The article called Wild Edible Plants that ran recently in MOTHER EARTH NEWS said that after dandelions flower you should leave the plant and go on to other foraged fare. But a nice lady gave us a recipe for dandelion wine that's supposed to have health giving properties. We made it and it's great. Here's the formula for one gallon:
Dandelion Wine Recipe
- Early in the morning when the dew is on the flowers, pick one gallon of perfect, open dandelion blossoms.
- Put the flowers in a two gallon or larger open crock and pour boiling water over them. Cover the crock with cheesecloth and let it sit at room temperature for three days. Then squeeze all the juice outta the flowers, throw them away and save the liquid.
- Put the liquid into a big pot and add:
- 3 lbs. sugar (we used brown raw sugar for healthiness but next time we'll try honey for healthierness. The nice lady used white (ugh) sugar.)
- 3 or 4 lemons, juice, skin, seeds, etc., all chopped up.
- 3 or 4 oranges, chopped
- Boil mixture for 30 minutes with top on pot, cool to lukewarm, pour into crock and add 1 1/2 or 2 packages or tablespoons of yeast. Cover with cheesecloth and let brew sit for two or three weeks 'til the bubbling stops and — whammy!
- Filter through cheesecloth to strain out chunks and save vitamins. Bottle.
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My grandfather made dandelion wine every season when I was a child. All of us children would go out and pick the dandelions for him. This is old school method, you don't need all kinds of fancy contraptions to make wine at home for it to be "safe". You do realize people have been doing this since the beginning of time, long before amazon.
I have used this one particular recipe since 1976. Yes, I used Red Star Bread Yeast for years, now I use Champagne yeast. This is really a great first time wine project and well worth the effort!! I even double-batch it. Nothing "fly by the seat of your pants" about it, just stick to the recipe, and good "house-wifery" does the rest.
i wished everyone would just get along eh?
really bread yeast...? wine yeast is like .65 cents step it us people.
this is a flying by the seat of your pants method of "wine" making and boarders on unsafe. if your interested in making any fermented beverage a little education goes a long way. Also there is nothing unhealthy about brewing with white sugar yours not consuming it! your yeast is!
i just made this wine recipe to the t,,,after 3 days i had mold on the top. threw it all away. what a loss,time,ingredients etc. hope others had better luck than what i exp. i guess i should have gone w/my 1st reaction to this recipe,,,it was just way toooo easy,to come out right. those thoughts were exactly right,after 3 days and all the work etc.
How many open dandelion blossoms should be used? Should they fill a 2 gallon container? And exactly how much water? Would it be enough to just cover the blossoms? I appreciate any input on this, thank you.
I would say with that recipe only 1-2 tsp instead of tbs.
we always just use the active dry yeast. our wines always turn out fine. just usually use the lesser amount.
i'm fixin to make this wine and was wondering if these folks used specific wine yeast or just regular dry active yeast for making bread?