Dandelions. If you are familiar with this flower, the very name will bring to mind a host of items that you can experiment with in your kitchen, that is, if you like to cook and make items like jams, cakes, pickles, jellies, and so on.
Can you use yeast for dandelion wine? Sure. Most of the wine yeast strains are great for dandelion wine.
What Is Dandelion Wine Made From?
Dandelion wine is made from dandelions. Why else would it get the name dandelion wine?
Oh, you don’t know what a dandelion is, do you? Okay, in that case, this is a flower, bright yellow and slightly sweet, and when used in wine, it gives it a shade that is as golden as it can be mistaken for honey.
In other words, if you like sweet wine, you would perhaps want to try this, as dandelions are made from these sweet flowers and are sweet.
Sugar, raisins, and citrus are some of the other things that go into this liquid, and no, it won’t disappoint the sweet wine lover in you.
Is Dandelion Wine Sweet Or Dry?
The taste of dandelion wine is slightly bitter with a dash of honey-like sweetness. This beverage is best served chilled and is appropriate for any setting or climate. If you enjoy the smell of fetid, you’ll love this beverage because it has an exceptionally irresistible mildewed scent.
What Is the Alcoholic Content Of Dandelion Wine?
12.6 percent. That’s a little, right? Well, that’s how much alcoholic content you get when you drink from a bottle of dandelion wine.
How Does Dandelion Wine Taste?
Honey-like. It has the color of honey and the taste of honey. Only, this is wine, made from a flower called dandelion, and filling your nose with the smell of the fields as you take a sip.
And it is best when served chilled.
Can You Ferment Dandelions?
Yes, and dandelions are very easy to ferment, all thanks to the natural lactoferrin that is in them.
Moving on, see the rest that you need to do here.
How Do You Ferment Dandelions?
Want to make some dandelion wine at home, do you? Okay, here’s how you go about it.
Just like any other alcohol, wine too is fermented, and so dandelion wine is also fermented.
It is only once it is fermented that you get this delicious dry wine,
You begin by gathering all the yellow petals. No leaves and no stalks, please.
Now bring out the colander. There, as someone who makes wines, you know what’s next for you to do.
Once done, bring the liquid to a boil. You can then add the citrus and the sugar and then cool.
And now comes the part for which we are reading this article, adding the yeast. Add, stir, and then set aside for a fortnight.
You know the next steps, don’t you?
Why Is Yeast Used In the Wine Industry?
You mean, why is the yeast used in wine, don’t you? Well, the answer is because of the way it respires.
Yeast respires anaerobically and, in the process, creates ethanol and then alcohol.
There, you got your answer now, haven’t you?
How Much Yeast Do I Need For One Liter Of Wine?
Now that you got your initial doubt cleared, here’s addressing the more important question regarding the quantity of yeast that’s needed in your wine.
Know that the more yeast, the faster will be the fermentation process, but make sure that when it comes to measuring the yeast by grams, you don’t go more than three.
This you can either add directly to the mixture or first rehydrate. The latter does not take much but will produce better results, which you want, don’t you?
There’s another thing that you need to do if you want quality results. Make sure that you are using high-quality yeast, and once that’s done, about one to three grams per liter will do.
High-quality yeast gives you results that are consistent and reliable, Fermenting wine is hard work, and the last thing you would want after a fortnight of stirring is wine gone spoilt.
So, remember, quantity and quality produce results with consistency.
Which Yeast Is Best For Wine?
They call it Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but this is also known as the brewer’s wine since most of you reading this would find it hard to remember or pronounce it.
Now, you just have to walk into a store and ask the person in charge to hand you a bottle of brewer’s yeast.
What Are the Three Things Wine Should Not Smell Like
There, that’s a little off-topic and takes the spotlight away from the subject at hand, which is the yeast for dandelion wine, but putting it here for it is nevertheless important.
Your wine should not smell like cardboard or damp newspaper. Sounds familiar? Wine of this kind is spoiled and tainted, and you need to stay away from it.
Your wine should not smell of curry spice, caramel, tainted fruit, or walnut. All of these suggest that your wine was left at a hot temperature.
Wine should be set aside at room temperature. Next, wine should not smell like a nail polish remover. In that case, the wine has turned acetic and is flawed.
Wine should not smell of rotten eggs or anything burnt. If that is so, it has been exposed to too much air and has not been sealed the right way.
Okay, at the end of the day, your wine should not smell of anything but wine. If you are a winemaker, you know the meaning of this, and if you are not, it is always important to take the process side by side with an expert. It could be your neighbor or a friend, and surely you will have someone in your circle who loves making wine.
Now, Make Your Dandelion Wine
And that’s all about yeast in your wine. Whether you are an expert or making wine for the first time, it shouldn’t be difficult and is, in fact, going to be a lot of fun, especially now that you are experimenting with these aromatic yellow flowers that you call dandelions.
You’re going to love the process of this, right from the plucking of these beautiful yellow flowers, to straining the golden yellow liquid that you have been eagerly storing as you count the fifteen days.
