Vintner's Best Dandelion Wine Base 128 oz
Brand : Vintners Best
- SKU:
- 3970
- UPC:
- 619165401173
- Shipping:
- Calculated at Checkout
Your Vintner's Best Dandelion Wine Base is a blend of juice concentrates, dandelion type Flavoring, HFCS, malic acid and natural flavors combine to make a fermentable base for dandelion wine blend at 18.9B or 10.7% ABV. This product is blended, pasteurized, filled into gallon containers and can be stored at ambient temperature. Diammonium phosphate is added as a yeast nutrient.
Your Vintner's Best Dandelion Wine Base is perfect for making your favorite varietal wines all year long. Your wine base is made from all natural fruit juice and does not need to be strained or placed into any sort of mesh bag! Start making your favorite varietal wines today.
No pH or acid adjustments are required. Acidity: 2.4; 2.2 - 2.6 % w/w (as citric acid) (AOAC Method 942.15)
INSTRUCTIONS
Add 4 gallons of water to 1 gallon of concentrate and pitch your favorite yeast to make 5 gallons of wine. Distilled water is your best choice because it is guaranteed to be pH neutral which will not throw off the acidity of your wine. If you cannot get distilled water, you can use regular bottled water however, it could make your wine more tart if it is acidic. Tap water is not recommended.
Your Dandelion Wine Base also comes as a kit. It Includes yeast, potassium sorbate, potassium metabisulfite and clearing agents.
OTHER PRODUCTS YOU MIGHT NEED
Lalvin K1-V116 is the recommended yeast for your dandelion wine but there are many other yeast options if you have different preferences.
Your dandelion wine is typically drank semi-sweet or sweet. You will need to add Potassium Sorbate before doing so and it must be in conjunction with sulfites. If you add Potassium Sorbate by itself, it produces off flavors. Sulfites are also recommended to protect your wine from oxidation.
Fermfast Dualfine Clearing Aid
Fermfast Dualfine Clearing Aid (65 g) is a two stage fining agent package that contains Kieselol and Chitosan. Clears most wines to a brilliant finish in 12-48 hours. One package is sufficient to clear your dandelion wine 5-gallon batch. It's a great tool to have on hand for any winemaker.
Potassium Sorbate stops yeast reproduction. You must add it to your dandelion wine before back sweetening and bottling. Without Potassium Sorbate, your yeast will reactivate and continue processing sugars which could cause your bottles to explode. It must also be used in conjunction with sulfites. They must be added together to prevent off flavors.
For back sweetening, use one bag of wine conditioner for semisweet and two bags for sweet.
You will need to bottle your dandelion wine. Clear 750 ml bottles are a good choice for you to show off the color and clarity of your wine.
A 7.9 Gallon Fermenter with a grommeted lid is the right vessel to use for your dandelion wine because you need extra headspace to account for active fermentation. Though your batch is only 5 gallons, the larger fermenter will also allow you to make 6 gallon kits making it a versatile choice. It is also good to replace them from time because plastic harbors bacteria.
HosesMany people reuse their hoses for far too long. Replacing your hoses often is highly recommended with winemaking. Even if you have good sanitation practices, hoses are particularly difficult to keep clean. You do not want to risk a bacterial contamination in your dandelion Wine over something that costs very little to replace.
SiphonsAuto-siphons are a great luxury item to have in your winemaking equipment. Once you have one you will never go without one again. Don't forget to use a heavy duty sanitizer to clean it since you don't want to replace it often as hoses. A good sanitizer for that job is Five Star San. Like hoses, Siphons are also difficult to keep clean so it is advisable to replace them.
Corking can be a big job especially if you make a lot of wine. Also bigger corkers give you the option to use wider corks which are beneficial if you want to age your dandelion wine longer. The Portuguese Floor Corker pictured here is easy to use and makes corking fun.
AirlocksAirlocks are another inexpensive product that should be periodically replaced. Though it might be easy to assume bacteria is not a concern with airlocks because they do not actually touch your wine, this is not the case. A small increase in temperature could cause your wine to swell and back up into the airlock. It happens often. You don't want to risk losing your dandelion wine over a potentially unsanitary and cheap piece of plastic.
Your dandelion wine is designed to fit a 5 gallon carboy pictured here. Though glass carboys are one of the safest sanitary options for secondary fermentation and bulk aging your wine, they are fragile and break from time to time. If you use glass carboys, a carboy handle or carrier is very advisable. They should not be moved when full without carrying equipment.
Your dandelion wine will need to sit in a carboy during secondary fermentation and like airlocks, bungs and stoppers should also be periodically replaced, especially if you make a lot of wine. Stoppers are available drilled for use with airlocks or solid for bulk aging after your wine has fully gassed out. The size 6.5 stopper pictured is made for a 6 or 5 gallon carboy. If you have many different sized vessels, universal bungs might be a more economical option.
Hydrometers can last a lifetime, if they don't break. If you have suffered the disappointment of breaking your favorite hydrometer you can view them here.
Winemakers always need more corks. Be sure to read the corker requirements of different corks before you make your selection because some cork sizes do not work with all corkers. If you want to age your dandelion wine denser corks are preferable.
You may be using the back of your stirring spoon to degas your wine but a mix stir is the best way to remove unwanted gasses.
DID YOU KNOW
Taraxacum is a genus of flowering plants in the Asteraceae family. One of the most commonly known species is dandelions.
