Dandelion wine delights palate

By Theresa Rose
North Forty News

Dandelion wine is indeed made out of dandelions as well as a few other things. Properly made, it is a clear white wine with a fresh and distinctively spring-like flavor.

Homemade wine is a fun hobby, the results can be very satisfying and wine is much easier to make than beer. The creative possibilities are endless. Quantities can vary from a single gallon at a time to as much as the winemaker's equipment will allow. A few simple guidelines can turn anyone into a competent home winemaker with a rack full of original creations.

An easy way to begin is to obtain a winemaker's kit from a winemaking supply shop. Local shops can be difficult to find, but there are many sources of winemaking supplies online. Everyone needs a hydrometer, primary fermenter, glass secondary fermenter, air lock, siphon and corking tool. Also helpful are bottle brushes, funnels and a healthy supply of clean sponges.

Sterilization of all equipment and the surrounding workspace is absolutely essential. Unfriendly bacteria can turn the most promising batch of wine into a sour, vinegary disappointment. Sterilization can be accomplished with a mild bleach solution, followed by a good rinse with plain water to eliminate any bleach flavoring from your wine.

For a single gallon of wine, a plastic paint bucket with a tight lid makes a good primary fermenter, and a gallon glass jug such as an apple juice container makes an ideal secondary. Wine bottles can be saved, collected from friends or picked up from restaurants, most of which are perfectly happy to recycle their more interesting bottles.

A basic recipe for 1 gallon of dandelion wine follows:

7 cups of dandelion petals (no stems or green stuff)

1/2 pint of white grape concentrate or 1 pound of white raisins (Warning: white raisins can be expensive for larger batches and chopping all those sticky raisins, which you must do, can be a real bore.)

1 gallon hot water

2 pounds sugar

3 teaspoons Acid Blend

1/4 teaspoon tannin

1/2 teaspoon Energizer

1 crushed Campden tablet

1 package wine yeast

Wash and drain the dandelion petals and place in your primary fermenter with the chopped raisins (if used). Pour hot water over all and add all the other ingredients except yeast. Cover primary and let the mixture stand for 24 hours and then add the yeast. Cover primary. After a day or so your house will fill with an exciting, yeasty odor, ambrosia to some and repulsive to others (consider a clean corner of your garage or shed).

After three to five days, siphon wine off the sediment or pour through a fine strainer into glass secondary. Attach airlock. After about 3 weeks, siphon off sediment into clean glass secondary. Reattach airlock.

Siphon again in about two months and as often as necessary until clear before bottling. It is important to monitor the specific gravity of your wine with a hydrometer, tracking the process as the sugar turns to alcohol and indicating whether water or more sugar should be added.

A field trip to The Wine Works at 5175 W. Alameda in Denver, 303-936-4422, offers a concise explanation of this process and some very helpful and inexpensive handbooks. Other sources of information can be obtained online at sites such as Beer and Wine Hobby out of Massachusetts. Home brewers are generally very enthusiastic about their hobby and a phone call to a supplier usually finds someone friendly and informative with all kinds of fun things to sell. It is wise to invest in a few recipe books and to have some of the essentials such as Acid Blend, Energizer, Campden tablets and yeast on hand for whenever the winemaking opportunity strikes.

Bottling is a good time to sample your young wine. Corking tools range from simple tools requiring a little bit of muscle to elaborate machines costing a few hundred dollars. Fancy labels are available from your supplier or you can create your own. It is great fun to show up at a party or potluck with a creative bottle of your very own.

Winemaking success depends on patience, meticulous cleanliness and a careful yet creative approach to the process.

Above all, keep in mind that home winemaking is a hobby. When it stops being fun - quit!