Anyone got a recipe for dandelion wine please?

[mrdinkle]

Mine was way under too and i just topped it up with cold boiled water.

[pdblake]

It does get quicker with practice, but I suspect you were being fussier than you need be. The technique is to grasp the petals (and probably a scrap of the green outside them) with thumb and a couple of fingers of one hand, and the lower part of the flower (the bit that the seeds would sit on if it was left that long) using the other hand the same way, then dig in thumb nails slightly, and twist. Once you get the hang of it, you should be able to do 20-30 blossoms a minute without any problems, and I got enough for a gallon of wine in about half-an-hour.

I usually leave that job to a small child A slightly bigger child for elderberries, sloes, haws and rosehips (they get very adept at climbing trees and avoiding thorns, and for some odd reason they seem to like it) I use the tallest child for nettle tips, and all three are really good at picking up horse muck.

[miss_corerupted]

Does it need to be topped up????

Also now it's done what do i do with it??? has it got to be kept cold or in the dark>>

[mrdinkle]

It really depends on which recipe you are following and what stage you are at. I am following one from this book:

Favourite Country Wines and Cordials: Amazon.co.uk: Carol Wilson: Books

Which states that after the fermentation has finished top up to a gallon with cooled boiled water and leave to stand covered for about 2 weeks before bottling.

[dexterdoglancashire]

I'll have a look and see if I can find one, tho your thread reminds me, um,er, and takes me back to 1980 when a friend and I, at uni, decided to make some dandilion wine - eee, by gum! Of course, we couldn't wait till it fermented properly...............we were ill for days! Let me see what I can find...................just follow any directions properly!

[miss_corerupted]

i'm following the recipe on here

[mrdinkle]

In which case I should have read it first before commenting!

Allow to cool to blood heat, add yeast and nutrient, put in demijohn, (top up with extra water if needed) fit airlock.

It does state to top up with water if necessary, I'd imagine that blood heat is actually room temperature like 20C!!

[Hilary B]

In which case I should have read it first before commenting!



It does state to top up with water if necessary, I'd imagine that blood heat is actually room temperature like 20C!!

If you add yeast to anything hotter than blood heat, it kills off the yeast and nothing happens. As long as it isn't too hot, you can add the yeast any time after that.
Keep it a bit warm while fermenting (room temp is pretty good), because yeast slows down a lot when things get too cool.

[miss_corerupted]

In which case I should have read it first before commenting!


ummmm I did read it I was looking for claification on the instructions is all. I asked if I HAD to top up, i thought that if you topped up you would get a weaker flavoured wine and i wanted to know if was nessecary. I'm sorry if my question upset you in some way


It does state to top up with water if necessary, I'd imagine that blood heat is actually room temperature like 20C!!

i was told blood temp is around 37c which is when I added my yeast as per the instructions

[mrdinkle]

No upset here! I think a cross wire I meant that I should have read the recipe before I commented/replied as I may have inadvertently misinformed you.

I took your question literally and answered that blood temp was 37C (which is infact incorrect - blood temp is actually 38C - sorry to be a pedant).

This is the problem - the answer above could have ruined your recipe as I suspect that it is actually more of a room temp 20C - 24C that you needed to add the yeast at.

I am really sorry if this has ruined your wine, you might be able to add some activated yeast now if it has not fermented?

[Hilary B]

Recipe was perhaps over-simplified (in description). I have read so many recipes which talk to you as if you were an idiot, I may go to the opposite extreme when describing things. As long as the wine-base isn't OVER blood heat when the yeast is added, all should be well......

[janeyo]

Mine is still fermenting nicely in the cupboard under the sink. You get a lovely waft whenever you open the door lol. We topped ours up with sugar water instead of normal so as not to dilute it. OH worked out the volumes needed.
I am using 'First Steps in Winemaking - C Berry', cadged off my dad who used to make loads.

[miss_corerupted]

it's in the airing cupboard bubbling away like mad, so fingers crossed it might be ok. I suppose i'll find out at christmas (i'll make my boyf try it first).

How can i tell if it's gone wrong.

I think i was being a bit touchy tbh i'm sleep deprived my son still wakes up every few hours for a feed

[dandy lion]

You'll be able to tell it's gone wrong if:

a) Your bf drops on the floor clutching his stomach

b) He begs you to drive to the nearest old folks home and demand they sell you adult size nappies.


Ha,ha,ha!!!

Seriously tho I've had a few mistakes in my time - it won't taste right, you'll just know if it's bad.

As long as you sterilised everything you will be successful. I've got the first steps in wine making and it's brillant.

Seen a recipe for nettle beer on brewuk has any body ever tried it? I'm assuming gloves to pick the nettles ha,ha. Just one worry tho if you stew nettles to make a home made fertiliser it absolutely stinks!!! Does the nettle beer stink when it's fermenting?

[janeyo]

checked on my dandelion wine today and over the weekend it has cleared!!

Do I syphon it into another demi-johnn now or bottle it?

Thanks