Brewing Master

Question:

        Could anyone give me a good recipe for Dandelion wine?  I’ve brewed several batches of beer and mead, so I have an idea of what I’m doing.  What part of the dandelion is used, and how much is needed? Thanks.                 -Tom

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My room-mate made some great dandelion wine last year – I was pretty impressed with it (spent hours out in the field collecting dandelion petals!).  I’ll post back here again when I get more info. – Warren

Response:

        Could anyone give me a good recipe for Dandelion wine?  I’ve brewed several batches of beer and mead, so I have an idea of what I’m doing.  What part of the dandelion is used, and how much is needed? Thanks.

You have to use the yellow part. Just the petals. No green. This is what I did. Note: I prefer not to boil my honey. Your recipe may vary. 6-8 cups, dandelion flowers (as little green as possible) 1 lb, chopped sultanas (white raisins) 2 lbs, light honey 1 campden tablet (yes, I actually used one. There were bugs) champagne yeast Put flower heads and raisins in primary. Boil 3/4 gallon of water. Turn off heat. Dissolve in honey. Pour hot water on flowers & raisins. Add crushed Campden tablet. Cool to room temp. Pitch yeast. Rack after one week. Top up with water. That’s as far as I’ve gotten with it. I plan to rack once a month until clear. -georg non ani sunt permittendi

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        To continue this, can the dandelions be boiled?  I prefer to boil unless it will greatly affect the flavor, just so I know that it is germ free.  Anyone out there made dandelion wine by boiling the flowers?                 -Tom

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        To continue this, can the dandelions be boiled?  I prefer to boil unless it will greatly affect the flavor, just so I know that it is germ free.  Anyone out there made dandelion wine by boiling the flowers?

Why I didn’t boil the flowers: because I didn’t want it to taste like it was stewed or cooked.  I can taste the difference, and that bothers me. Also, it’s still a bright yellow color, and I understand that is rare in dandelion wine. Do as you will. It’s your wine. -georg non ani sunt permittendi

Response:

My room-mate made some great dandelion wine last year – I was pretty impressed with it (spent hours out in the field collecting dandelion petals!).  I’ll post back here again when I get more info. – Warren

Just passing through again and noticed this post: I recall him telling me also that he used 30! cups of dandelion petals! I just remeber seeing all those petals floating around in the carboy – what a sight.  After a year, it had a very pale-ish yellow tone to it, very aromatic – it was reaaaaly good too. – Warren

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I recall him telling me also that he used 30! cups of dandelion petals! I just remeber seeing all those petals floating around in the carboy – what a sight.  After a year, it had a very pale-ish yellow tone to it, very aromatic – it was reaaaaly good too.

The recipe I have calls for 6-8 cups of dandelion petals for one gallon. 30 is the lower end of that for five gallons. It takes a *lot* of patience to pick it all. I spent two hours picking the 8 cups I used for 1 gallon. Pale yellow, in the secondary. -georg non ani sunt permittendi

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I’ve tasted both, and I think the fermentation schedule is probably the most important, and it can be quite  nice even with a bit of green.

Plese explain what is important about the fermentation schedule for dandelion wine, is it different from normal winemaking? Ferment in promary until SG = about 1.03, 3 weeks in secondary, rack and  continue racking about every 3 months? I have 2 batches going now, flower heads with most of the green removed.  One with only nutrient and dandelions and one with that and lemons, oranges and grape concentrate. Blackberry Jack

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Jennie McIntyre’s Dandelion Wine [snip] 3 lbs raisins – dark or white

                          ^^^^^ I tried a batch of dandelion wine with white raisins once.  It took a week to start fermenting, and I basically had to treat it like a stuck ferment.  The problem (which I would have realized if I’d thought about it for a moment) was that the raisins were sulphited.  Since then I’ve looked high and low and been unable to find any non-sulphited white raisins.  Some blessed soul on this very newsgroup suggested that I use white grape juice concentrate and that seems to work nicely, but does anyone have access to white raisins that haven’t been sulphited?  (The ones I’ve seen in the healthfood stores are lighter than dark raisins, but far from white) This is the second time I’ve seen dandelion wine recipes that call for white raisins.  How do people make this work?  Am I missing something basic here that I had such problems? — Joel Stave

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Am I the only one who’s read the discussion of dandelion winemaking and said to himself, "Boy, that would taste better with barley and hops instead of lemons, oranges, raisins and 15 pounds of sugar"? Has anyone out there brewed dandelion beer?  I’m considering something blonde and light-bodied. "What’s a supermodel?  Am I supposed to fight evil models or something?" – Debbi Walker, Supermodel, scripted by Tom Peyer.

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white grape juice concentrate and that seems to work nicely, but does anyone have access to white raisins that haven’t been sulphited? white raisins.  How do people make this work?  

