If you have been following this blog, then you probably know all about the equipment that you are going to need to make your own wine at home. You probably also know all about the process of making wine and just how easy it is.
What you may not have known about, is that you can make wine out of almost any living plant. This includes fruits and vegetables like carrots and oranges. You can also make wine out of flowers.
The most common flower that wine makers choose to use is the dandelion. This is because they are abundant and don’t really have any other uses. This recipe will teach you how to turn a weed into something useful and delicious.
Ingredients:
- 1 quart dandelion blossoms
- 8 cups white sugar
- 1 gallon water
- 1 lemon slice
- 1 orange, sliced
- 1 (.25 ounce) package wine yeast
Instructions:
- Rinse your dandelion blossoms thoroughly. Make sure that you get them as clean as you possibly can
- Bring one gallon of water to a boil and add the dandelions.
- Let the dandelions boil for about five minutes then let the water temperature cool to about room temperature.
- Remove the blossoms and discard them. (They will make great compost)
- Stir in the rest of the ingredients
- Pour the mixture into a properly sterilized, sealed, fermenting container and attach an air lock
- Wait for about 13 days until the fermenting stops. You will be able to tell when the wine stops fermenting because the air lock will stop bubbling.
- Rack and bottle your dandelion wine and let it age for about a week before you taste it. The longer you let your dandelion wine age, the better it will taste.
So now that you know that you can make something useful and delicious out of something that you formerly thought was a weed, you can try it and in less than a month you will be sipping and hopefully sharing your own home made dandelion wine.
Author Bio: Justin Lock edits and posts everyday on Winemaking-Equipment.com. He has made the website in the hopes that it will provide a lot of useful information for every home made wine enthusiast on the internet.
Leila says:
My students & I eat dnlieadons every time I teach this novel. They are plentiful here in Illinois I would have gladly sent you some! The greens are good when they are young, but they get very bitter tasting after the flower has bloomed. And once the plant starts to seed, I would not eat it at all. Theresa is absolutely correct very nutritious. It is sad that we treat this plant like such a nuisance when it is more nourishing than most the things we eat! My husband allows me to keep a patch behind the garage; the rest of the yard he treats for weeds.
Riyan says:
My dad told me dandelion wine many years ago and I aawlys thought it sounded so interesting. And I also wondered also what the point of the dandelions was when so many other flavors were added. I don’t drink much but I have have an abundance of dandelions and hate to see anything go to waste. I’ve been interested in trying home brewing in general just because I think it’s an interesting process. I may give it a try this year. Thanks for posting about your results!