Dandelion Wine
Made in April or early May this produces an excellent wine to accompany fish or poultry around Christmas time.
Dandelion Wine Ingredients
5 Pints fresh Dandelion Heads
1.2 kilos of sugar
2 Lemons
1 Orange
1 Gallon of water
1 tsp of Wine Tannin
250gm tin of white grape concentrate
All purpose white yeast
Yeast Nutrient
2 Campden tablets
General Note: It is important to clean all equipment/bottles in sterilised solution and then rinse out with clean water before use.
How to make Dandelion Wine
- Pick the dandelions on a nice sunny day when they are fully open. Remove stems from the flower heads and collect 5 pints (measured loosely packed).
- Place in a plastic bin together with the grated rinds of the fruit and pour 1 gal. of boiling water over the flowers.
- Allow to cool, add the juice from the fruit and a crushed Campden Tablet cover and leave for 2 or 3 days max. (more than this could affect the bouquet of the wine). Stir daily.
- Strain off the liquid through a fine mesh bag or plastic sieve into a fermentation bin. Add and dissolve the sugar followed by the Wine Tannin and Wine Concentrate. Stir well. Add the Yeast and Yeast Nutrient and leave to ferment for 3 days at a temperature of about 21 deg C.
- Strain the mixture (the ‘must’) into a 1 gal fermentation jar (i.e. demijohn). Fit an airlock containing sterilised water and leave to ferment in a warm place at 18 – 22 deg C.
- When it has stopped bubbling and the wine starts to clear you can check that the process is complete with a hydrometer. The reading should give you a S.G. close to 1.000
- ‘Rack off’ the clear liquid with a syphon into another fermentation jar and add another campden tablet before refitting the airlock.
- Gradually the wine will become perfectly clear and after about 6 weeks it should be ready to syphon into bottles.
- It is best to leave for about 9 to 12 months or longer before drinking.
- You will have a lovely wine to be proud of on your Christmas table!
Hops and Vines Burford April 2008 - www.burfordhopsandvines.co.uk