Hi, You could try boiling them for around 5 to 10 minutes, this should drive off any sulphite. Cheers Liz Liz Blades Proprietor of Blades Home Brewery http://www.dmatters.co.uk/Blades/blades.html

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Any wine yeast will do.  If going up in concentration, you might want a "Madeira".  To be kind to the yeast, some reduce the initial sugar concentration, and make the rest into a syrup which they add after the stuff has rumbled a while (yeast do not "prefer" high sugar concentrations).

I currently have a puffed up pack of wyeast "sweet" mead (thought I’d grabbed dry).  Would this be appropriate? And the dandelions are approaching to fast.  I can’t get them till friday, but I’m seeing good sized patches already  please, just 4 more days . . . rick — R E HAWKINS These opinions will not be those of ISU until they pay my retainer.

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(emailed/posted) I’ve brewed dandelion wine.  A beer would have to be very light indeed not to overpower the delicate dandelion taste.  Perhaps an extremely light wheat beer with rice or light corn adjunct?  And the hops would have to be light as well.  I suspect even then, that the flavour would be lost to the barley, unless one tripled or quadrupled the amount of dandelion petals. And, having picked enough petals for ONE gallon of wine, I don’t think it would be worth it to do it for FIVE gallons of beer, at a higher petal rate; I’d rather get nice delicate flavours from a carefully brewed wheat beer with a nice Wyeast…. Stephen Am I the only one who’s read the discussion of dandelion winemaking and said to himself, "Boy, that would taste better with barley and hops instead of lemons, oranges, raisins and 15 pounds of sugar"? Has anyone out there brewed dandelion beer?  I’m considering something blonde and light-bodied. "What’s a supermodel?  Am I supposed to fight evil models or something?" – Debbi Walker, Supermodel, scripted by Tom Peyer.

– Sorry for the spam deterrent address in the header. Remove the "remove-".

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Comment, when I used to make Dandelion wine, I used sultanas not raisins, I found that raisins had too strong a flavour. Cheers, Peter Byford. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Jennie McIntyre’s Dandelion Wine [snip] 3 lbs raisins – dark or white                          ^^^^^ I tried a batch of dandelion wine with white raisins once.  It took a week to start fermenting, and I basically had to treat it like a stuck ferment.  The problem (which I would have realized if I’d thought about it for a moment) was that the raisins were sulphited.  Since then I’ve looked high and low and been unable to find any non-sulphited white raisins.  Some blessed soul on this very newsgroup suggested that I use white grape juice concentrate and that seems to work nicely, but does anyone have access to white raisins that haven’t been sulphited?  (The ones I’ve seen in the healthfood stores are lighter than dark raisins, but far from white) This is the second time I’ve seen dandelion wine recipes that call for white raisins.  How do people make this work?  Am I missing something basic here that I had such problems? — Joel Stave

– Peter Byford

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Jennie McIntyre’s Dandelion Wine [snip] 3 lbs raisins – dark or white                           ^^^^^ I tried a batch of dandelion wine with white raisins once.  It took a week to start fermenting, and I basically had to treat it like a stuck ferment.  The problem (which I would have realized if I’d thought about it for a moment) was that the raisins were sulphited.  Since then I’ve looked high and low and been unable to find any non-sulphited white raisins.  Some blessed soul on this very newsgroup suggested that I use white grape juice concentrate and that seems to work nicely, but does anyone have access to white raisins that haven’t been sulphited?  (The ones I’ve seen in the healthfood stores are lighter than dark raisins, but far from white) This is the second time I’ve seen dandelion wine recipes that call for white raisins.  How do people make this work?  Am I missing something basic here that I had such problems? — Joel Stave

I just bottled 4 bottles of dandelion wine, which was made with white raisins. Didn’t have any trouble with the fermentation – FYI.

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Jennie McIntyre’s Dandelion Wine [snip] 3 lbs raisins – dark or white                           ^^^^^ I tried a batch of dandelion wine with white raisins once.  It took a week to start fermenting, and I basically had to treat it like a stuck ferment.  The problem (which I would have realized if I’d thought about it for a moment) was that the raisins were sulphited.  Since then I’ve looked high and low and been unable to find any non-sulphited white raisins.  Some blessed soul on this very newsgroup suggested that I use white grape juice concentrate and that seems to work nicely, but does anyone have access to white raisins that haven’t been sulphited?  (The ones I’ve seen in the healthfood stores are lighter than dark raisins, but far from white) This is the second time I’ve seen dandelion wine recipes that call for white raisins.  How do people make this work?  Am I missing something basic here that I had such problems? — Joel Stave I just bottled 4 bottles of dandelion wine, which was made with white raisins. Didn’t have any trouble with the fermentation – FYI.

I soak my raisins for several hours before adding them to the must. Stir often.  This should get rid of the sulphites (as SO2). Cheers Warren —

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R.E . Hawkins asked : From last time around, a copuple of years ago, I recall that the basic part is to gather about 5 gallons of flowers, remove the greens, put them in boiling water, and sugar (?) or other fermentable, and assorted= flavorings.

