Dandelion weekend in UK

[Pikey]

For all those in uk - This weekend is the best of teh whole year for collectiong dandelion flowers. (Apr 23rd - ST George's day is the actual prime day)

Dendelion makes a decent wine - but I've never tried cooking the wine and this year as usual, I'm time poor at the moment. SO if anyone has a hankering to collect a load f flowers and give it a go - Now's the time.

[HDNB]

seems if yer skint that free dandylions would be a good project. whats the recipe for wine? just sugar? i can't think they would have a lot in the naturally.
i got about 3 acres of lawn that is predominately yellow...but alas not for a few more weeks. still snow on the ground here - but next week looks awesome with highs to the mid-high teens!

[Pikey]

seems if yer skint that free dandylions would be a good project. whats the recipe for wine? just sugar? i can't think they would have a lot in the naturally.
i got about 3 acres of lawn that is predominately yellow...but alas not for a few more weeks. still snow on the ground here - but next week looks awesome with highs to the mid-high teens!

Perhaps you're getting the weather we're having next week - It's gone wappy here atm - snow on the ground a couple of weeks ago and woodburner stoked up full - 27dcC (Nearly 80dF) now !

Yeah there's usually someting you can make wine out of if you're skint - and often very decent wine too.

The recipe I use is from CJJ Berry "First steps in Winemaking" - Been doing it now well over 40 years !

2 quarts dandelion heads
3 lb sugar (2 1/2 pounds American measure)
4 Oranges or 2 oranges &1 lemon
1 Tea bag (or 1 tsp leaf tea) or 1 cup strong black tea (This is my addition to add a little "tannin" - but the wine is the better for it)
1 Gallon Water

Pick the heads when fully open and the day is sunny if possible. Discard as much stalk as possible. Use them as soon as picked.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and pour over the heads in a large container. add more boiling water if you only have a smallish pan. Add tea bags fruit flesh and zest of the fruit (discard the white pith) - leave to infuse for 24-36 hours and bring back to the boil, pouring through a sieve onto the sugar. Do not leave to stand for more than 40 hours before step 2 or an odd taste develops which will spoil a pleasant wine.

When cooled add the yeast and nutrient (gen purpose yeast and your own nutrient of preference)

Ferment in carboys or plastic fermenter under an airlock and the wine will finish clear and on the sweet side.

Rack it some times if that's what you do - I find it helpful to aid in clearing - but it will finish crystal clear anyway.

The wine is clear, when you can hold the carboy up and place your hand on the other side. WHen you can see your fingers clearly, you may think it is clear, but it is NOT until you can see it "Falls bright" and you can clearly distinguish the individual fingerprints in detail.

Good drinking wine without huge pretentions. Berry says it is a "table wine" - ok if thats what you want to use it for - but to me it used to be a drink for an evening - like wot the stuff we make does now.

Sweet wine takes quite a long time to ferment out and clear, but it Will get there !

To use it to make a wash - just reduce the sugar to 2 lb 2 oz (Imperial gallon) or 1lb 12 oz (American) per gallon - or even a little less if you're in a hurry.

I do hope someone can make use of this - get the missus and kids involved in the picking perhaps and next year you'll have all sorts of relatives and friends wanting to help !

[Note - I Never do less than 5 gallons (Imperial) at a batch, or else it is gone way too quick ! ]

[Fraser]

We do a dandelion wine at our winery here in PA. We pick dandelions all day long for a couple days and make about 300 liters of it. Our recipe is similar to those here, and it's easy to make once you break your back picking those flowers all day. We make sure to pull all the fluff out and not include any of the bitter green part of the flower, which takes a lot of time but makes a better wine for it. We bottle it in 375ml bottles and sell it for $15 bucks per, and it flies right off the shelf.

[Pikey]

That's interesting, I've never been bothered to pick all the green off, although I know "Granny's recipe" called for it - however much do you have to pay the poor people to sit and do that ?

I suppose if I were feeling particularly like I needed self inflicted pain, I could do a gallon that way - just as a trial one year, to compare !

