Dandelion wine

[Guest guest]

Connie's comment about making dandelion wine set my mind into action :-) So I

picked a huge bowl of dandelion flowers at noon today and am planning on using

the following recipe, unless anyone has any fail safe super-duper recipes to

share????? My flowers are steeping in boiled water....

Does anyone know what I can use for yeast and yeast nutrient? I have milk

kefir and tibicos grains.

and the K9's

a.. 2 qts dandelion flowers

b.. 2 lbs 11 ozs granulated sugar

c.. 4 oranges

d.. 1 gallon water

e.. yeast and nutrient

This is the traditional " Midday Dandelion Wine " of old, named because the

flowers must be picked at midday when they are fully open. Pick the flowers and

bring into the kitchen. Set one gallon of water to boil. While it heats up to a

boil, remove as much of the green material from the flower heads as possible

(the original recipe calls for two quarts of petals only, but this will work as

long as you end up with two quarts of prepared flowers). Pour the boiling water

over the flowers, cover with cloth, and leave to seep for two days. Do not

exceed two days. Pour the mixture back into a pot and bring to a boil. Add the

peelings from the four oranges (again, no white pith) and boil for ten minutes.

Strain through a muslin cloth or bag onto acrock or plastic pail containing the

sugar, stirring to dissolve. When cool, add the juice of the oranges, the yeast

and yeast nutrient. Pour into secondary fermentation vessel, fit fermentation

trap, and allow to ferment completely. Rack and bottle when wine clears. Again,

allow it to age six months in the bottle before tasting, but a year will improve

it vastly. This wine has less body than the first recipe produces, but every bit

as much flavor (some say more!). [Adapted recipe from C.J.J. Berry's First Steps

in Winemaking]