Just wondering how long I have to wait for my dandelion wine to start
tasting good.

I've read that it takes time, but every time we taste it, I get closer
to dumping it. It has always smelled and tasted bitter and nasty. Made
it in the summer of 2003 from flowerheads (not just petals) and it is
still not clear despite several rackings. Anyway, we kept it despite
the fact that I can barely stand the smell, because I've heard that
this wine takes a lot of time. Really have my doubts that it will be
drinkable, though.

..

Mike,

I've never made dandelion wine myself, but from what I've read, it
should be made from the petals alone, to avoid the bitterness of the
vegetative portions. People who know often speak of spending a lot of
time separating the green from the yellow, and they must be doing it for
a good reason.

After two years I suspect it's as good as its gonna get. Still, don't
dump it till you hear from a dandelion expert.

--
Mike MTM, Cokesbury, NJ, USA

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"Mike McGeough" > wrote in message
...
>
> Mike,
>
> I've never made dandelion wine myself, but from what I've read, it should
> be made from the petals alone, to avoid the bitterness of the vegetative
> portions. People who know often speak of spending a lot of time separating
> the green from the yellow, and they must be doing it for a good reason.
>
> After two years I suspect it's as good as its gonna get. Still, don't dump
> it till you hear from a dandelion expert.
>
> --

You may be using the wrong part of the dandelion. The part of the dandelion
used in herbal medicine is the root, not the flower. You can check the label
of some herbal medicine with dandelion in it. They are labelled as dandelion
root.

The most important "green" to remove is the bottom light green part, I
believe it is the ovary. Some of the green leaf parts (sepals) are not
so bad to leave behind. It is the base that is really bitter and will
ruin your day.

miker wrote:
> I used only petals and sepals. Prior to picking the flowers I read
> quite a few opinions about whether to use just petals, etc. and,
> although there were differences of opinion, most people thought it
> didn't matter from what I can recall. I remember tasting both ways
> (just petals, and petals with sepals) by eating them when we were
> picking flowers and not finding any bitterness except with one flower -
> I distinctly remember finding one bitter flower - and then we couldn't
> find any more that tasted bitter.
>
> I should mention that we've never tasted Dandelion wine so don't really
> know what it's supposed to taste like, but I doubt I'll try making it
> again until I do taste some that is reported as good, because it's a
> lot of work even with petals and sepals. Petals only must take forever.
>
> Can you buy Dandelion wine at the stores?
>
Interesting that the sepals didn't taste as bitter as the wine. Perhaps
there's a bitter substance present which is more soluble in alcohol than
water, and is extracted better during fermentation?

I've had dandelion wine several times over the years, but never found it
exactly enjoyable. No, let's be honest: I thought it was poor to
horrible. But that's just an opinion. I've never been tempted to pick &
clean the vast numbers of flowers necessary for a batch, and I admire
the diligence of those who have done it. To my mind there are many other
easier and better tasting things to make wine out of.

Last year I brought back a bottle of commercial Parsnip (root) Wine from
England. It was a huge disappointment. It was both bitter and very
acidic, and I didn't finish one glass before I dumped out the whole
bottle. It must be an acquired taste.

--
Mike MTM, Cokesbury, NJ, USA

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WannabeSomeone wrote:


> You may be using the wrong part of the dandelion. The part of the
> dandelion used in herbal medicine is the root, not the flower. You can
> check the label of some herbal medicine with dandelion in it. They are
> labelled as dandelion root.
>

Actually, I'm not using any part of the dandelion at all. :-) The
original poster was asking specifically about dandelion _wine_
however,not medicine. To the best of my knowledge, this is traditionally
made only from the flowers, never the roots. I would imagine a dandelion
root wine would be quite a bit like Parsnip wine, both in preparation
and taste.

--
Mike MTM, Cokesbury, NJ, USA

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miker > wrote:

> Just wondering how long I have to wait for my dandelion wine to start
> tasting good.
>
> I've read that it takes time, but every time we taste it, I get closer
> to dumping it. It has always smelled and tasted bitter and nasty. Made
> it in the summer of 2003 from flowerheads (not just petals) and it is
> still not clear despite several rackings. Anyway, we kept it despite
> the fact that I can barely stand the smell, because I've heard that
> this wine takes a lot of time. Really have my doubts that it will be
> drinkable, though.

Sorry to say, but you should have removed the petals from the green
calix at the bottom. This is what causes the bitterness.

It is a hell of a job removing them but essential. I have not made it
for a while though.

--
Regards, Shane
"A closed mouth gathers no feet!"
Website: http://www.wonk.demon.co.uk/

Hello,
I've made Dandelion wine twice, and it wasn't to my liking the first time -
I doubt I'll like the batch I have downstairs mellowing out. You really
should make the wine out of just the flower petals, not any of the greens or
roots. My second batch is still aging, but I think it is like anything else,
you like it or you don't. I did try to sweeten my second batch a bit,
because the first batch was too dry. The wines did clear for me, but I will
say it has an odd smell. Have you tried a clearing agent?
Darlene


"miker" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Just wondering how long I have to wait for my dandelion wine to start
> tasting good.
>
> I've read that it takes time, but every time we taste it, I get closer
> to dumping it. It has always smelled and tasted bitter and nasty. Made
> it in the summer of 2003 from flowerheads (not just petals) and it is
> still not clear despite several rackings. Anyway, we kept it despite
> the fact that I can barely stand the smell, because I've heard that
> this wine takes a lot of time. Really have my doubts that it will be
> drinkable, though.
>
> .
>

