Dandelion Wine 2012

This batch was made from two  one-gallon Ziplock bags of dandelion flower heads, 6 cans of 100% white grape juice, 12 oranges and 12 lemons. I adapted a 1-gallon recipe from Jack Keller for my 6-gallon batch. Yeast: Lalvin ICV D47

Status Date Specific Gravity Fluid Temp. Air Temp.
Primary Fermentation 2012-04-01 1.094 75°F 75°F
Secondary Fermentation 2012-04-15
Clearing 2012-05-06
Second Clearing 2012
Tertiary Clearing 2012
Quaternary Clearing 2012
Bottling 2012

Primary Fermentation

This year I picked dandelion heads over several days, making multiple sweeps through my front and back yard every day and every other day. To keep the dandelions fresh I would put my freshly-picked dandelions in a Ziplock freezer back and put in the freezer. This seemed to work well and makes it easier to acquire a large quantity of dandelion flower heads from your own yard.

I poured a gallon of hot water over the dandelion heads, added several cans of concentrated white grape juice, added water and then spent a good hour juicing oranges and lemons. After topping up the must and checking the specific gravity, I let it sit for about 12 hours to let the campden tablets do their work, killing off any unwanted bugs. I pitched the dry yeast directly onto the top of the must. After the yeast was pitched it took a good day or two before there was heavy fermentation.

Clearing

2012-07-28 Still cloudy. Trying to determine what kind of “haze” we’re dealing with.

Secondary Clearing

 

Bottling