dandelion wine

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sashurlow

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wow... what a pain it it to prepare dandelions for wine. I emptied my yard of flowers and got 90 grams. Only 1/3 what I need for one gallon.
For those who have made it before... Will it really take me a full year from start to drinking? Talk about a long term investment...
 
It's kind of tedious to make, but well worth it. I figure if I'm working by myself, I can get a gallons worth going in the primary, start to finish, in about 3 hours. It's a lot nicer when my wife helps though, at least there is somebody to talk to.

Are you using a knife to "clean" the heads?? It's kind of like fileting a fish, once you get the hang of it, it goes faster.

My rule of thumb is; we make it on the first of May, rack it and drink some on the 4th of July, and bottle it on Labor Day. It's ready to drink anytime after that, it'll age well but we've never managed to keep any past a year. It's our most requested wine.

Keep at it, you won't be sorry.

Good luck,

Tim
 
I've been thinking about this lately. A rake/comb thing of the proper sized tooth could make picking go really fast. Cleaning would still take the same time, but I kind of like jobs like that now and then.
I've never had a dandelion wine, but I'm curious enough to make a few gal.
 
If you find the nice big blossoms that have never been mowed, you can pick them pretty fast. I like the ones on the edge of farm fields that haven't been sprayed yet.

I'm not sure of weight, my recipe uses 6 cups of petals. This amount is about 1/3 of a paper grocery sack of flowers. I can usually pick enough for a gallon in about 15 or 20 minutes. You don't have to be careful here, if you get some stems it's OK.

Tim
 
For dandelions do you just pick the yellow petals off what about the fuzzy bit at the bottom? I am starting to harvest as it takes a while I am picking and freezing as I go!

Does anyone have specific instructions on harvesting and cleaning? I would appreciate it!
 
I use everything above the stem that isn't green. Here's what we do, I'll try to explain this but I wish I had pictures.

Hold the flower in your left hand, kind if squeeze it shut with your finger tips and lay it down sideways on a cutting board.

If you look close at the flower/head/stem, there is a little bulge where the stem attaches, then there is a little waist or narrow spot before you get to the flower itself. You are going to want to cut just a little bit above the waist (towards your left hand).

This is where skill comes into play. If you cut too low, everything stays intact and you have to cut again. If you cut to high, the green crown shaped pice will come apart in seperate crown points. If you cut just right, the green grown can be remove in one piece like a cigar band and the petals will all fall away.

This will make sense if you are looking at a dandelion blossom. Practice, practice, practice.... you'll hit the sweet spot 95% of the time after you get going.

My wife is better at it than me, little fingers seem to make it easier.

Here's what a cleaned batch of petals look like:

P1010003-2.jpg


Hope this makes sense.

Tim
 
Perfect sense Tim thank you!

I think I will go dandelion hunting this coming weekend if too many people have not sprayed!

I am excited to see what it tastes like!
 
That is a beautiful picture of a bowl of dandelion flowers! Mine absolutely needed a year to be drinkable - but it ended up being the most popular wine of all!
We have 2 lbs of flowers in freezer ready to make up 2 5-gallon batches! I had some help this time, thank God.
Better pick them soon. They are done here - all gone. You don't have a very long period of time to harvest them. Like they (I) say, "Sometimes the window of opportunity only knocks once!"
 
Its good to know freezing is OK. Right now, the neighborhood dandelions appear to be in the seeding/white fluffy stage. I'm waiting for them to flower again. My technique was a bit more simple. Hold the flower and pick out the middle then pick the edges. No knife, just fingers.
There is supposed to be no green but what about the outer edges of the flowers. The ones that are yellow on the inside and a streak of green on the outside.
Scott
 
There is supposed to be no green but what about the outer edges of the flowers. The ones that are yellow on the inside and a streak of green on the outside.

Those green streaks are ok to leave in, that crown shaped thing on the outside is what has to go. If you use a knife, sometimes the cut end has a green tint to it too, we don't worry about that either.

We used to pick them out like you are doing, my wife decided that was a waste of time and started playing with the knife...... it wasn't long before she had me converted. I'll bet if you cut them, you'll knock an hour off the time it takes to clean enough flowers for a gallon.
 
I scraped out enough for 3 gallons tonight while drinking some IPA's and watching my wife work with the pup trying to get him to stay. Was too cute...

If I can leave a bit of the greens in, I'm picking more tomorrow so I can fill my carboy up!
 
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