Miker,

If you visit Jack Keller's dandelion recipe page you'll find a boatload
of information as well as recipes. Two years ago I made both recipes
#1 and #2. Both took a LONG time (10 - 12 mos) to clear, and only so
after using Sparkalloid. #1 had more body (per the raisins) and I
believe I sweetened it a bit more than the batch of #2. I just cut the
heads from the stalks on recipe #1, and for recipe #2 I pinched off
just the yellow petal. Talk about labor intensive, my fingers hurt for
a week and it took that long for the stain to finally wear off. #1 was
far more palatable than #2 in my opinion, and since it is much easier
to just cut the heads off I will stick with that recipe in the future.
I only bottle this wine in 375 ml bottles because most of it is given
to friends to try, and I always tell them not to decide whether they
like it based on the first sip. Some like it right away, some after a
few sips and some dump it. If your wine is too dry for your tastes,
maybe add a bit of corn syrup. Good luck...

Paul


miker wrote:
> Just wondering how long I have to wait for my dandelion wine to start
> tasting good.
>
> I've read that it takes time, but every time we taste it, I get closer
> to dumping it. It has always smelled and tasted bitter and nasty. Made
> it in the summer of 2003 from flowerheads (not just petals) and it is
> still not clear despite several rackings. Anyway, we kept it despite
> the fact that I can barely stand the smell, because I've heard that
> this wine takes a lot of time. Really have my doubts that it will be
> drinkable, though.
>
> .

Thanks Paul,

I was actually going to refer to Jack's site with this post so that
others could see what he says about only the stalks being bitter.
Jack's praise of Dandelion wine was partially why I was so anxious to
try it despite the amount of time and work it takes. I used a recipe
from his site for the wine but I don't recall which recipe right now. I
may try some Sparkalloid or something to see how that helps. We tried
putting a little sugar in a sample last weedend while racking, but it
didn't help much. Maybe we just don't like Dandelion wine or perhaps
this is just a poor batch.

So, no one has seen Dandelion wine for sale?

I pinch the petale out, sometimes there is sime sepal material in
them...I have never had a problem with bitterness.
Some of the bitterness might have come from the way the flavor was
extracted....either hot or cold sok/maceration...etc.

"miker" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Thanks Paul,
>
> I was actually going to refer to Jack's site with this post so that
> others could see what he says about only the stalks being bitter.
> Jack's praise of Dandelion wine was partially why I was so anxious to
> try it despite the amount of time and work it takes. I used a recipe
> from his site for the wine but I don't recall which recipe right now. I
> may try some Sparkalloid or something to see how that helps. We tried
> putting a little sugar in a sample last weedend while racking, but it
> didn't help much. Maybe we just don't like Dandelion wine or perhaps
> this is just a poor batch.
>
> So, no one has seen Dandelion wine for sale?

Linganore Winery near Mt. Airy, Maryland sells Dandelion wine and other
fruit wines and also of all things - wine made from honest to god wine
grapes.

I did not like their Dandelion wine but I guess some people must buy it.

find some winos in your area and get their opinion.

--
Suppose humans figure out how to make other humans outside of the way "god"
intended (thru re-engineering). Now, is the GOD supposed to allow these
man made humans into heaven? Suppose god is ****ed, what then?
"miker" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Just wondering how long I have to wait for my dandelion wine to start
> tasting good.
>
> I've read that it takes time, but every time we taste it, I get closer
> to dumping it. It has always smelled and tasted bitter and nasty. Made
> it in the summer of 2003 from flowerheads (not just petals) and it is
> still not clear despite several rackings. Anyway, we kept it despite
> the fact that I can barely stand the smell, because I've heard that
> this wine takes a lot of time. Really have my doubts that it will be
> drinkable, though.
>
> .
>

> "miker" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>> Just wondering how long I have to wait for my dandelion wine to start
>> tasting good.
>>
>> I've read that it takes time, but every time we taste it, I get closer
>> to dumping it. It has always smelled and tasted bitter and nasty. Made
>> it in the summer of 2003 from flowerheads (not just petals) and it is
>> still not clear despite several rackings. Anyway, we kept it despite
>> the fact that I can barely stand the smell, because I've heard that
>> this wine takes a lot of time. Really have my doubts that it will be
>> drinkable, though.

I made some last year from the flowerheads and I think
you are pretty much on the mark -- it has a bouquet of 'weeds'!
I've had mine 7 months and it cleared up nicely, beautiful golden
color (I did not wash the heads first so I got all the pollen).

Finally, I broke down and just started adding sugar
to what I had, more of a 'dandelion liquor?' Much more drinkable.
If you want to see some documentary pictures of the effort I've
enjoyed using a new digital camera, check out:
http://www.murtari.org/hobbies/dandelion_wine.htm

I have seen other web recipes for dandelion wine and
most seem to include other fruit juices and I can understand
why -- to coverup the weed taste! I'd like to hear from anyone
who just used dandelions and came up with something drinkable.

Best regards!

--
John
__________________________________________________ _________________
John Murtari Software Workshop Inc.
jmurtari@following domain 315.635-1968(x-211) "TheBook.Com" (TM)
http://thebook.com/

You should have taken the base of the flower off.


I used apricots in mine this year and it is still a mess. I have to do
a great deal of fining on it. But I always have to fine when using
drupes (apricots, peaches, nectarines).