Dandelion mead recipes? Tips?

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centworthy

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I have been wanting to try a dandelion mead for a while and now the time is here; they're in full bloom and there is a field full of them near me that I know has not been chemically treated. So has anyone ever tried making dandelion mead? Any good recipes or tips from you experience?
 
i don't want to hijack this thread but im up for that as well mate!! any one have any ideas?
 
Try this, the process is gonna be the same just sub honey for the sugar.

Dandelion Wine
3 qts dandelion flowers (Each quart weighs 90 grams, if you'd rather go by weight)
1 lb raisins
1 gallon water
3 lbs granulated sugar
2 lemons
1 orange
yeast and nutrient

Pick the flowers just before starting, so they're fresh. You do need to pick the petals off the flower heads, as the green heads give bitterness to the wine. Put the flowers in a large bowl. Set aside 1 pint of water and bring the remainder to a boil. Pour the boiling water over the dandelion flowers and cover tightly with cloth or plastic wrap. Leave for two days, stirring twice daily. Do not exceed this time.

Pour flowers and water in large pot and bring to a low boil. Add the sugar and the peels (peel thinly and avoid any of the white pith) of the lemons and orange. Boil for one hour, then pour into a crock or plastic pail. Add the juice and pulp of the lemons and orange. Allow to stand until cool (70-75 degrees F.). Add yeast and yeast nutrient, cover, and put in a warm place for three days. Strain and pour into a secondary fermentation vessel (bottle or jug). Add the raisins and fit a fermentation trap to the vessel. Leave until fermentation ceases completely, then rack and top up with reserved pint of water and any additional required to reduce all but 1 inch of airspace. Set aside until wine clears, rack whenever lees are 1/4" thick or every 60 days as needed, then rack and bottle. This wine must age six months in the bottle before tasting, but will improve remarkably if allowed a year (Jack Keller recipe, with minor modifications)
 
Can you store the dandelions somehow until you have all the materials required? I just picked a bushel and realized that I'm out of honey. In a freezer, perhaps? Will this void them of their flavor?
 
thejudge said:
Try this, the process is gonna be the same just sub honey for the sugar.

Dandelion Wine
3 qts dandelion flowers (Each quart weighs 90 grams, if you'd rather go by weight)
1 lb raisins
1 gallon water
3 lbs granulated sugar
2 lemons
1 orange
yeast and nutrient

Pick the flowers just before starting, so they're fresh. You do need to pick the petals off the flower heads, as the green heads give bitterness to the wine. Put the flowers in a large bowl. Set aside 1 pint of water and bring the remainder to a boil. Pour the boiling water over the dandelion flowers and cover tightly with cloth or plastic wrap. Leave for two days, stirring twice daily. Do not exceed this time.

Pour flowers and water in large pot and bring to a low boil. Add the sugar and the peels (peel thinly and avoid any of the white pith) of the lemons and orange. Boil for one hour, then pour into a crock or plastic pail. Add the juice and pulp of the lemons and orange. Allow to stand until cool (70-75 degrees F.). Add yeast and yeast nutrient, cover, and put in a warm place for three days. Strain and pour into a secondary fermentation vessel (bottle or jug). Add the raisins and fit a fermentation trap to the vessel. Leave until fermentation ceases completely, then rack and top up with reserved pint of water and any additional required to reduce all but 1 inch of airspace. Set aside until wine clears, rack whenever lees are 1/4" thick or every 60 days as needed, then rack and bottle. This wine must age six months in the bottle before tasting, but will improve remarkably if allowed a year (Jack Keller recipe, with minor modifications)

Thanks Judge, this looks like a good one
 
Meadiator said:
Can you store the dandelions somehow until you have all the materials required? I just picked a bushel and realized that I'm out of honey. In a freezer, perhaps? Will this void them of their flavor?

You can put them in a freezer bag and freeze them until ready. If you can vacuum seal them it would be better.
 
centworthy said:
Thanks Judge, this looks like a good one

No problem, this is a great wine and would make a awesome mead. I personally might up the honey by a pound or more but it's to each own taste.
 
I have a bunch of blueberries could I substitute the raisins and/or the lemons with them?
 
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