Dandelion wine is hugely popular due to its sweet and tangy taste, and making this concoction at home is not a very difficult prospect either. We have provided a few easy recipes to make dandelion wine at home.
Pick the dandelions around midday when they are fully open, and use them within half an hour of picking.
Come summer, and the surroundings are blooming with dandelion flowers. They line almost every field, every meadow, every garden, spreading a golden hue in their wake. While these flowers may look like sunshine personified and adorn our homes, they are not simply for decorative purposes, but rather utilitarian as well. To put it simply, let’s just introduce you to two words―dandelion and wine; and when put together, the words make for a very, very delicious brew that is a mix of both sweet and tangy. It swirls on your tongue and makes for a very fitting accompaniment with a Sunday brunch or a late afternoon-early evening snack.
Dandelion wine is believed to be of Celtic origin, during the 1800s and early 1900s, it was consumed more for its medicinal properties than anything else―the wine was used to treat kidney and other digestive problems. These properties of dandelions are valued even today, no doubt, but they’ve also gained the taste factor to them.
The really great news in all of this is that dandelion wine can be made at home―the old-fashioned kind, no less. Not only can you use the profusion of dandelion flowers that you find everywhere, you will have something that tastes great and is healthy. And to seal the deal, it will be made at home. Having sold you on the idea of the properties and advantages of this wine, what’s left but to give you the details of how to go about making homemade dandelion wine―the recipes follow in the sections below.
• Raisins, figs, apricots, dates, or rhubarb can be added to the concoction for added strength and body.
• Instead of picking the flowers right before making the wine, one can also pick the flowers and then freeze them. The petals can then be picked just before you start the wine-making process.
Ingredients
☛ Dandelion flower petals, 2 quarts
☛ Dried brewing yeast, 7 g
☛ Orange juice, 240 ml
☛ Fresh lemon juice, 45 g
☛ Powdered ginger, 1.25 g
☛ Fresh lime juice, 45 g
☛ Orange zest, 18 g (coarsely chopped, without any white pith)
☛ Lemon zest, 6 g (coarsely chopped, without any white pith)
☛ Sugar, 1200 g
☛ Water, 4 quarts
☛ Large pot for boiling
☛ Strainer
☛ Coffee filters
☛ Empty, sterilized wine bottles
☛ Balloons
☛ Beverage container
• Clean the flowers thoroughly by holding them under running water. Get rid of any dirt and green material that floats.
• Once cleaned, soak the flowers in clean water for 2 days.
• After two days, place the dandelions in 4 quarts of water.
• To this, add the lime, lemon, and orange juices.
• Next, add the ginger powder, orange and lemon zest, and sugar.
• Bring this whole mix to a boil for an hour.
• After this, strain the infusion through coffee filters and keep it for cooling.
• Once the infusion is below 100ºF, stir in the yeast―the mix has to still be warm.
• Cover the infusion and let it sit overnight.
• Next, pour the liquid into bottles and cover the tops of these with deflated balloons that have been poked with a few holes. This creates an airlock and keeps out unwanted wild yeasts.
• Store this in a cool and dark place for at least 3 weeks so that it is allowed to ferment.
• Ideally, a room with temperatures lower than 50-75ºF should be used for fermentation. This ensures that the taste of the wine does not change and neither is there bacterial contamination or strong odors.
• Let the wine clear and then pour the wine into another container, making sure that the sediment remains at the bottom of the old container and is not transferred to the new one.
• Cork the bottles shut, and store them in a cool place.
• Allow the wine to age for at least 6 months, preferably a year.
• This recipe makes for a sweet and light wine that is a great accompaniment to tossed salad or baked fish.
Tip:
Do not pick flowers which have been treated with pesticides and those that are within 50 feet of the road.
Ingredients
☛ Dandelion flowers, 3 quarts (Get rid of the green parts)
☛ Raisins, 1 pound (organic)
☛ Oranges, 2 (with peels, organic)
☛ Lemon, 1 (with peels, organic)
☛ Water, 1 gallon
☛ Sugar, 3 pounds
☛ Yeast, 1 Package
☛ Large pot
☛ Earthenware pot (crock)
☛ Cheesecloth
☛ Balloons
☛ Empty, sterilized wine bottles
• Take the flowers and wash them clean, removing the green parts, and place them in a large pot.
• Bring the gallon of water to a boil and then pour it over the flowers which have been placed in a large pot.
• Cover the pot and let this concoction steep for 3 days.
• Separate the orange and lemon zests from the fruit. Cut the fruits into small pieces, as well as the zest.
• Add the lemon and orange zest to the water-flower mixture and bring to a boil.
• Once boiled, remove from the heat and strain the liquid.
• Add sugar to this liquid and stir it until it dissolves. Let it cool.
• Next, add the lemon pieces, orange pieces, and the raisins to the liquid. Put all this into an earthenware pot (crock) and cover partially so that the gas can escape. You can even cover it with a cotton towel and secure the same with a rubber band.
• Allow this liquid to ferment.
• When the mixture stops bubbling, the fermentation process is complete. It will take 2-7 days for the bubbling to stop.
• Once the fermentation is complete, strain the liquid through several layers of a cheesecloth so that you get a clear liquid by the end of it.
• Next, transfer this liquid into sterilized wine bottles.
• Fix a deflated balloon over each of the bottles to allow further fermentation.
• If the balloon remains deflated for 24 hours, it means that the fermentation process is complete.
• Secure the cork over the bottles, and store in a cool and dark place for 6 months to a year.
Tip:
Do not secure the cork on the bottles and do not store them in a warm place before the fermentation process is complete. This will cause the liquid to expand and cause the bottles to explode.
Ingredients
☛ Dandelion petals, ½ gallon
☛ Water, ½ gallon
☛ Oranges, 2 (juice and sliced peels)
☛ Lemon, ½ (juice and sliced peels)
☛ Ginger root, ½ inch piece
☛ Sugar, 1½ pounds
☛ Yeast, ½ ounce
☛ Earthenware pot (crock)
☛ Cooking pot
☛ Fermenting jug
☛ Mesh cloth
☛ Empty, sterilized wine bottles
• Place the dandelion petals in a crock, and pour boiling water over these till they are fully covered and are soaking in it.
• Let this liquid sit for 3 days.
• After 3 days, strain the flowers and squeeze them to get all the liquid.
• Pour this liquid into a cooking pot and add the orange and lemon slices and peels, sugar, and the ginger root to the liquid.
• Mix well and then gradually bring to a boil for 20 minutes.
• Strain the liquid by putting it through several layers of mesh cloth.
• Pour the liquid back into the crock and allow it to cool.
• Next, add yeast to the liquid and pour it into a fermenting jug that has been fitted with an airlock.
• Allow the liquid to ferment. This could take anywhere between 6 days to three weeks. Store it at room temperature.
• When fermentation is complete, transfer the liquid to sterilized wine bottles that have been fitted with caps or corks.
• Let the wine sit for a period of 6 months to a year.
Tip:
Use yeast that is used in making white wine and not red wine. White wine yeast will lend a lighter flavor, which is more suitable for dandelion wine; whereas red wine yeast has higher alcohol content and will lend a heavier yeast flavor to the wine.
Once you’re done with the whole process, the wine will develop a light yellow to brownish hue and will resemble the liquid shown in the image above. Well, then all you have to do is open the wine in the cold, cold winter, and have a warm, warm glass, sitting in front of the fireplace.
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