When you think of wine more than likely you immediately think of the juice of fermented grapes as you may have seen at commercial wineries. Excellent quality wine can be made from other ingredients including dandelion at home. While fruit wines as such dandelion wine may not be too common on the shelves of your local wine shop or grocery store you can easily make it at home.

You don’t have to be a master vintner or a laboratory full of expensive equipment to make wine. Making homemade wine is not something that’s new; it has been a practice of civilizations for centuries. It is quite easy to make wine and it is an inexpensive hobby. You don’t have to buy bottles. Use recycled wine bottles that can be collected from friends, family or from your local recycling center.

Making Dandelion Wine:

Dandelions are those little yellow flowers with the saw-toothed leaves that most homeowners are plagued with every spring. Dandelions are highly in nutrition and make a delicious and unusual wine when mixed with citrus, ginger and spices. To gather the dandelions pick the dandelion blossoms in an open field away from areas where insecticide has been used or from your own yard. April and May are prime time for dandelion picking.

Dandelion Wine Ingredients:

1 teaspoon of dried yeast dissolved in warm water
3 to 4 quarts dandelion blossoms
Three gallons of water
1 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
6 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
4 tablespoons coarsely chopped orange peel
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped lemon peel
5 pounds of sugar

Preparation of the ingredients:

Wash the dandelion blossoms and put them into a stainless steel container with water with orange juice, lemon and lime juices. Add cloves, ginger, orange peel, lemon peel and sugar and bring mixture to a boil. Boil for approximately one hour then strain through cheese cloth and let mixture cool.

Pour the mixture into a five gallon glass water bottle with the yeast mixture and install an airlock. Insure the mixture is cool before adding the yeast mixture.

Let mixture ferment for three to four weeks, until all bubbling stops.

Pour into wine bottles and let age for six months to a year.

You can make deviation to this dandelion wine recipe to meet your own taste. Adding more sugar or raises will make it sweeter. Dandelion wine makes an excellent dessert wine that you will want to make every year. After all, what else are you going to do with those dandelions that pop every spring all over your yard.

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