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Hey there, please help...

I am making dandelion wine according to the recipie in the self sufficient-ish bible.

I've soaked the flowers for 3 days.

Now I've put them with water, sugar, oranges, ginger, lemon juice and yeast into a demijohn but nothing is happening...

It's all been in there for about 2 days, but no bubbles.
I'm worried the stopper isn't making it airtight, would this stop the fermentation process from happening?

Sorry to sound like a dumbo, I'm a homebrew virgin!

Many thanks for any help given :)

Rosie x

Is it warm enough where you've put the demijohn? (That's generally the reason why things won't bubble in my house... )

Perhaps not! Should I stick her in the airing cuboard do you think?

Also I've just bought a new stopper on ebay incasde it's that!

Thanks ina :)

or try wrapping it in fleece...?

You need to keep the temperature between 21 and 27 degrees C. Thats's the best temp for the fermentation.

Loose airlock won't stop the process, but the gasses given off by the fermentation may be escaping through the holes rather than the airlock, thus "looking" like nothing is happening.

Thankyou for all your help :)
I've put the wine in the airing cuboard wrapped in a fleece blanket, hopefully that'll do the trick!
I only have the heating on a couple of hours a day so it never gets too hot in the airing cuboard.
How exciting that in 6 weeks time I'll be drinking homemade wine!
Homebrewer extraordinaire and poet!
ps. anyone know the best place to look for elderflowers?
Rosie

It can sometimes take days and days for a fermentation to start - it all depends on the mood the yeast's in. So don't panic.

Elderflowers (and you knew you'd get this answer, didn't you?) are most often found on elder trees. Those can be found on bits of waste ground, the bit of the garden you haven't looked at for a year, in hedegrows, along river banks ... you name it.

Thankyou :)
Am off foraging!

I am trying dandelion wine for the first time this year.. different recipe - it took 6 days for it to get started and that was in the warm kitchen.

I ferment my wine in a cold room, and it takes a long time. last year's elderflower wine - started in May, is still going