorse Wine. Gorse (furze) is a thorny European plant that sets the hills alive with brilliant yellow flowers every year. I remember drinking it with gusto and feeling like death the next day. Interestingly, Merriam Webster says: "Etymology: Middle English gorst, from Old English; akin to Old High German gersta, barley". ben

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There are as many recipes for dandelion wine as there are beer recipes. Many go back for centuries……

I have made it several times and thought it was great…. that was when anything home made seemed great.  In fact it was rather lousy stuff. Later in life I learned that most of the recipes (at least the ones I was aware of) were ill-informed nonsense. Dandelion wine is basically a sort of wine made from raisons and fortified with sugar. This is pretty minimal stuff but what is supposed to  make it worthwhile is the bouquet contributed by the dandelions.  This of course, is completely lost in any process where heat is applied to the must and why my attempts tasted like lousy raison wine.  The dandelions should be added only near the end of fermentation if any bouquet from them is expected. Otherwise, you are waisting your time bothering with the dandelions in dandelion wine. js — PHOTO OF THE WEEK http://user.mc.net/arf/weekly.htm HOME: Astronomy, Beer, Cheese, Sausage, Videos http://user.mc.net/arf

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dandelions are becoming popular at the local specialty produce store. Apparently people eat the green part.  Yuck.

The edible "green part" is just the leaf, not the hollow stem, so it’s not so different from eating lettuce. Edible green leaves aren’t so strange. Dandelion leaves are a little bitter on their own, but plenty of salad mixes, like those they sell as "spring mix" here in San Francisco, contain some. Fun fact: they’re quite a powerful diuretic, hence their name in French, "pisenlit" — piss the bed. ben

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I have made dandelion beer twice.  The last time I used no hops – just dandelions.  Frankly it was a bit disappointing since it tasted a bit like Bud.  When I went to do it again, my eyes and nose told me that that was not a good idea. —  Dan Listermann

Tasted like Bud, eh? Now we know their secret.

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Jack Keller will make wine from anything that isn’t moving fast enough to get away from him. Here’s a link to his recipes: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques2.asp Or start out at the main entry point, that’ll keep you busy for a few years. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/index.asp Also, you will find a lot of winemaking expertise in rec.crafts.winemaking. Cheers Brian

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – OK, Spring is here and looking at my yard and its massive crop of dandilions, got me wondering.  Is dandilion wine for real, what is it, whats in it? Whats a recipe. Heck I’m just curious, maybe off topic but I bet someone here knows??? Thanks

Response:

1 qt. dandelion blossoms 1 gal. hot water 3 1/2 lb. sugar 2 lemons, cut in chunks 2 oranges, cut in chunks Pour hot water over dandelion blossoms. Let stand for 24 hours. Strain through a jelly bag. Heat juice (throw away what gets caught in the jelly bag) and add sugar, lemons and oranges. Reheat (do not boil), then put in a stone jar. Let ferment. Skim everyday for 6 or 7 weeks, removing fruit after 2 weeks. Put in sterile, sealed bottles.

By "blossoms", do you mean the yellow part only? Is it important to separate the adjacent green bits? (It looks like a lot of work!) An interesting fact about dandelions is that they are not native to north America.  Colonists brought them here from Europe as a food source a few hundred years ago.  Unfortunately, since then, we spend billions of dollars each year to eradicate these little "gifts" from our forefathers.

I’ve always said that the only reason dandelions are classed as a weed is that they are easy to grow. — Adam

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