Do you finish yours sweet or medium ?

I'm so jealous, I'd really love to make wine for sale - I know some people do - I wonder what the tax per bottle runs at in uk ?

[Kareltje]

I once tried dandelion wine and I always remember the line in the song, but I was not much impressed by the taste.
It seemed just tea and lemonjuice.
So I wonder why it sells at such high prices and I wonder even more about the taste of the distillate.

But you were definitely right: past weekend was the weekend to harvest them!

[Fraser]

That's interesting, I've never been bothered to pick all the green off, although I know "Granny's recipe" called for it - however much do you have to pay the poor people to sit and do that ?

I suppose if I were feeling particularly like I needed self inflicted pain, I could do a gallon that way - just as a trial one year, to compare !

Do you finish yours sweet or medium ?

I'm so jealous, I'd really love to make wine for sale - I know some people do - I wonder what the tax per bottle runs at in uk ?

We get family and friend "volunteers" to help pick and separate the fluff from the greens. It's time consuming and a pain, but lots of people show up when you buy them lunch and put beer on the table, no matter what the job is. The green parts of the plant give off a vegetal bitterness that we found we didn't care for. We put a lot of sugar in it to ferment out at around 14%, and then we sweeten it up to about 5% residual sugar. We keep the pH pretty low so the tartness and the sweetness balances out as best we can. It's takes on a light, straw like yellow hue with the dandelion fluff, and it has a nice taste and aroma. It's definitely a sweet, after dinner thing. I don't think I could drink more than a couple of sips of it because I don't care too much for the sweet stuff.

If anything it's nice to break out a bottle of it and share it around, as a lot of people have at least heard of it but never tasted such a thing.

[Pikey]

.........We get family and friend "volunteers" to help pick and separate the fluff from the greens. It's time consuming and a pain, but lots of people show up when you buy them lunch and put beer on the table, no matter what the job is. The green parts of the plant give off a vegetal bitterness that we found we didn't care for. We put a lot of sugar in it to ferment out at around 14%, and then we sweeten it up to about 5% residual sugar. We keep the pH pretty low so the tartness and the sweetness balances out as best we can. It's takes on a light, straw like yellow hue with the dandelion fluff, and it has a nice taste and aroma. It's definitely a sweet, after dinner thing. I don't think I could drink more than a couple of sips of it because I don't care too much for the sweet stuff.

If anything it's nice to break out a bottle of it and share it around, as a lot of people have at least heard of it but never tasted such a thing.

Dunno, I've never had an issue with any "bitterness" from the wine and I definitely don't piick off the green, but DO discard all of the stalk. peeling the individual flowers would definitely be a deal - breaker for me !

You could try a little less sweetening sugar, if you don't like it perhaps ?

Kareltje - the taste is certainly on the "Mild side" and I do like a little "citrus" in the background, but never taste "tea" in any of my wines, although they all get the "statutory tea bag" (except elderberry of course - where you are trying to get rid of tannin!) - perhaps you are not using enough flower heads ?

Ah well - I'll be out for the next 3 weeks or a little longer looking for "St George's mushrooms" - (they are rarely out on St Georges day, but do appear a week or so later, grow in old grassland or light woodland - often fairly close to water and grow in the "Fairy rings" of dark green grass associated with several mushroomm types.) - Be careful though - they look like "Proper mushrooms" but have white, quite densely packed gills - In Uk they are pretty safe to identify because of the time of year they appear. but check this in your own country because some of the most deadly mushrooms - I'm thinking particularly Amanitas - also have white gills.

[Edit - they also taste a bit "Unusual" for mushrooms ! ]

[Edit 2 - @ Kareltje - your climate timings seem very close to ours mate - odd that 23rd April is pot on for dandelions. It always has been - ever since I was a boy looking for something to make booze out of ! Never varies. Same as Rooks and Lapwings will have a full clutch of fresh eggs 5th April and Crows, Magpies and most "Tits" have their breeding dates set at 20th April.

Clever little manager old Evo-Lution! Rain or shine, Frost or wind, Nature "knows" to the day !

