Dandelion wine: photo, benefits, taste, reviews

Dandelion wine is a healing alcoholic drink, the recipe of which has been forgotten for a long time. It is made to uplift and relax. A bright flower is a storehouse of vitamins. If you prepare the tincture correctly, you will be able to catch the summer, as Ray Bradbury wrote in his story. Recipes are optimized for home conditions, the main thing is to be patient.

Can you make wine from dandelions?

Often, those who have tried wine from wild dandelions cannot believe that this flower can be used to make more than just a drug. Its use in reasonable quantities is beneficial for the body. For example, in the UK it is popular with home vintners and is easily available in the store.

There is an amazing story about spring dandelion wine. The legend says that the healing plant was born in the house of an old hermit who collected bright daytime flowers so that they would not be blown away by the wind. He prepared magical wine that absorbed the radiance of the Sun. It was believed that it heals souls and hearts broken by unjust cruelty. He was glad that he could help.

The benefits of dandelion wine

More often, housewives make wine from dandelion flowers for medicinal purposes.

Healing properties of the plant:

• stimulates digestion;
• helps to remove toxins;
• able to fight high cholesterol;
• dandelion root has a diuretic and choleretic property;
• positively affects the circulatory system, strengthening the heart and blood vessels;
• normalizes hormonal levels, metabolism;
• in men increases potency.

Almost all of this is inherent in the wine from the flower. Dandelion drink is good for the nervous system, restores strength, healthy sleep. It is used in inflammatory diseases, to restore vision and in diabetes. And the stimulation of brain activity will please people who earn by mental work.

Dandelion is rich in vitamins. Potassium helps to strengthen the skeleton, decoctions are used as a preventive measure against caries and periodontal disease. Help fight excess weight.

How to make wine from dandelions

You should take a responsible attitude to the place of collection of raw materials from dandelions and the time when it is necessary to do this.

Dandelions cannot be harvested in the following locations:

• within the city, in close proximity to them;
• near major highways, small roads;
• close to industrial plants.

Plants that have matured in these areas are polluted and will bring nothing but harm.

It is difficult to say exactly when to pick dandelions, because in our country there are quite a few regions with different climates. There are 2 seasons: from the beginning to the middle of May and from the end of June to the beginning of July.

From the spring collection, a drink with a greenish tinge is obtained, but more useful and transparent. Summer plants will give a rich yellow color to the drink and a unique taste. The difference can be felt in the photo, where the wine is from a different period of dandelion ripening.

Petals must be collected in the morning, when the dew has gone, the flowers have already opened yellow buds. Skip the collection in rainy weather, because the water will wash away the pollen and nectar, which will give an unforgettable aroma. Harvested in an ecologically clean place, dandelions do not require rinsing.

In wine, only yellow petals are often used for making, but there is also a simplified recipe, where the entire inflorescence is taken as the basis. Freeing the necessary part is simple: pinch the bottom of the beam with your fingers, and with the other hand remove the receptacle in a circular motion.

The main secret of making delicious wine from sunny dandelion is to strictly follow the technology, and not the proportions in the recipes, immediately sprinkle the resulting “harvest” with sugar. During fermentation, it must “breathe”. In order to make room for carbon dioxide, a glove or ball is put on the neck, and after inflation, a small puncture is made.

Traditional Dandelion Wine Recipe

Here, petals are used along with perianths, which simplifies the preparation process. It should be borne in mind that such wine can turn out with a bitter taste from dandelions. To avoid this, you can simply soak the raw materials in boiled cold water for a day.

Ingredients:

• granulated sugar – 1,5 kg;
• dandelion flowers – 3 l.

Wine is prepared as follows:

1. Put the inflorescences in a glass dish, sprinkling each layer with sugar.
2. Thoroughly tamp and put in a dark place.
3. When a sufficient amount of juice is released from the dandelion flowers, it is drained, squeezing the buds.
4. It turned out a must for wine, which is bottled. Attach a balloon to the neck of each. It should loosen up over time.
5. When it hangs, drain the wine without mixing with the sediment.

You can also let it brew indoors without direct sunlight.

How to make dandelion wine with wine yeast

In recipes for homemade wine from medicinal dandelions, there is a fermentation stage that can be activated faster with wine yeast.

Composition:

• sugar – 1,5 kg;
• dry yeast – 11 g;
• Orange – 4;
• water – 4 l;
• dandelion petals – 500 g.

 Wine preparation step by step:

1. Pour dandelions with boiling water, insist in a wrapped state under a lid for 48 hours.
2. Pour into an enamel bowl, add sugar and orange peel without white skin. Cook for a quarter of an hour after boiling.
3. Strain through cheesecloth.
4. Dilute the yeast in warm boiled water and add to the composition cooled to 30 degrees. Pour in the squeezed orange juice.
5. Pour into a large bottle, pull a glove over your throat.
6. For good wine, steep the must until it is completely fermented. The temperature in the room should not fall below 15 degrees.
7. As soon as the glove falls off, decant the wine with a straw, divide into bottles, close tightly.

