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 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.
Hi there, can I use dried dandelion flowers for this recipe?
Yes, that should still work!
My mead has been fermenting for 2 weeks. No more bubbles and lots of “sediment” at the bottom of the jug. Is this normal?
Hi Patricia. The sediment is dead yeast and it’s totally normal. It means it’s time to move on to the next step, bottling your mead. Just be careful to not disturb the sediment as you transfer your mead to a new vessel.
I used a full packet if champagne yeast instead if half, will this ruin the mead?
Hi Jodi. The extra yeast will dye off if there isn’t enough sugar for them to eat, so your batch of mead should be totally fine. Enjoy!
Hi! I followed this recipe exactly and just bottled it up yesterday. I added 1 tsp of sugar to each bottle per someone’s advice that makes mead on a regular basis. Have you tried this and do you think it will turnout ok?
First time making mead so not sure how the addition of sugar will impact the end product. Thanks! Can’t wait to try it out next April.
Hi Kristin! Yes, I believe you’re referring to back-sweetening (which is done after fermentation to add additional sweetness to your brew). That’s totally fine and should turn out great if you like sweeter meads.
Won’t this restart fermentation?
Only if your mead isn’t completely finished fermenting.
Can you help me troubleshoot why my cork and airlock won’t stay in? I woke up this morning to the cork on the counter. :( I followed the instruction to a T and I left a little over 2 inches of headspace.
Hi Kalynn, this can sometimes happen during the first couple of days when the fermentation is particularly active – basically it’s being pushed out! You may want to experiment with different size rubber stoppers, but after a day or two this shouldn’t be a problem anymore.
I froze my extra dandelion flowers in the Spring. Am I able to use them for dandelion Mead or do they need to be fresh.
I haven’t tried it, but it should still work.
I’m wondering if dried dandelion petals or roasted dandelion root tea would work as that’s more accessible to me than non-poisoned dandelion flowers. I would also like a sweeter end result and I’m wondering about back sweetening?
Hi Aiden. You can dry dried dandelion petals. I haven’t tried dandelion root tea, but if you want to experiment with it, I’d love to hear about it. I don’t back sweeten, but you definitely can if you prefer a sweeter finished product.
We froze ours with no issues the syrup wine and jelly came out fine.
I always freeze mine before adding them. Pound them lightly with a rubber mallet to release more flavors.
Hi! Love the recipe. I started my jars yesterday afternoon. I haven’t seen any bubbling yet though! Does the mead need to be kept in a certain temperature? I have them in our laundry room/pantry where it is dark as listed in the recipe, but our AC system is in there so it’s relatively cool. Should I move to a warmer spot?
Hi Emma, mead likes to ferment between 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit.
I’m tasting my mead for the first time today. Its been aging for close to a year. It definitely has a wine flavor to it. Is it supposed to be effervescent? Mine is not. Wondering if I missed a step?
Hi. We have made two 8gallon demijon jars and they are bubbling away nicely although around the top of one jar is a thick black and white layer of what looks like mould. The cork is in securely. What would you suggest, throw away or siphon off? Never done it before but want to make the best of what we have. Thank you x
Hello, I have a question. As this will be my first attempt at making a batch of mead, will 3 lbs of honey typically be a sweeter mead? I have picked 2 qts of petals & I’m ready to go. Thank you, in advance, for your help.
Can mead be corked like wine when bottling it up?
Yes, treat mead just like wine when bottling.
I just started harvesting and noticed that the first row of petals encircling the flower have a green strip on the back. By green parts (to exclude), do you just mean the parts of the plant/flower that are clearly not petals? Or should we also exclude the petals that have the stripe of green on the backs?
Excited to try this!
Hi
Can I make the dandelion mixture with the honey now and at a later time add the yeast?
Hi Belinda, I would only wait a day or two if you’re going to do that. It may either spontaneously start to ferment (not necessarily a bad thing, but not as predictable as adding yeast), or it will go bad.
Hello, thank you for the recipe. I was curious what the ABV with 2 lbs would be?
Hi there. I didn’t measure the ABV, but you can do it yourself with a hydrometer.
Hi, Super excited to get started on this … I was comparing this recipe to other dandelion meads online and love your simplicity in procedure but wondering why only one cup of petals? Can i infuse more petals for more flavor? I have lots in my yard and wanna use em!