[Copperhead road]

We do a dandelion wine at our winery here in PA. We pick dandelions all day long for a couple days and make about 300 liters of it. Our recipe is similar to those here, and it's easy to make once you break your back picking those flowers all day. We make sure to pull all the fluff out and not include any of the bitter green part of the flower, which takes a lot of time but makes a better wine for it. We bottle it in 375ml bottles and sell it for $15 bucks per, and it flies right off the shelf.

This is a very interesting thread, I am in Australia and them flowers grow like a weed even in the city along the river. They get used as an edible flower to garnish salads in posh restaurants but did not realise you could make an alcoholic drink with them......

[Mainer7]

Some people do consider them a weed but I googled it n they "are not listed on the USDA's Federal Noxious Weed List". The Dandelion is the town flower in Carbondale, CO, USA, and celebrated each yr @ Carbondale Mountain Fair. I used to live there.
Pikey, I just picked 2 x 1 gallon bags worth of dandelions on my hill today, but i had to stick them in the freezer, as i need to still buy yeast n nutrients, and complete my pot still. I know u said to use them right away, but will freezing them hurt the outcome? Also, what yeast as well as nutrient would u recommend best for this recipe?

[Pikey]

Some people do consider them a weed but I googled it n they "are not listed on the USDA's Federal Noxious Weed List". The Dandelion is the town flower in Carbondale, CO, USA, and celebrated each yr @ Carbondale Mountain Fair. I used to live there.
Pikey, I just picked 2 x 1 gallon bags worth of dandelions on my hill today, but i had to stick them in the freezer, as i need to still buy yeast n nutrients, and complete my pot still. I know u said to use them right away, but will freezing them hurt the outcome? Also, what yeast as well as nutrient would u recommend best for this recipe?

Hell they're not "noxious" - we have a large Italian (3rd gen now) population here and they grow them in rows on allotments - "blanche themm like chicory and eat the "chicons", the roots you can make "coffee" out of and the flowers are good for wine

Bit of a pain if tehy take over your lawn tho' - my next door neighbour won't have a daisy flower in his lawn, I have naturalised bee orchids in mine (and LOADS of dandelions, daisys et al

Answer to your question - I don't know - But if I had no yeast, I'd do the boil etc and get rid of the flowers as per my recipe and rely on the sugar content to keep it sweet until I got some. Try it by all means, but I'd not have any expectation of a decent wine once the flowers are messed about like that. - but what's to lose ? a bit sugar and some yeast ? and the result which woud encourage yu to do it again next year !

Any decent wine yeast (as high alcohol tolerant as is in "Normal yeasts) - I use Tronozymol as my "Go to" nutrient, but it doesn't really matter - just whatever you nrmally use - or a bit of molasses, a bit of boiled yeast, tomato paste - whatever !

[Pikey]

.........This is a very interesting thread, I am in Australia and them flowers grow like a weed even in the city along the river. They get used as an edible flower to garnish salads in posh restaurants but did not realise you could make an alcoholic drink with them......

You can't ! but you CAN use them for flavour in a "Sugarhead" wine. The flowers are fine for an ok desert wine, the roots can be used along with burdock roots and a bed of rice to make "dandelion and burdock wine (dryish but good abv and good flavour too !

Wallflowers are good wine "flavours" as well - surprising how a delicate wine with a shde of colour can be made from a couple of pints per gallon of flower heads

[Mainer7]

Some people do consider them a weed but I googled it n they "are not listed on the USDA's Federal Noxious Weed List". The Dandelion is the town flower in Carbondale, CO, USA, and celebrated each yr @ Carbondale Mountain Fair. I used to live there.
Pikey, I just picked 2 x 1 gallon bags worth of dandelions on my hill today, but i had to stick them in the freezer, as i need to still buy yeast n nutrients, and complete my pot still. I know u said to use them right away, but will freezing them hurt the outcome? Also, what yeast as well as nutrient would u recommend best for this recipe?

