Newbie high OG question - Dandelion Wine

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BrewSteve

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I'm making dandelion wine for the first time and I'm following the recipe at the end of this post and I have a really high OG (1.131).

Here is what I did:

Day 1 - Assembled dandelion water, juice, pulp and sugar. Added 1 campden tablet.

Day 2 - Added nutrient and yeast (Red Star Pasteur Champagne)

Day 3 - Strained pulp out of must. Checked temp 66*. Took OG reading of 1.131 :eek:

Day 4 - Checked it this morning and there is no change in the airlock level, but it is showing the beginning signs of fermenting (must on top and a few bubbles floating up through the water every now and then)

Should I divide it between two jugs and dilute to a more reasonable OG, or is the reason it's so high due to the small bits of pulp and the yeast?

Should I just leave it go and see what happens and possibly make some 18% rocket fuel?

What would you do?

2 qts dandelion flowers
1 11.5 oz can of Welch's 100% White Grape frozen concentrate
6-3/4 pts water
2-1/2 lbs granulated sugar
2 lemons
1 orange
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Champagne wine yeast


Pick and remove petals from the flowers ahead of time and freeze petals until you have enough. Put the petals in a nylon straining bag, tie closed, and bring the water to a boil in large pot. When water boils, place nylon bag in water, reduce to a simmer, and cover pot with lid. Simmer for 20 minutes and remove from heat. When cool, drain petals (squeeze lightly) and return water to a low boil. Add the sugar and the peels (peel thinly and avoid any of the white pith) of the lemons and orange. Reduce heat and simmer for one hour, then pour into a crock or plastic pail. Add the juice and pulp of the lemons and orange and the white grape concentrate. Allow to stand until cool (70-75 degrees F.). Add yeast and yeast nutrient, cover, and put in a warm place for three days. Strain and pour into a secondary fermentation vessel (bottle or jug) and fit airlock. When wine clears, rack into clean secondary, top up and refit airlock. Rack, top up and refit airlock every 60 days as long as even a fine dusting of lees form. When wine stops throwing sediment for 60 days, rack into bottles and age six months before tasting. It will improve remarkably if allowed to age a full year. (credit: Jack Keller recipe)
 
are you sure you did your measurements correctly? thats the most common source of OG problems. what did the recipe say your OG should be? this could be normal for the recipe. i would just leave it alone.
 
are you sure you did your measurements correctly? thats the most common source of OG problems. what did the recipe say your OG should be? this could be normal for the recipe. i would just leave it alone.

The recipe doesn't say anything about what the OG should be.

I got the recipe off of the Jack Keller winemaking website. I am using recipe #3 and it was a recipe that he has made before and recommended.

I followed the recipe exactly, even measuring out the sugar on a scale.

I'm less worried about making strong wine than I am about it not fermenting at all due to the high OG. It was a lot of work getting the dandelions prepared and I'd hate for it to be ruined before I start. Plus, the wife is really excited about the dandelion wine, so I'm trying to make sure it comes out good. Gotta get some good batches under my belt to justify further winemaking and brewing purchases. :mug:
 
as long as you hit the numbers correctly then you have nothing to worry about. the Champagne yeast will eat just about every sugar they can find and leave you with a dry wine.
 
Well.. it's bubbling away now... Just noob paranoia I guess.

Still can't figure out why all of my batches so far have taken around 72 hours to show signs of healthy fermentation. I thought things were supposed to take off much quicker.
 

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