Make Your Own Dandelion Wine Food

MAKE YOUR OWN DANDELION WINE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Snip off most of the calyxes (green parts) from the base of flowers and all of the stems. It's OK if a little of the green goes in, but too much will result in a bitter wine.
• Compost or discard the calyxes and stems. Put trimmed petals in a nonreactive vessel (no aluminum, copper, or iron).
• Bring water to a boil and pour over flower petals. Let mixture sit for 2 hours.
• Place a colander lined with cheesecloth or butter muslin over a large, nonreactive pot and strain dandelions, pressing gently on the flowers to extract as much of the liquid as possible. Compost or discard dandelion petals.
• Place pot over high heat and bring strained dandelion infusion to a boil.
• Stir in citrus juices and sugar, mixing to dissolve sugar.
• Add lemon and orange zest and chopped raisins. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
• When mixture has cooled to room temperature, stir in yeast nutrient or cornmeal and wine or baking yeast.
• Cover and leave at room temperature for 10 to 14 days, stirring 3 times each day.
• Strain into a sanitized 1-gallon jug and seal with either a fermentation lock (available from online homebrewing and winemaking supplies) or a balloon with a single pinprick in it. The pinprick allows gasses to escape during active fermentation, but the balloon still keeps detrimental bacteria out.
• After 3 weeks, siphon or carefully pour the liquid into another sanitized jug, leaving behind any yeasty sediment.
• If there is more than 2 inches between the top of the wine and the rim of the bottle, top off with a simple syrup of equal parts sugar and water.
• When wine is clear, rather than cloudy, wait 30 more days and then siphon or carefully pour it into another jug, leaving behind any yeasty sediment on the bottom.
• Refit with an airlock or pricked balloon.
• Repeat this procedure every 3 months for 9 total months until almost no sediment is forming on the bottom of the jug anymore.
• Funnel into sanitized bottles and cork bottles.
• Age for another year before drinking.

DANDELION WINE

Steps:

• Place dandelion blossoms in the boiling water, and allow to stand for 4 minutes. Remove and discard the blossoms, and let the water cool to 90 degrees F (32 degrees C).
• Stir in the yeast, sugar, orange slices, and lemon slice; pour into a plastic fermentor, and attach a fermentation lock. Let the wine ferment in a cool area until the bubbles stop, 10 to 14 days. Siphon the wine off of the lees, and strain through cheesecloth before bottling in quart-sized, sterilized canning jars with lids and rings. Age the wine at least a week for best flavor.