SC - medieval courses

[Mark Schuldenfrei]

> Date sent:      Mon, 12 May 1997 09:34:42 -0600
> From:           Dyane McSpadden <diane at tcd.net>

> Hello all :)
> 
> A member of my local group asked me to ask if anyone out here has a recipe
> for dandelion wine they can post and/or send, it seems he has a backyard
> full of the little buggers :)
> 
> Brigid O'Brien
>        
>                   What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny 
>                       matters, compared to what lies within us.
>                    ==============================================
>                   Email: diane at tcd.net   | Someone else's opinion?
>                   branna at geocities.com   | I have a hard enough
>                   SCA: Brigid O'Brien    | time expressing my own
>                   MKA: Dyane McSpadden   | opinions!!!!
>                    ==============================================
>                 Web: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/6966/
> 
You can also use Dandelions to make a melomel.

Pick your dandelion flower heads - remove as much of the green stem 
as possible and clean free of pests.

5 lbs honey
1 gal of water
4 pints of dandelion flowers
1 orange
2 sticks of cinnamon
1 oz of fresh ginger, chopped
1 pkg of yeast, I've used Cote des Blanc with good results

Place your clean dandelion flowers in a sterilized jar that will hold 
at least 1.5 gal of fluid. Heat your water and add honey, stirring 
constantly until dissolved.  Do not boil as the honey may burn and it 
can drive away the essence of the honey.  It won't ruin the must if 
it boils, but the honey will lose some of its flavor.  Skim away any 
scum that rises.  When no more scum rises, add the cinnamon, ginger, 
and squeeze the juice of the orange into the mixture, slice and add 
the orange (peel and all).  Additional scum will rise at this point.  
Skim away scum until no more rises.  At least five minutes.

Remove the must from heat and pour over the dandelion flowers.  Allow 
to steep until the temperature of the must is about 70 degrees 
Fahrenheit.  Strain through cheesecloth to remove the solids from the 
must.

At this point, you may determine the specific gravity using a 
hydrometer.

Add your yeast to the must and place in a carboy under fermentation 
lock.  In about 2-3 weeks, you will need to rack the must off the 
settled yeast into another carboy.  Allow to continue working, until 
the melomel is clear, racking into a clean carboy as the yeast 
settles.  This may take a couple of months.  Rack off into bottles.  
Cork.  Store and allow to age.  This is a still melomel, in that 
there is no carbonation.  Just be sure that your must is finished 
working before bottling, you don't want your bottles to explode.

This is really sweet, almost syrup-like after a year.  By the way, 
the above was made by me last June and this past weekend, it won 2nd 
place in a brewing competition.

Phyllis L. Spurr
aka Eowyn ferch Rhys, Elfsea