And then there was some confusion about what was meant by "the greens" from a respondent.         When you pick the dandelion, the little green "collar" will follow right along with the fuzzy little head.  The removal of all the green parts is meant to make a milder wine than if you’ve left them on.  The removal of them, is however, QUITE tedious.  I’ve tasted both, and I think the fermentation schedule is probably the most important, and it can be quite  nice even with a bit of green. So, which flavorings (i recall raisins & citrus).

The citrus is added primarily to bring the stuff into a yeast friendly pH range.  The dandelion taste by itself really needs no flavour enhancement (unless of course you want one). How much sugar

You can just count it out…I think about 360 points of gravity per kilogram per litre is right.  Totally fermented (which sugar should do) that would give you a (theoreticall) whopping about 50% w/w alc per kilo per liter.  That’d make me guess that just under a kilo for every 4 liters of water should put you in wine country– In rough Anglicani–2 lbs sugar to a gallon water?  (<- some winemaker might want to make sure I’m not way off course here). You might just try and shoot for an OG of around 1085. what type of yeast =

Any wine yeast will do.  If going up in concentration, you might want a "Madeira".  To be kind to the yeast, some reduce the initial sugar concentration, and make the rest into a syrup which they add after the stuff has rumbled a while (yeast do not "prefer" high sugar concentrations). Dr. Piv=E5 BTW Dandelion wines just get better with age.  It seems to me that they are prone to Malic fermentations, and wonder of wonders, a year after you have made them they can produce a "spritz"–lovely!  Some say that this comes in cycle with the time they bloom (the ones you didn’t pick) the following year…but we don’t believe that….or do we?

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All right – I can’t bear to see you guys casting around when here I am sitting on my grandmother’s recipe for the best dandelion wine around. This comes out sort of like a cream sherry in character. Allow at least 6 months to age before you make any judgements on it – after all, it isn’t beer! Jennie McIntyre’s Dandelion Wine 5 gals dandelion blossoms    (just "pop" ‘em off so you keep the yellow and the green collar) Pour 5 gals boiling water over the blossoms and allow to sit 2 days. Strain off the blossoms and add the following: 15 lbs sugar (yes, fifteen) 3 lbs raisins – dark or white 26 oz white grape wine concentrate (optional) 10 sliced lemons with rinds 10 sliced oranges with rinds 4tsp yeast nutrient madiera or sherry yeast Allow to ferment until it calms down then rack. Bottle when you must, but it ages faster in the carboy. Jennie used to make this without the grape concentrate, and using baking yeast. Still came out great. The citrus gives it the needed ph, and the rinds give it some "bite". I’ve tried less sugar, but dandelions are not suitable for a dry wine. A madiera or sherry yeast will leave you with up to 12% alcohol and a bit of residual sugar. — Kent Michaelsen The address above is bogus to defeat automated spamming. Remove the word "bogus" from your Reply To form.

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Here’s one from Wild Edibles from Missouri by Jan Phillips: Pick the flowers early in the morning with little or no dew. Excluded the bitter calyx and press the flowers into a crock. Pour one gallon of boiling water for every two gallons of flower heads. Let the mixture set for 3 days. Strain and add rine and pulp from 3 oranges and 3 lemons. Add 3 pounds of sugar and 1 ounce yeast. Cove and leave for 3 weeks. After 3 weeks, strain, bottle and cap.

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OK, it’s getting to that time of year.  THe dandelions will soon sprout by the acre in the housing complexes here.  Any suggestions? From last time around, a copuple of years ago, I recall that the basic part is to gather about 5 gallons of flowers, remove the greens, put them in boiling water, and sugar (?) or other fermentable, and assorted flavorings. So, which flavorings (i recall raisins & citrus).  How much sugar?  And what type of yeast (and nutrients?) now if only they’ll hold off that mass sprouting for, uh, 12 days so i can finish finals . . . rick — R E HAWKINS These opinions will not be those of ISU until they pay my retainer.

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From last time around, a copuple of years ago, I recall that the basic part is to gather about 5 gallons of flowers, remove the greens, put them in boiling water, and sugar (?) or other fermentable, and assorted flavorings.

Do you mean the greens go in the boiling water, or the flowers?  Do "greens" include stems and all? So, which flavorings (i recall raisins & citrus).  How much sugar?  And what type of yeast (and nutrients?)

Whatever flavoring you like.  If I ever brew a batch, I’ll want to try out the natural flavor.  If making regular strength wine, use champagne yeast, I suppose.  Use only as much sugar as you need for bottling.  Don’t know whether yeast nutrient is necessary, but you can’t go wrong using it. "What’s a supermodel?  Am I supposed to fight evil models or something?" – Debbi Walker, Supermodel, scripted by Tom Peyer.

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