Hi Eric! Yes you can definitely use more dandelion petals if you have the patience to pick that many off the green parts! I would probably strain them out before adding to the fermenting jug though, as too many petals may clog up the works. I have a lot of other dandelions recipes on the site if you want to experiment with some other things, too!
why do you pluck all of the petals from the flower head? thanks for the sharing :)
T hey are the least bitter part of the dandelion
A friend and I made this last spring (2019) following this exact recipe. We tasted it every three months, and every time we said, “Eh, it’s okay,” until today, one year after we first made the mead and 9 months after we bottled it, we tasted it and both said, “It’s delicious!” The yeast taste subsided and the sweetness increased, even since our last tasting in December. So if I can offer any advice at all, it would be to wait at least one year before tasting!!
Brewing with dandelion is funny like that. How dramatic the transformation and how long it takes depends on how much of the greens you have in there. My first dandelion wine was ick.. nasty.. gross.. every time I tasted it until.. probably a year later within a few weeks it went from not good to fantastic! If you go through the trouble of picking off each petal brew time is much faster.
Is there a way to preserve the dandelion flowers? There’s not enough blooming yet, but I want to start collecting now.
I was wondering the same, and reading the recipe of her wildflower mead (which includes dandelion petals) and it said “Because it is so time consuming, you can freeze the dandelion petals in small batches as you collect them, until you have enough.”
you can freeze the petals
I have made mead in the past and sometimes it is good and sometimes not as good. I made this dandelion mead last spring and bottled it in April. I just opened a bottle yesterday and it was carbonated and awesome. It is better than any I have made before and better than some I have bought. I will be making this again.
Thanks so much for all your wonderful recipes and advice on mead making. I’ve just bottled dandelion; elderflower; and Christmas mead! I can’t wait to leave it now for a few weeks. I foraged for the dandelion and elder flowers while on my morning dog walks.
What a fun activity!
Just made 3, 1 gallon batches using this recipie. One lilac, one dandelion, and one cinnamon. Can’t wait to find,out the results!
I’d like to make a five gallon recipe of Dandelion Mead. Would I multiple all I gredients by five? Even yeast?
I’ve done some reading on the specific type of champagne yeast that’s being used in this recipe, and most people recommend using 1/5 of a single package for one gallon of mead. I think that means you’d go ahead and add the whole packet if you’re making five gallons. Someone should fact-check me on that, though.
Yes, one packet of champagne yeast can support up to five gallons of mead.
No most yeast packets are for up to 5 gallons
No not the yeast just one pack for the 5 gallons. All other ingredients X 5
One of my memories as a child. Helped my father collect the dandelion heads. He made all kinds of wine, and root beer!
How long should you age after bottling? Also will any wine yeast work?
Thanks Debbie
how much water do you add to the honey
When making mead it is recommended one part honey to four parts water
Can’t wait for all those beautiful little dandelions to start poking their heads out! Gotta try this recipe, thanks for it!
What is the minimum aging time you recommend, and would this recipe benefit from racking to a secondary to clarify before bottling?
Is it alcoholic? And if so, what percentage would you say?
What amount of alcohol is created in the mead?
It depends on a few factors, such as the type of yeast and amount of honey used. It’s usually similar to a strong wine, around 15% or possibly even a bit more.
I am Allergic to Honey. Is there another substitute I really want to try this recipe.
Mead is made from honey, so you would probably want to try a regular dandelion wine recipe!
Agave Nectar?
We used agave, and it didn’t ferment as it should. It’s been sitting in the jug, and we haven’t tasted it yet.
Technically you can use any sugar alternative like agave nectar, sugar, maple syrup, or dandelion syrup. Though honey is the best because it comes with its own yeast that helps with the fermentation.
If you choose the other sugars/substitutes you might want to keep the mixture open a bit longer for getting some wild yeast as well.
Might want to play around with other starters as well instead of just wine yeast. I have been very fortunate with ananas, banana, and ginger starters, where fermentation can start with minutes.
I understand it’s best to use honey that comes from your region/area.
Is it possible to do this with dried petals or would that have a negative effect on the mead?
If you have dried dandelion petals that would work! I find it’s hard to dry them though as they will often just turn to puffballs during the drying process.