Hell they're not "noxious" - we have a large Italian (3rd gen now) population here and they grow them in rows on allotments - "blanche themm like chicory and eat the "chicons", the roots you can make "coffee" out of and the flowers are good for wine

Bit of a pain if tehy take over your lawn tho' - my next door neighbour won't have a daisy flower in his lawn, I have naturalised bee orchids in mine (and LOADS of dandelions, daisys et al

Answer to your question - I don't know - But if I had no yeast, I'd do the boil etc and get rid of the flowers as per my recipe and rely on the sugar content to keep it sweet until I got some. Try it by all means, but I'd not have any expectation of a decent wine once the flowers are messed about like that. - but what's to lose ? a bit sugar and some yeast ? and the result which woud encourage yu to do it again next year !

Any decent wine yeast (as high alcohol tolerant as is in "Normal yeasts) - I use Tronozymol as my "Go to" nutrient, but it doesn't really matter - just whatever you nrmally use - or a bit of molasses, a bit of boiled yeast, tomato paste - whatever !

Yes, much agreed Pikey, I let my boys eat them right out the lawn, much to the chagrin of my mother in law. I think I'll go w a basic wine yeast n try the Tronozymol for my nutrient, which is a new one to me as I'm still a novice. Hope the freezing of the flowers doesn't make too much of a neg impact on the recipe.

[Mainer7]

Some people do consider them a weed but I googled it n they "are not listed on the USDA's Federal Noxious Weed List". The Dandelion is the town flower in Carbondale, CO, USA, and celebrated each yr @ Carbondale Mountain Fair. I used to live there.
Pikey, I just picked 2 x 1 gallon bags worth of dandelions on my hill today, but i had to stick them in the freezer, as i need to still buy yeast n nutrients, and complete my pot still. I know u said to use them right away, but will freezing them hurt the outcome? Also, what yeast as well as nutrient would u recommend best for this recipe?

Hell they're not "noxious" - we have a large Italian (3rd gen now) population here and they grow them in rows on allotments - "blanche themm like chicory and eat the "chicons", the roots you can make "coffee" out of and the flowers are good for wine

Bit of a pain if tehy take over your lawn tho' - my next door neighbour won't have a daisy flower in his lawn, I have naturalised bee orchids in mine (and LOADS of dandelions, daisys et al

Answer to your question - I don't know - But if I had no yeast, I'd do the boil etc and get rid of the flowers as per my recipe and rely on the sugar content to keep it sweet until I got some. Try it by all means, but I'd not have any expectation of a decent wine once the flowers are messed about like that. - but what's to lose ? a bit sugar and some yeast ? and the result which woud encourage yu to do it again next year !

Any decent wine yeast (as high alcohol tolerant as is in "Normal yeasts) - I use Tronozymol as my "Go to" nutrient, but it doesn't really matter - just whatever you nrmally use - or a bit of molasses, a bit of boiled yeast, tomato paste - whatever !

Yes, much agreed Pikey, I let my boys eat them right out the lawn, much to the chagrin of my mother in law. I think I'll go w a basic wine yeast n try the Tronozymol for my nutrient, which is a new one to me as I'm still a novice. Hope the freezing of the flowers doesn't make too much of a neg impact on the recipe.

Hey Pikey, I just happened to notice that there is no quantity of yeast and nutrients specified. I plan on making this wine this holiday wknd. Can u give me some measurements plz?

[Mainer7]

Some people do consider them a weed but I googled it n they "are not listed on the USDA's Federal Noxious Weed List". The Dandelion is the town flower in Carbondale, CO, USA, and celebrated each yr @ Carbondale Mountain Fair. I used to live there.
Pikey, I just picked 2 x 1 gallon bags worth of dandelions on my hill today, but i had to stick them in the freezer, as i need to still buy yeast n nutrients, and complete my pot still. I know u said to use them right away, but will freezing them hurt the outcome? Also, what yeast as well as nutrient would u recommend best for this recipe?

