Dandelion Mead
Brewing Progress
Brewing Data
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Ambrosia honey (from Walmart)
- 6 cups dandelion flower heads (yellow petals only, green stems removed)
- 1 packet Red Star Premier Côte yeast
- Water to volume
Instructions
Prepare the Dandelion Flowers
Start by separating the yellow flower petals from the green stems and base. This takes some time, but removing the green parts prevents any bitter or grassy flavors from making their way into your mead. You'll want about 6 cups of dandelion flower heads when you're done.
Steep the Dandelion Tea
Place the prepared dandelion flowers into a mesh brew bag. Fill a large thermos with hot water and steep the flowers overnight. By morning, you'll have a vibrant golden-colored tea. Remove the mesh bag and refrigerate the tea for 24 hours to cool completely before adding it to your must.
Assemble the Must
In your sanitized fermenter, add the 3 pounds of Ambrosia honey first. Pour in the cooled dandelion tea, then top off with water to reach your target volume. The honey will settle at the bottom initially — give everything a thorough stir to incorporate it fully before checking your gravity.
Check Original Gravity
Take a hydrometer reading before pitching yeast. The OG for this batch came in at 1.080, which should produce a mead around 10-11% ABV if it ferments to completion.
Pitch the Yeast
Once the must is at a comfortable temperature for your yeast (follow the packet instructions), sprinkle the Red Star Premier Côte yeast across the surface. There's no need to rehydrate — just pitch it dry and let it do its work. Install your airlock and move the fermenter to a cool, dark spot.
Primary Fermentation
Primary fermentation lasted 11 days, wrapping up on May 30th. The yeast worked through the sugars steadily, and by the end of primary, the mead had cleared significantly.
Secondary Fermentation
Transfer the mead to a clean secondary vessel for clarification. This phase lasted 53 days — longer than typical, but the extra time allowed the mead to develop complexity and drop perfectly clear. No additional fruit or flavorings were added in secondary.
Bottling
On July 22nd, the mead was ready to bottle. There was no long secondary fermentation phase for this batch — it went straight from secondary to bottles. The FG came in at 0.996, yielding an ABV of approximately 10.8%.
Notes
This dandelion mead is ready to drink immediately after bottling — no bottle aging required.
The fermentation was remarkably straightforward. Red Star Premier Côte is a reliable yeast that ferments cleanly and flocculates well, leaving behind a mead that's bright and easy to drink.
About the photos: I don't have many images of this brew because I threw it together quickly once I had the flowers deconstructed. The process was impromptu — once the petals were separated from the stems, everything moved fast.
Tasting Notes
The finished mead pours a pale golden color with excellent clarity. The nose carries distinct floral notes — partly from the Ambrosia honey, partly from the dandelion tea. On the palate, it's lightly sweet with a dry finish. The dandelion contributes an herbal, almost tea-like quality that makes this mead feel both rustic and refined. It's refreshing served slightly chilled.
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