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The following is provided by James Sites <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1275124485849096/ Post on MTF by James Sites on how to use Dandelions. 04/01/2016.]</ref>:
# Since you want to use the petals only, you want to pick your flowers away from anywhere that sprays and you want to pick them around noon or so, when the flowers are fully open.
# After you pick your flowers you're going to want to depetal them as soon as possible because they will eventually close, making it a more difficult process. If you get a little green with the petals, don't worry about it, as long as most of what you have is the yellow. Ingo Janssen adds: pick the dandelions when they are young and the flower is about to open. You can then pick the petals in one go, just tear away the green leaves around them and you're left with a nice compact set of petals.
# The optimum ratio for dandelion wine is 100 grams of petals per 2 quarts of water. In my last beer I used 760 grams (25.7 oz.) for approximately 5 gallons of water, so about 3/4ths of that amount, with good results. For reference, that amount took me about 2 hours to pick and about 7 hours to depetal. It's an intensive process. Get ready for your fingertips to be dark brown.
# Since you can freeze the petals, you can do this in stages until you have enough to make the tea for your beer.