Dandelion Wine

Step 1

Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar and cool to lukewarm.

Step 2

Place the dandelion petals, citrus juice and zest into a one-gallon fermentation vessel. Add the yeast nutrient and pour the lukewarm sugar water over the top.

Step 3

Dissolve a packet of champagne yeast or other wine yeast in lukewarm water. Allow it to stand for 5 minutes to rehydrate and then pour it into the wine. Top off with a bit of extra water to bring to fill the carboy, but be sure to leave at least an inch of headspace.

Step 4

Cap with an airlock and ferment for about 3 weeks or until fermentation has stopped. It will take a bit longer if you don't use raisins because they provide extra micro-nutrients to get the yeast working faster.

Step 5

Siphon the wine into a clean container, leaving the yeast sediment behind. Allow the wine to ferment in secondary for at least 6 to 8 weeks, checking the water lock periodically to ensure that the water hasn't evaporated.

Step 6

Sciphon the dandelion wine into a clean container, again leaving the sediment behind, to prepare for bottling.

Step 7

Bottle the dandelion wine in corked wine bottles for longer storage, or flip top Grolsch bottles for tiny batches you're not planning on storing long.

Step 8

Allow the wine age in the bottle at least 2 months before drinking, ideally 6 months or more. Note: During aging, the wine should be kept somewhere cool-ish like a basement or closet on the north side of the house.