Store for another 5 months for aging in a dark place.

Homemade dandelion wine with mint and lemon

Dandelion wine is a popular drink in Europe. This is another way to prepare it.

A set of ingredients:

• water – 4 l;
• lemon – 2 pcs .;
• dandelion petals – 1 l;
• sugar – 1500 g;
• mint – 2 branches;
• raisins – 100

Preparation method:

1. Put the yellow petals of a dandelion in an enamel bowl, pour boiling water over it and let it stand for a day under the lid.
2. Strain, squeeze the juice from the pulp and pour into a bottle.
3. Remove the zest from clean lemons with a grater, add together with mint, raisins and 1/3 of the sugar to the dandelion infusion, mix thoroughly.
4. Cover the neck with gauze and leave in a dark place.
5. After three days, when fermentation begins, add another part of granulated sugar. Close the container with a glove.
6. Divide the remaining sugar in half and add to young wine 2 times 250 g in 5 days. To improve the process, it must be dissolved in the wort poured from the bottle.

After about 2 months, fermentation should end, then bottle and leave for 4 months to mature in a dark place.

Dandelion raisin wine without yeast

This sunny dandelion wine with warm summer color will taste spicy.

Composition:

• water – 4 l;
• granulated sugar – 1 kg;
• raisins – 10 pcs.;
• citric acid – 2 g;
• dandelion – 100 inflorescences.

Wine is prepared as follows:

1. Pour water into an enameled saucepan, bring to a boil and dip the dandelion petals into it. Cover, insist 48 hours.
2. Filter and transfer the wort to the prepared bottle.
3. Raisins should not be washed, so as not to destroy the bacteria necessary for fermentation, fall asleep in a dry form.
4. Put on a special water seal, leave it alone for about a month.
5. If the wine is no longer fermenting, carefully strain to get rid of the sediment.

Let it brew for 2 months, choosing a place without exposure to sunlight.

How to Make Dandelion Wine with Lemon, Oranges and Ginger

The combination of two citrus fruits with spices will be interesting for gourmets.

Grocery set:

• ginger – ½ tsp;
• sugar – 6 Art .;
• water – 4 l;
• wine yeast – 1 pack;
• dandelion flowers – 8 tbsp.;
• orange and lemon zest.

To prepare wine, following the step-by-step instructions:

1. Remove the zest from the washed fruit without white streaks. Its quantity depends on the preferences of the owners.
2. Pour into a large saucepan along with sugar, spices and dandelion petals. Fill with liquid.
3. Bring to a boil and simmer for an hour over low heat. Cool slightly and strain.
4. Add wine yeast diluted in the same solution and pour back into the general composition. Insist for 10 hours in a closed state.
5. Transfer to a convenient glass dish, put a medical glove on the neck.
6. After the end of fermentation, distribute into a container of a smaller volume, decanting the wine without sediment.

Leave in a dark place so that the composition gains astringency.

How to make dandelion wine with mint and honey at home

According to this recipe, dandelion wine, judging by the reviews, will help you get a boost of freshness, the vitamin composition will be simply unique.

Ingredients:

• fresh honey – 1 kg;
• wine yeast – 50 g;
• sugar – 1 kg;
• flowers – 2 kg;
• water – 3 l;
• mint.

Preparation method:

1. In this case, the petals will need to be washed from pollen and ground through a meat grinder.
2. Pour 1 liter of water, pour 500 g of sugar and leave for 4 days.
3. Dilute honey with the remaining sugar in warm water, mix with chopped mint and infused solution.
4. After installing the water seal, move to a dark place for 1 month.

It remains only to filter with gauze, pour into a smaller container and let the wine become obsolete. It will take 2 to 5 months.

How to store dandelion wine

If you ask a real winemaker how to properly store wine, then the lecture can last more than one hour.

There are basic canons that should be observed:

1. Use only glass containers for storage.
2. There is wine from dandelions that will stay closed for about 3 days after opening, but rather sweet species can retain their properties for up to a week.
3. The ideal temperature is considered to be a mode from +10 to + 15 degrees. If the temperature is too high, the wine will lose its delicate taste, and if it is too low, the wine will stop ripening. Another nuance is to avoid temperature jumps.
4. Humidity in the range of 60-80% will prevent mold.
5. Keep away from sunlight.
6. Keep wine from shaking in a horizontal position.

Do not put the tincture in the refrigerator.

Conclusion

Dandelion wine helps a person to recuperate after a day of work or illness. It is worth trying to cook it at home to enjoy the sunny taste on cold winter evenings.

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