Dandelion Weed Walk Video and Recipe for Dandelion Wine

Our sunny harbinger of spring, the nutritious, delicious and valuable Dandelion.

Learn how to identify, use, and appreciate the common weeds of eastern Pennsylvania. “Weeds” are some of the most safe, nutritious, and valuable of all plants. Join me in a videos and posts about my seasonally changing search for wild plants such as mustard, violet, bittercress, watercress, chickweed, dandelion, nettle, false nettle, self-heal, burdock, milkweed, shamrock, red clover, raspberry and all cane fruits, and more. Please find my Dandelion Weed Walk video here.

Dandelion Wine Recipe from Karen Palcho

Yield 1 gallon

3-5 quarts by volume dandelion blossoms

5-6 quarts water

2.5-3 pounds sugar or honey. The more sugar, the higher the alcohol percentage.

2-3 citrus fruits, any kind

1 package dry yeast (approx. 8 grams). Any bread yeast will work. A white wine or champagne yeast is best.

Bottles with caps or corks: any very clean wine or beer bottles will do. Canning jars will do.

  • Pick blossoms, removing stem and calyx (the green parts.) There is no need to ‘wash’ the blossoms.
  • Place blossoms in a clean, large non-reactive pot (glass, ceramic, enamel)
  • Boil the water, pour over blossoms. Water should cover blossoms by 1-3 inches. Add more water if necessary. Set aside at room temperature, out of direct sunlight for 2-3 days, stirring a little everyday. Strain through a cheesecloth lined colander (any cloth will do.) into a cook pot.
  • Add sugar and citrus rind. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30-60 minutes. Cool to around 100 degrees. Add citrus juice. Sprinkle yeast on surface. Cover and keep at room temperature for 2-3 days. You should see active bubbling as the yeast digests the sugars, starches and proteins and excretes CO2 and ethanol. Then, the ferment will quiet down.
  • Strain again into a glass or plastic jug or carboy, leaving sediment behind. You must exclude oxygen from now on. You need an airlock. An airlock can be made with a balloon. Fit the balloon over the opening. Release the trapped CO2 from time to time. There are many other ways to make an airlock.
  • Set aside at room temperature for another 2-3 months for aging. Aging balances and develops flavor, just as in grape wine.
  • Decant the wine once again to leave sediment behind. Fill very clean bottles or jars and cap or cork to seal well. Let age once more for a month or two. The traditional time to enjoy the first sip of spring Dandelion sunshine is on the winter solstice.
  • There are many other recipes online and the wine can be made much more quickly than this.

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kpalcho@gmail.com | (610) 389-8316 | Fleetwood, PA
Serving the greater Philadelphia and Reading, PA regions

All photos courtesy of Karen

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