Dandelion Mead Recipe (Dandelion Wine Made With Honey) (2024)

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Dandelion wine is an old school recipe that has been around for centuries. The yellow petals have a honey-like flavor and they make a delicious wine! I prefer to make dandelion mead, as I feel like it is even more flavorful that way.

Dandelion Mead Recipe (Dandelion Wine Made With Honey) (1)

Simple Mead Making Ebook

If you want to learn more about making mead, I have a Simple Mead Making for Beginners eBook just for you!

It has ingredient and equipment checklists and detailed instructions for brewing and bottling your mead, so be sure to check that out if you’re new to the mead making process.

Harvesting Dandelions for Mead or Wine Making

The first thing you will need to do is go out and forage for some dandelions. This usually isn’t too difficult, as they are quite prolific in most areas!

When you do your spring foraging you’re almost certain to find some. Just be sure that they haven’t been sprayed with any toxic chemicals, because unfortunately many people still consider dandelions as weeds.

(If you want to learn more about edible and medicinal weeds that might be growing in your backyard, check out my Wildcrafting Weeds eBook!)

You’ll need about one cup total of the yellow petals only, with as little of the green part as possible. It’s ok to have a bit of green, but too much will make the mead or wine bitter.

This takes a bit of doing as you will need to pluck all of the petals from the flower head. Don’t worry, it’s worth it!

Related: 6 Reasons You Don’t Need to Save Dandelions for the Bees

Dandelion Mead Recipe (Dandelion Wine Made With Honey) (2)

Dandelion Mead Recipe

Mead is simply wine that is made with honey instead of sugar. This dandelion mead recipe is easy to make and uses the abundance of foraged dandelions to make a delicious and highly drinkable beverage!

This dandelion mead recipe is a variation of my simple one gallon mead recipe.

For more detailed directions and photos of the process, head on over to that post.

You can find all of the equipment and ingredients you need for mead making here.

This dandelion mead is technically called a metheglin, which is any mead that has herbs, spices, or flowers added.

Some other metheglin recipes I have on this blog are wildflower mead and elderflower sparkling mead. Yummy!

Related:

Dandelion Mead Tips

I prefer to leave the dandelion petals in the fermenting jug while it’s brewing so that it will continue to infuse as it ferments.

If you’d rather not leave the petals in, you can strain them out after the initial steeping, before adding the honey.

Leaving the petals in can make bottling the mead a bit tricky though, as they will want to go up the auto siphon.

If you put a small piece of cheesecloth attached with a rubber band over the end of the auto siphon that goes into the jug while bottling, it will keep the petals out.

Dandelion Mead Recipe (Dandelion Wine Made With Honey) (4)

This dandelion mead turned out so delicious, even after just a short amount of aging!

It will continue to clear up and develop more flavor over time.

One thing that I love about my simple mead recipes is that they are usually quite drinkable after a short amount of aging (but longer aging never hurts)!

If you want to make dandelion wine, take it one step further and make this delicious dandelion mead! You’ll be so happy that you did.

More Easy Dandelion Recipes

  • Infused Dandelion Vinegar
  • Dandelion Pesto
  • How to Make Dandelion Tea
  • Dandelion Jelly: Low-Sugar or Honey
  • Dandelion Lotion Bar Recipe
  • How to Make Dandelion Salve
  • Dandelion Soap Made With the Whole Plant
  • Dandelion and Fennel Kombucha
  • Dandelion Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting
Dandelion Mead Recipe (Dandelion Wine Made With Honey) (5)

More Mead Recipes

Ready to start brewing your next batch of mead? Here are 15 mead recipes for you to try including:

  • Blackberry Mead
  • Elderberry Mead
  • Elderflower Mead
  • Maple Mead
  • Wildflower Mead

Dandelion Mead Recipe (Dandelion Wine Made With Honey) (6)

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4.47 from 26 votes

Dandelion Mead

This is a delicious mead made with foraged dandelion petals.

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Fermenting Time 42 days days

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 32 servings

Calories 156kcal

Author Colleen @ Grow Forage Cook Ferment

Ingredients

US CustomaryMetric

  • water non-chlorinated or filtered
  • 2-3 pounds honey depending on how sweet you want the end product to be
  • 1 cup dandelion petals
  • 1/2 package champagne yeast
  • 1 lemon

Instructions

  • Sanitize everything that will be used in the brewing process.

  • Put 1/2 gallon of non-chlorinated water and the dandelion petals in a pot and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let steep for 15-20 minutes.

  • Add the honey and stir to dissolve, then add the juice of the lemon and carefully pour the honey water mixture into the jug using a funnel.

  • Top off the jug with cold non-chlorinated water, leaving at least 2 inches of head space on top. Put the lid on the jug and gently mix everything around a bit.

  • Make sure that the temperature of the must is below 90°F, then add 1/2 packet of champagne yeast. Put the lid back on tightly and this time shake the jug for a minute or two to distribute the yeast.

  • Put a little water in the airlock to the line, then put the rubber stopper end into the jug. Put the jug in a dark place. It should start bubbling within 12-24 hours.

