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.
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
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: 50+ Dandelion Recipes: Drinks, Sweets, Soap, Remedies & more!
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.
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 Root Muffins (paleo & gluten free)
- Dandelion and Fennel Kombucha
- Dandelion Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Frosting
- Dandelion Kombucha
More Mead Recipes
Ready to start brewing your next batch of mead? Here are 15 mead recipes for you to try including:
Dandelion Mead
Equipment
Ingredients
- 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.
Hello. Thanks for the recipe. I was going to try my hand at dandelion wine. I brew beer and haven’t made a wine. But then my neighbor gave me a bunch of honey his bees made. So now I have all the ingredients, all locally sourced in the neighborhood. One question though. I want to make 5 gallons, can I just multiply the ingredients by 5?
Yup, that should work! Enjoy!
Hi can I ask how much is half a packet of yeast? In the UK we have different sized packets of yeast, so could I get in grams how much your putting in please?
Thank you
A packet of yeast is 5 grams, so 2.5.
Hi
Would love to try this but racking?
And airlock? What??
I’m sorry I don’t understand the question. All of the equipment is listed in the recipe and have links to where to buy each piece of equipment. If this is your first time making mead, I suggest my simple one gallon recipe for beginners.
Hi Amanda!
Can I collect the dandelion flowes and refrigerate or freeze until I get ready to use them?
Yes, I would freeze until ready to use.
I tried freezing them and they actually got pretty mushy. Decaded in just a week. Though I didn’t process the greens off before freezing. I had to scrap what I’d harvested and just started over fresh the day I made it (today). So we’ll see!
Can dried dandelion flowers be used if fresh are unavailable?
Hi Amanda. That should be fine!
Can this be made without auto siphon/tubing? Can it be made leaving head space & cheesecloth (similar to making kumbacha)?
No. You need to use an airlock otherwise too much oxygen will enter your fermentation vessel.
Can other petals be used? Rose? Apple?
Yup!
Hello! Thank you for this recipe!! Can it be normal for the bubbles to stop a little over 3 weeks? Debating straining into bottles now or letting it sit with the flowers for a few more weeks even though bubbles have stopped! Thank you!
Yes, that’s totally normal. If there aren’t bubbles, I would bottle.
Hi, so with the wine you rack into a secondary fermenter but with the mead it goes straight to the bottle? Is that right? I made 2 gallons of each and my mead stopped bubbling after 2 weeks.
Hi, Amy. I’m not sure I’m understanding you right. This recipe is just for dandelion mead. You can rack your mead into a secondary fermenter or not, it’s totally up to you.
If I rack into a secondary fermenter, how long would I let that stand before bottling?
You can keep your mead in secondary for up to 6 months.