For lovers of literature, Dandelion Wine is a 1957 autobiographical novel by Ray Bradbury. Few fans of the writer’s work know that such a drink can be prepared at home. We’ll take a look at the full recipe below. It will turn out a light yellow wine with a light floral aroma and a pleasant mild taste.
Dandelion flowers are harvested from late April to mid-July in warm sunny weather, when they just opened: in the early morning or in the morning. After three hours, the buds gradually close. Immediately after the rain, dandelions do not have time to collect nectar, because of this, the wine has a weak aroma. Only flowers growing away from the road and other dusty places are suitable.
All used containers should be pre-sterilized with boiling water, then wiped dry so as not to infect the wine with pathogenic microorganisms.
Ingredients:
- dandelion flowers – 100 pieces (liter jar);
- water – 4 liters;
- sugar – 1,5 kg;
- lemons (large) – 2;
- unwashed raisins – 100 grams;
- fresh mint – 3-4 sprigs (optional).
Lemons are needed to stabilize the acidity of the wort and flavor the drink with zest. You can do without zest, but adding citric acid (10-12 grams) is a must. Raisins contain wild wine yeast, which activates fermentation. Mint gives a pleasant aroma and light flavor notes.
Dandelion Wine Recipe
1. Separate the yellow dandelion petals from the receptacle. This can be done with a knife, cutting off the petals near the base, or by hand, cutting off each flower.
If you use whole buds, the wine will turn out bitter!
2. Place the prepared petals in a saucepan, pour boiling water over it (4 liters). Mix. To cover with a lid. Leave for a day.
3. Strain the infusion through a sieve or gauze into a container with a wide neck. Squeeze the petals and remove. They won’t be needed anymore.
4. Wash the lemons in warm water and wipe dry. Carefully remove the zest (the upper yellow part) from the fruit with a knife or vegetable peeler, without touching the white bitter pulp.
5. Squeeze the juice from the peeled lemons directly into the dandelion decoction. Add sugar (500 grams), zest, mint and unwashed raisins there. Stir until sugar dissolves. Tie the neck of the container with gauze. Transfer the wort to a dark place at room temperature.
6. After 2-3 days, signs of fermentation should appear: foam on the surface, hissing, a slight smell of sour. You need to add the next portion of sugar – 500 grams, mix.
7. Pour the wort into a fermentation tank (fill up to a maximum of 75% of the volume), after filtering out the zest, mint and raisins. Install a water seal on the container or a medical glove with a hole made with a needle in one of the fingers.
8. Transfer the container with future dandelion wine to a dark room (can be covered) with a temperature of 18-25°C.
9. After 5-6 days, add the third portion of sugar – 250 grams. To do this: remove the water seal, pour 250 ml of must through a straw into a hotel container, dilute sugar in it, pour the finished syrup back into the wine container and install a water seal.
10. After another 5 days, repeat the procedure for adding sugar (250 grams) according to the technology described at the previous stage.
11. Depending on the temperature and yeast activity, the fermentation of dandelion wine lasts 25-60 days. When the water seal does not release gas for a day (the glove deflated), a layer of sediment appeared at the bottom, and the wine itself became lighter, you can move on.
If the wine ferments for more than 50 days, it is necessary to drain it from the sediment through a tube into another container, then put it to ferment under a water seal. With a long stay on the sediment, bitterness may appear.
12. Drain the fermented dandelion wine from the sediment through a straw. Try. If desired, add sugar to taste. Separately, you can fix the drink with vodka or alcohol (40-45%) in the amount of 2-15% of the volume of wine. But fixing kills the light floral scent.
13. Fill storage containers with wine to the top (it is desirable that there is no contact with oxygen). Transfer to maturation in a dark room with a temperature of 6-16°C. Leave for 4-6 months. If sugar was added at the previous stage, keep the first 7-10 days under a water seal.
14. Once every 20-30 days, remove the drink from the sediment (as it appears).
15. After aging, the finished homemade dandelion wine can be bottled for storage and sealed.
In the basement or refrigerator, the shelf life is up to 2 years. Fortress – 10-12%.
