Dandelion Wine

I believe it was the middle of May when the idea came to mind to try making dandelion wine.  I had a multitude of dandelions dotting my yard and a long weekend in which to get started, so start I did.  I followed a recipe from Jack Keller's Wine making website which is a great website to visit if you are learning how to make wine.  The recipe calls for about 2 quarts of dandelion flower petals.  Some recipes use whole flowers, but this one just called for the petals which tends to make a less bitter wine because the green parts of the plant are what make the bitter flavor.  So I spent a good half hour plucking dandelions from their stalks.  I think I ended up with a half gallon of flowers in the end.

 

Once the flowers were all washed I then proceeding to remove flower petals from the base of the flowers one pinch at a time.  It was a messy and tedious job and it took me about and hour and a half and left me with yellow sticky fingers when I was done.

 

While I was preparing my petals I had set a gallon of water on the stove to boil.  Once it had reached a nice boil I poured it over the flower petals and then covered the mixture with a towel. 

 

 

After two days of steeping I strained the liquid and once again brought it to a boil.  I added six cups of sugar to the liquid which at this point was a lovely golden amber color.  While it was boiling I carefully peeled the rind from four ripe oranges doing my best to not have any of the pithy white part in my shavings.  Once peeled I then juiced the oranges and added the juice and the rind shavings and let it boil for ten minutes.  Once the ten minutes was up I removed the pot from heat and waited until the temperature came down to about 105 degrees.  At that point I added a packet of champagne yeast and one teaspoon of yeast nutrient.  Once everything was well mixed and had started to bubble I transferred all the liquid into a one gallon glass jug and fitted it with an airlock.

 

 

I set the happily bubbling jug in a closed box in the corner where it could ferment in peace in the dark.  After about a month I had noticed that it wasn't bubbling anymore so I racked the wine into a clean jug leaving behind all the dead yeast that had built up a thick sediment in the bottom.  I refitted the airlock and then left it in the jug for another month, just to be sure that it was finished fermenting.

 

Once I was satisfied that there was no more fermenting taking place I cleaned up my wine bottles and rinsed them with boiling water just to make sure they were as sterile as possible.  Then one by one I filled them and corked them.

 

Here the finished product sits glowing in the sun.  The recipe states that the flavor improves with time and should be aged for at least 6 months before drinking.  However I had one bottle that I could only fill half way, so into the fridge it went for sampling of course!  Considering that this wine has four more months to "improve" I think it may very well be phenomenal by that time.  As of right now it tastes like a flower mixed with honey with a touch of citrus.  It is a little on the sweet side though at first sniff you might think it was a dry wine.  It is also a touch on the strong side if my hydrometer readings are correct - somewhere in the realm of 14%.  Overall I'd have to say it's pretty darn good for a first attempt.