  • After about 6 weeks of fermenting, or once the bubbling has completely stopped, the mead can be bottled and aged. When bottling, it is helpful to put a piece of cheesecloth over the end of the auto siphon that goes in the jug to keep the dandelion petals out.

Notes

If you put a small piece of cheesecloth attached with a rubber band over the end of the siphon that goes into the jug, it will keep the petals out.

Nutrition

Serving: 4ounces | Calories: 156kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g

Dandelion Mead Recipe (Dandelion Wine Made With Honey) (2024)

FAQs

Can honey turn into mead? ›

Mead is made by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with fruits, spices, grains, hops etc. The words 'mead' and 'honey-wine' are often used interchangeably, but some cultures differentiate between the two. The defining characteristic of mead is that the main source of its fermentable sugar comes from honey.

Is dandelion wine made from dandelions? ›

Place dandelion blossoms into boiling water and let sit for 4 minutes. Remove and discard blossoms. Let water cool to 90 degrees F (32 degrees C), about 10 minutes. Stir in sugar, orange, lemon, and yeast; pour into a plastic fermentor and attach a fermentation lock.

Do dandelions produce honey? ›

You can weed those pesky dandelions from your lawn and make a treat from the flowers. Dandelion honey is a good substitute for honey for vegans or anyone who may have an allergy to traditional bee's honey, with a surprisingly similar flavor. The consistency is thinner than most honey.

How alcoholic is dandelion wine? ›

Dandelion wine is made by fermentation of natural sugars in dandelion flowers into alcohol by yeast. The resulting beverage has alcoholic content ranging from 8% to 14% by volume.

What is wine made from honey called? ›

Mead (honey wine) is an alcoholic drink made from honey, water and yeast. Mead-making pre-dates beer and wine making, having origins dating back 8,000 years. Mead (honey wine) was considered a sacred drink in many early cultures in every corner of the world.

Why does no one drink mead anymore? ›

Why did it fall out of favor? There were some new tax laws, as well as an increased availability of West Indian sugar in the 17th century that made honey harder and less necessary to obtain. But it was also the rise of other alcohols—namely beer and wine—that really did it in.

What is the downside of dandelions? ›

Dandelion might cause allergic reactions, stomach discomfort, diarrhea, or heartburn in some people.

What is the point of dandelion wine? ›

In the story, dandelion wine, as made by the protagonist's grandfather, serves as a metaphor for distilling all of the joys of summer. The main character of the story is Douglas Spaulding, a 12-year-old boy loosely patterned after Bradbury.

What should dandelion wine taste like? ›

Dandelion wine tastes like slightly sweet champagne and is almost alcohol-free. This wine takes about six months to mature. During this time, it becomes light and transparent.

Why is my dandelion honey bitter? ›

Remove the green parts of the dandelions as they can give the honey a slight bitter taste. The easiest way is to pull the petals off whilst holding the base of the flower.

What does dandelion honey taste like? ›

The taste is strong with medium sweetness and a slightly astringent lingering aftertaste that has been described as refreshing. A creamy, buttery texture suits an application on toast and this combination makes a fine morning treat.

What do you do with dandelion honey? ›

You can use this anywhere you would use regular honey – on toast, drizzled on pancakes, in salad dressings or in tea. If you want to add more interest and complexity to the honey consider adding other fragrant edible flowers in along with the dandelions such as gorse, lavender, rose petals or a little magnolia.

How do you pick dandelions for wine? ›

Pick the flowers just before starting, so they're fresh. You do need to pick the petals off the flower heads, as the green heads give bitterness to the wine. Put the flowers in a large bowl. Set aside 1 pint of water and bring the remainder to a boil.

Is dandelion wine good for the liver? ›

Dandelion wine is the classic flower wine, made with the bright yellow flowers of the plentiful and easy-to-find weed. Don't believe the hype of the manicured lawn lobby; dandelion is not only beautiful and tasty, but potent liver-cleansing medicine.

Is dandelion wine medicinal? ›

For centuries, dandelions have been prized for their medicinal qualities, often consumed in the form of dandelion wine or tea to aid in digestion. In New England, there's a long tradition of drinking dandelion wine as an early-spring medicinal tonic.

Can honey turn into alcohol? ›

Unlike other fermented products, such as fruit and hops, fermented honey does not automatically become alcoholic. If the moisture content is higher, then honey turns into mead. To enjoy fermented honey though, you won't require a helmet or goblet as it has a much lower moisture content than mead.

How long does it take to ferment honey into mead? ›

Fermentation: Keep fermentation temps up to around 70° or 75° F. Fermentation should last between 10 to 20 days. Rack into a conditioning vessel and bulk age for 3 to 6 months.

How do you dissolve honey for mead? ›

Pour the water into a stock pot and bring it to a boil to remove chlorine and sterilize the water. Allow the water to come to 160°F. Add the honey and stir until dissolved. (Some recipes call for boiling the honey, which makes for a cleaner, quicker ferment.

How much honey does it take to make mead? ›

We'll go over it in further detail later, but we recommend using between two and three pounds of honey per gallon of mead — 2 pounds if you want it on the dryer side, and 3 pounds if you'd like it to be sweeter.

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