Dandelion

[oldbloke]

Dandelion season is almost upon us again. My last lot came out rather well, so here's the recipe:

2014-05-04
Picked a gallon of dandelion heads (lightly packed) yielding about 2/3 gallon petals after cutting off all stalk and most of the green bits
Dissolved 1.1kg sugar in hot water, left to cool while snipping heads
Poured over petals
Added 250g chopped golden raisins, crushed Campden
2014-05-08
Strained to demi.
1/2tsp citric, 1/2tsp tartaric, 1/2tsp tannin
Pitched half sachet Gervin GV5, 2tsp nutrient
2014-06-30
Racked with finings
2014-07-02
Stabiliser
2014-07-03
Bottled.

Never thought of that. We are overwhelmed with the bloody things round here. What does it taste like and what kind of ABV is it? My only experience of dandelion is in D&B pop

[oldbloke]

The ABV is entirely down to how much sugar you use. I generally aim for 14% with everything I make, but 1.1kg in a gallon should come out a little over 12%.
Hard to describe the taste. The raisins give it some wine-ness, and then it's just kinda nice.
you can drink it young but it may be a tiny bit sharp, best leave it in the bottle 3 months or so
Ends up almost completely clear.

Ah, you didn't explicitly state the amount in your recipe though I suppose a demijohn is a standard 5L size come to think about it.

Sounds something fun to try, the dandelions aren't really in flower here yet but soon will be so it sounds like a great late summer drink once it's matured - August/September early evening on the patio, I presume you serve it chilled like a white?

You basically throw the flower heads in whole after removing the green bits?

[oldbloke]

Yeh, you want to get shot of all actual stalk, and you don't really want any green bits but a little doesn't matter. So you take your gallon bucket out picking, and when it's full you go home and spend a happy hour with the kitchen scissors. Some hold together, some fall to bits. Your hands, and everything else, ends up stained yellow.
I get most of mine up the end of my street, but they're not out yet. They are a mile away though!
You're supposed to gather them when they're in full sun so they're open and the various flavinoids etc are up in the petals.

Have you (or anyone) tried a pure dandelion brew i.e. no raisins or anything else?
I would wonder if honey would work well with dandelion. I was also wondering about a sparkling version.

I think I'll definitely have a play with this once they start flowering (one flowered in my lawn yesterday darn it!)
Still unsure as to what it tastes like, could I get an idea by just steeping the flowers to make a dandelion tea or does the fermentation utterly cahnge the flavour do you think?

[oldbloke]

I've just asked t'missus and she says it just tastes like a pleasant white wine
It's hard to describe more precisely, but it tastes like wine

Ta. I shall be out with a bucket in a few weeks then

I quite like the idea of making a sparkling version, maybe weaker as more of a quaffing beverage. I'll post how I get on whenever that happens.