Hell they're not "noxious" - we have a large Italian (3rd gen now) population here and they grow them in rows on allotments - "blanche themm like chicory and eat the "chicons", the roots you can make "coffee" out of and the flowers are good for wine

Bit of a pain if tehy take over your lawn tho' - my next door neighbour won't have a daisy flower in his lawn, I have naturalised bee orchids in mine (and LOADS of dandelions, daisys et al

Answer to your question - I don't know - But if I had no yeast, I'd do the boil etc and get rid of the flowers as per my recipe and rely on the sugar content to keep it sweet until I got some. Try it by all means, but I'd not have any expectation of a decent wine once the flowers are messed about like that. - but what's to lose ? a bit sugar and some yeast ? and the result which woud encourage yu to do it again next year !

Any decent wine yeast (as high alcohol tolerant as is in "Normal yeasts) - I use Tronozymol as my "Go to" nutrient, but it doesn't really matter - just whatever you nrmally use - or a bit of molasses, a bit of boiled yeast, tomato paste - whatever !

Yes, much agreed Pikey, I let my boys eat them right out the lawn, much to the chagrin of my mother in law. I think I'll go w a basic wine yeast n try the Tronozymol for my nutrient, which is a new one to me as I'm still a novice. Hope the freezing of the flowers doesn't make too much of a neg impact on the recipe.

Hey Pikey, I just happened to notice that there is no quantity of yeast and nutrients specified. I plan on making this wine this holiday wknd. Can u give me some measurements plz?

One more thing Pikey, can this wine b aged for any significant amount of time?

[Pikey]

Hi Mainer,

Just any normal yeast - a sachet or two if you're using a decent wine yeast per 5 gallons of must. - A couple of ounces maybe if you want to go "dried Bread yeast"

Say 3 tsp nutrient if you're using Tronozymol - again per 5 gallons.

I wouldn't thaw your flowers out, to try to prevent those "off flavours" associated with the flowers getting too old.

- Actually you might thaw them out in the microwave - that might be the best way to go, immediately before use, then it would leave your water hot for the infusion.

Have you made wine before ? - It's not quite like making a wash. Time is Not relevant and you will find a sweet wine like this will keep fermenting for maybe 3 months before it is reasonably done and starts to clear. Maybe another 2 - 3 months to clear properly. I don't mess any of mine about with "Campden Tabs" or "finings" or "Stabilizers". It will get there eventually.

Oh and the taste will change dramatically - something which tastes very ordinary as it is clearing can be superb after 6 months ! The number of times I have opened my last bottle and thought - Oh Damn - I wish... !

Will it keep ? - well yes - It'll be reasonably high abv - say 15% or so, so kept airtight, it is going to be fine. I don't think I've ever kept it more than a few months tho' - It just "got drank" ! - You won't be able to measure abv with an alcoholometer though, you'll have to do "SG calcs" if you want an accurate value, because of that residual sugar.

Best of luck mate I hope the freezing of the flowers doesn't hurt it too much. - I'll be thinking of you tomorrow, do let us know how it goes

[Mainer7]

Sounds right up my alley then if it takes months to finish, as I'm in no rush. I am a virgin when it comes to making wine, and since my grapes need to grow, this was the first ingredient on my property I could take advantage of so I'm gonna pop my proverbial cherry w dandelions. I did do beer in a bag in college which turned out AWFUL, then tried peach brandy yrs ago which was a flop. The recipe actually told me to bury the jar under ground to ferment. No yeast, no sugar, no experience! I'm still caught up on the "nutrients" part. Wouldn't u know, I went to my local brewshop after work 2day n when I got there the door was locked. The owner was doing a walk around the building w the landlord, what r the odds!!! So is there anything "household" that i can use for nutrients? Or do i need to go back to the brewshop 2morrow for Tronozymol?

[Pikey]

You're really going to need nutrients because we basically have a "sugar head" here. We have allowed for the acid & tannin needs but the yeast's needs are pretty similar to plants really. Nitrogenous stuff is important and some trace bits.

Some recommend "Tomato paste" as a decent nutrient - but I don't know. Also I have seen quite a few recommend actual "plant food" - like "phostrogen" or "miracle grow" - That may work for distils, I don't know - but we're going to have to drink everything we put into the wine, so I'd be a little shy about that.

