HELP-Dandelion wine delemma

SAS98M · 05-14-2007, 12:28 AM

Got almost 4 gallons of dandelion flowers picked earlier this afternoon,was destemming them all myself-couldn't get them done in time for a boil today-it's now almost 8:30.
1st question-Can these flowers be refridgerated and boiled another day ?
2nd question-Do I need to remove all the greenery from the flower or can this be kept on devoid of the stems-I think I read somewhere that some recipes are ok using the whole flower and some require just the petals(yellow part)?

I lost a 5 gallon bucket of these last year because something came up the day I wanted to boil and all the flowers rotted in the bucket-I don't want a repeat !

Any help/input that could be provided ASAP would be greatly appreciated. Thanks . Shane

**Yooper** · 05-14-2007, 12:48 AM

I spent the day picking dandelions myself! Let's see- you can freeze them, no problem. I've read that some people do leave a little green (the calyx area) on the flowers, but I never have. I depetal them all- a real pain, but awesome wine. My recipe is in the database. I've read that the green stems and/or calyxes can impart a bitter taste to the wine, so I've always removed all green. I picked three or four grocery bags of whole flowers and ended up with 600 grams of flower petals (enough for only two gallons) so I froze them until I can collect some more tomorrow.

SAS98M · 05-14-2007, 01:02 AM

I've read about the bittering thing and as of the last two years batches haven't let much of any green in the boil-My last two batches have turned out absolutely fantastic-Even using fleischmans yeast as the one recipe calls for. I wasn't sure of the freezing thing. Thanks Yooper....

RoaringBrewer · 05-15-2007, 08:07 PM

A lot of recipes I've seen suggest soaking them in water (not boiled) for 2 days prior to the boil anyway. Is this incorrect or not necessary? I'm looking to take my first stab at this soon...

Going to look for your recipe Yooper!

**Yooper** · 05-16-2007, 02:18 AM

They should be soaked to release their flavor, then discarded. If you leave them longer than 2 days, it tastes grassy instead of fruity.

It really is good! More people should try this.

SAS98M · 05-16-2007, 08:27 PM

Finished seperating those little buggers yesterday afternoon and by 6:30 had all ingredients into the pot and had it on the turkey burner on the back porch. Had a rolling boil in a short time,boiled for an hour-condensed a little over six-1/2 gallons down to just over five by the end of the boil.Couldn't help but taste the stuff--WOO HOO can't wait till this batch is done-it tastes really good now. Nice thing is that last years batch

is just about ready to be bottled

-yep,still in secondary.....

Yooper-Those petals froze very well,and the un-popped flowers kept in the fridge just fine overnight until they were plucked. Thanks,Shane