Dandelion Wine, Collecting Petals. What is the best way to collect 4 quarts of dandelion petals? Well however you do it, it is going to be time consuming, but I think I’ve figured out the best way to get those little petals off the dandelion flowers. Watch the video and see what I finally settled on.

Since I was going through all this trouble, I thought I would just go ahead and make a double batch. I figure if it turns out really good, 1 gal just would be too little, and if it bombs out, well not much more lost.

It takes wine at least a year to mellow out and taste good. Six months if you can’t wait but it will be a little harsh yet.

And what recipe am I using on this batch? Well here it is, slightly modified to suit me;

Dandelion Wine (2)

2 qts dandelion flowers

2 lbs 11 ozs granulated sugar

4 oranges

1 gallon water

yeast and nutrient

Yeast I used was 1 pack of “Red Star” “Cote des Blancs” ( This is a Chablis type wine yeast).

One teaspoon of yeast nutrient per gallon, I doubled the batch to make 2 gallons
(I used 3 large oranges)

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]

https://winemaking.jackkeller.net/dandelion.asp