Fool's Gold: Kristeva's Dandelion Mead

Dandelion wine was the very first wine I ever made. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to alter the recipe and make it into a mead. It was the second mead I ever made and the first mead that I sent to a competition-and it won a gold medal. Of course, at the time I had no idea about proper yeast hydration techniques but I have added that to this recipe for those of you who would like to follow those modern protocols.

Ingredients

2 large zip lock bags of dandelion blossoms (frozen overnight)

225 gm sultanas

This humble little week makes a delicious and nutritious wine

4 oz fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

12 lbs light flavoured honey like alfalfa or sweet-clover

2 lbs white sugar

1 orange, juiced

3 lemons, juiced

5 cinnamon sticks

25 L snow melt water, filtered and boiled (or tap water)

15 gms BA11 yeast (or 1116, 1118, D47)

5 gm goferm

20 gm fermaid 0

Directions

Place dandelion blossoms in a fermentation bucket. Pour boiling water over them to make a tea. Steep for 3-4 hours. Tasting it around the 3 hour mark for bitterness.

Strain off the blossoms when the tea begins to taste bitter. Add the honey, sultanas, and the rest of the ingredients except the yeast. Stir until the honey has melted and incorporated. Let sit and steep overnight.

The next day, head a cup of water to 45 degrees C. Add the goferm and stir. Wait until the mixture cools to 40 degrees and pitch the yeast and stir. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Add 1 oz of your dandelion must to the yeast mixture and stir. Wait another 5 mins and repeat this cycle four times, or until the must temperature is no more than 10 degrees cooler than your yeast mixture.

When the 20 mins and four cycles of yeast hydration have been completed, pitch the whole mixture into your must. Cover the bucket with a tea towel or sheet to keep any insects out.

Stir daily for 5 days.

Nutrient additions:

24 hours after pitch - add 5 gms to must and stir vigorously and recover.

48 hours after pitch - add 5 gms to must and stir vigorously and recover

72 hours after pitch - add 5 gms to must and stir vigorously and recover

120 hours after pitch -add 5 gms to must and stir vigorously and airlock!

Day 14 - rack off the lees and into a glass carboy. Add medium toast french oak chips in a mesh bag. Leave on oak for 7-14 days. Taste every few days and pull the bag out when you like the flavour.

Let it age for another month and rack again if there is more than 1/2” of lees build up at bottom of carboy.

This was a fast ferment for me. It was delicious and drinkable in six weeks. I pitched the yeast January 22 and bottled on March 11 without a filter. Results will always vary. Use your nose and your taste buds to decide when you think it is ready to bottle.

Be sure to stabilize properly before bottling.