Dandelion Beer Recipe

Here’s a recipe from my new book The Forager’s Feast. It uses both dandelion leaves and roots. Roasting the roots first gives the brew an almost red ale-like richness.

Note that if you use the leaves of dandelion plants that are already flowering rather than from plants that haven’t flowered yet, you will end up with a more bitter beer (not necessarily a bad thing).

Dandelion Beer

Makes about twelve 12-ounce/355 ml bottles of beer

Ingredients:

5 quarts/4.75 liters water

1/2 pound/225 grams dandelion leaves, washed and chopped

1/2 ounce/15 grams roasted dandelion root (to roast fresh dandelion roots, clean them, chop into small pieces, and roast at 300F/150C until dark brown but not burnt)

1/2 ounce/15 grams fresh ginger, grated (no need to peel)

1/4 cup/60 ml warm water

1 tablespoon beer yeast (or you can get away with using granulated bread yeast)

1 pound/450 grams raw or Demerara sugar

1 ounce/30 cream of tartar

1. Put the dandelion and ginger into a large pot with the five quarts of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and let it cook at a lively simmer for 10 minutes.
2. While the dandelion is brewing, mix the yeast with 1/4 cup of warm water in a small cup or bowl and set aside.
3. Put the sugar and cream of tartar into a clean fermentation vessel (you can use a food-safe bucket or even a large stainless steel stock pot (don’t use aluminum).
4. Line a colander with a double layer of cheesecloth or butter muslin. Put the colander over the sugar and cream of tartar in the fermentation vessel and pour the dandelion-ginger brew through it. Remove the colander. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
5. Let the brew cool to room temperature before stirring in the yeast. Cover the vessel with a dishtowel and set in a warm but not hot place (warmish room temperature is good). Leave for three days, stirring vigorously at least once a day.
6. Siphon the beer into sterilized beer bottles and cap. Be careful to leave the lees (the yeasty guck at the bottom of the fermentation vessel) behind while you’re siphoning.
7. Store the bottles on their sides in a cool place (your fridge or a cool garage will work) for at least seven days before drinking. It will be even better if you wait three weeks.

Note: If you’re new to home brewing and aren’t sure how to go about things like siphoning, sterilizing, and capping bottles, there is information here.

Upcoming Wild Foods Events in Ditmas Park and Williamsburg, NY

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The Forager’s Feast: How to Identify, Gather, and Prepare Wild Edibles is here! Part field guide covering 50 plants, mushrooms, and seaweeds with a widespread distribution, part cookbook for turning these wild edibles into delectable dishes, the Kindle version was just released and the paperback is available for pre-order (or at one of my upcoming events above)!

“A book that wild food gatherers of all skill levels will want to own.” - Sam Thayer

“This is an essential book for anyone interested in food preservation.” - Ellen Zachos