A couple of litres of Grape juice would do the trick, just added in. My "suppin wine" is based on a litre of that and a litre of apple juice made up to 5 litres with water plus 1 kg sugar and the obligatory Lemoon / citric acid and the tea bag comes out quick, easy and acceptable for a quick drink - if you fancy practicing on that.

If you have a load of bakers yeast, some boil that up and add that as nutrient which seems to work ok they say (look up "Yeast bomb")

A pound or so of raisins would be ok - but will affect the flavour.

You're going to need nutrient and citric acid regularly - get a load of both next time you get a chance and keep them in stock.

I Don't know how far away the "Brew shop" is - but you could try chucking a jar of "apple sauce" or even "Marmalade" in there - might get you going and wouldn't really hurt the flavour if not. If it doesn't "Start up" you can add nutrient after, if you need to.

Oh I don't know if I mentioned it earlier, but you need to "Aeriate" the "must" (What we call the "wash") so a lot of splashing about, or vigorous stirrng to get air into the mix - (yeast needs oxygen in the earlt stages).

Hope this helps

[Mainer7]

Thnx Pikey, I really appreciate ur patience and help w me here. I agree w u on the tomato paste and anything else that might significantly change the flavor of this PARTICULAR wine. Cause after all, my assumption is that there isnt a ton of taste to the dandelion itself, so id like to b as unobtrusive as possible. Besides, I'm not interested in making a "quick drink", I'm looking to make quality for the longhaul. Any ol schmo can make a run of the mill drink out of almost any ingredient, but what's the fun in that, just go to the liquor store.
The brew shop is only down the rd, like 15 mins, so I don't mind heading down there 2morrow. I just hate wasted trips, like earlier today. N I will stock up on the Citric Acid n Tronozymol as I do plan on making several types of wine over the summer/fall. I know that when I start distilling I'll b needing nutrients as well.
I will aerate the shit out of this wash as u recommend. I'll deff keep u posted as to how it turns out.
Ultimately, id like to make a small wood barrel to store this in. I plan on experimenting w diff types of wood too as i am a carpenter by trade n have the skills to do so. I know that white oak is the preferred wood for barrels, but if I have an array kicking around I may just experiment, w water first of course.
Thnx again Pikey!

[Mainer7]

So I made a trip to the brewstore yest, and of course spent way more than I had planned on. But I knew full well going in there that that was going to happen. So I can't fret about that as I needed the supplies n got a good bit of needed Info. Today, the wife n I took the boys to the bike path to ride off their training wheels, which will take a good deal longer. When i got back, i finally started my dandelion wine. I can't push too hard and sherk family responsibilities as being an alcoholic, this hobby will have to play second fiddle. And since my taster is pregnant and not due till Nov, all I can do is spit, so no rush necessary. Anyways, the only addition to this recipe I made, where some frozen raspberries(about 1 Cup) from my own plants that I've had for a while now. Everything is steeping now in my pressure cooker in the garage. Tomorrow after work I will add the yeast n nutrients n transfer to a carboy for the long haul.
Since the wife n I spent all day yest mowing and weedwhacking the property, I couldn't help but notice the amount of Peonies that I have acquired over the yrs from my Aunt, via my Grandmother's bulbs. So i wonderered if i could do this same recipe, except replace the dandelion w peonies? I looked it up on our HD GOOGLE but only found a thread on "Gardening" w no mention of Peonies. I did however find a very complicated recipe on a different site that made peony wine, but they used a very small quantity of peonies. Might u Pikey, or anyone else have any thoughts on this idea?

[Pikey]

I don't know about peonies Mainer, I have a "tree peony" - but never even thought of it as a potential flavour source. Can you link us to that recipe please ?

I do elderflower occasionally, but somehow I seem to have "Lost the knack" of picking the right ones at the right time, so what used to be a lovely summer wine (I made it low strength and finished it sparkling) turns out nowadays as crap !

The only other flower wine I make is Wallflower - using 1 pint of mixed colour flowers to 1 gallon - finished medium dryish that is very delicate and very nice to me,

[Mainer7]

No idea how to copy the direct link n paste it here but I suppose i can just tell ya;
Just Google: Abby Galloway: Wine Making: Peony Wine
It's the first thing that comes up.

[Mainer7]

So I chucked the yeast, n added my nutrient last night n transferred to my 3 Gal carboy. The must is brown n there is very little yeast activity going on, just ever so slight. I followed all directions to a T n allowed the must to cool down slowly, on its own to 95-100°F. That's right when I chucked the yeast in after it rested in its own bath for 20 min, per packet directions. I suppose I'm used to seeing on videos the yeast forming a big, frothy, head, but nothing of the sort. I dont see how the must could possibly "clear" as it is so brown. I wonder if its the black Tea bag that I used?
Anyways, I'm going to make another Gal this afternoon n add it to my carboy when applicable. That way I can age 2 Gals for the required 4-6mnths.
Any thoughts Pikey?

[Pikey]

..........
Oh I don't know if I mentioned it earlier, but you need to "Aeriate" the "must" (What we call the "wash") so a lot of splashing about, or vigorous stirrng to get air into the mix - (yeast needs oxygen in the earlt stages).

.......:

You can't "over-air" it in the early stage, it wants Oxygen - later no it doesn't.

Those little packets of yeast from the brew shop take a while to multiply and get going, if you see any activity at all - it's on it's way. Unlikely you will get a big Froth tho.

It'll clear fine when it's ready - You wanna see a pan full of boiled up bananas - all grey sludge - I very nearly chucked it, the first time I did one - but it turned out fine.

[Mainer7]

Thnx for the advice Pikey. Might u recommend taking the air-lock off completely n covering the opening w say, a towel? Or would that allow too much unknowns to enter? I certainly did not over aerate the must like I thought I was going to, just some vigorous stirring is all. The froth I was referring to was, when people prep the yeast in a pint glass n after however much time, it looks like a friggen root beer float. I don't expect there to b a big froth in the carboy though.
As far as the yeast goes, I used only 1/4 tsp of "Red Star; Premier Classique; Active dry yeast", as that's what the quantity on the sachet called for, as well as ur directions for use. I was told that it is a pretty good yeast for a wine/sugar bomb like this.
Great news though, upon returning home from work today and checking my carboy, she's just fizzing right along like a fountain soda, n the air-lock is a nice steady burp about every 1 second.
So I'll b prepping another 1 Gal tonight to finish off n add to the same carboy tomorrow evening.
VERY EXCITING!!!!

[Pikey]

That's good mate

I seem to have misled you ! when I said "we can't over aerate" - I meant it's not possible - not that it was a danger.

I stick an airstone on an aquarium pump in mine and leave it for a while (around 15 minutes for a gallon perhaps ?) maybe an hour and a half for 200 litres - it's not cast in stone !

Never mind - give the new batch a good shake up for a few minutes to get some air into it and mix it with the old - that should be fine !

[The Baker]

Make sure you use a stainless (copper?) airstone.

Some of the others dissolve!

Geoff

[Mainer7]

It's that damn English language barrier Pikey!

[Mainer7]

I think what I'll do to the second batch is use an electric mixer, like when ur making a cake. Only caveat is, i won't b able to lick the beaters. N I will do this once the nutrients n yeast have been added to the must.

[Mainer7]

I don't know about peonies Mainer, I have a "tree peony" - but never even thought of it as a potential flavour source. Can you link us to that recipe please ?

I do elderflower occasionally, but somehow I seem to have "Lost the knack" of picking the right ones at the right time, so what used to be a lovely summer wine (I made it low strength and finished it sparkling) turns out nowadays as crap !

The only other flower wine I make is Wallflower - using 1 pint of mixed colour flowers to 1 gallon - finished medium dryish that is very delicate and very nice to me,

Hey Pikey, did u happen to look @ that "Peony Wine" recipe yet?