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Rhubarb has a sweet-tart flavor that comes through beautifully in homemade rhubarb mead. Though it’s technically a vegetable, the stalks contain both sugar and acid, which gives them a fruit-like flavor. That acidic sweetness makes them a good candidate for brewing.
This recipe is for a single quart of rhubarb mead using my small batch mead method. With just a cup of rhubarb and a cup of honey, you can have your own bottle of homemade rhubarb mead. This works out well if you’re not sure you’ll like it, or you just have a small rhubarb patch.
If you have a lot of rhubarb on hand, try a gallon batch of rhubarb wine. My rhubarb wine recipe uses sugar to extract the juice from the rhubarb, meaning that you’re using fresh rhubarb juice for your wine instead of water. That process takes a lot more than a handful of rhubarb and is best suited to gardeners with a bumper crop of rhubarb.
The first time we made rhubarb mead, we went with a traditional 5 gallon batch. I just pulled the last bottle of rhubarb mead out of the basement…7 years later. We love brewing, but who needs 20 bottles of any single mead?
That’s one of the reasons to make small batches. You can brew as many batches in a year as your heart desires, and you don’t have to kill your liver in the process. It allows for experimentation without the risk of huge amounts of waste.
Start with a one-quart mason jar and add 1 cup of honey. Toss in 1 cup of chopped rhubarb and a teaspoon of lemon juice for a bit of extra acid.
With a full cup of honey, this is going to be a sweet mead. If you’re hoping for a dry rhubarb mead, reduce the honey to as low as 2/3 cup for a one-quart batch.
I think rhubarb has a bit of tannic bite in the flavor, so I didn’t add a black tea bag to this batch. The tannins in black tea help to round out a mead, but I’ve found it unnecessary with rhubarb mead. If you’d like, add a few tablespoons of strongly brewed black tea.
With the fruit in this mead, it’s technically a melomel. For melomel, I don’t add any yeast nutrient or raisins to a batch because the fruit helps provide extra micronutrients for the yeast. I haven’t had any issues with this technique for melomels, but if yours don’t ferment well, try adding just a pinch of yeast nutrient or a few raisins.
I’d suggest using wine yeast rather than baking yeast for this recipe, as baking yeast can cause off-flavors.
Since this is such a small batch recipe, there’s no need to get a siphon for bottling. Simply pour the rhubarb mead through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any chunks of rhubarb. Be careful to pour slowly, and leave the yeast sediment at the bottom of the fermentation jar.
Once the rhubarb mead has been filtered, it’s time for bottling. If you weren’t careful during the filtering phase and you kicked up a good bit of yeast sediment into the brew, attach the airlock again and allow it to ferment for another 1-3 days so that the yeast sediment can settle out. Then try again, pouring the mead off slowly so that the yeast sediment stays behind.
To bottle, simply use a funnel to pour the mead into a flip-top Grolsch bottle. They’re much simpler to use than a full wine corking setup, especially for small batches that will be consumed quickly.
Allow the rhubarb mead to mature in the bottle for at least 2 weeks before drinking, but preferably at least 2 months.
Enjoy!
Rhubarb Mead (Honey Wine)
Equipment
- Quart Mason Jar (Wide Mouth) for a quart batch
- Mason Jar Fermentation Lids (Silicone) for a quart batch
- One Gallon Wide Mouth Carboy If making a one-gallon batch
Ingredients
- 1 cup Rhubarb, chopped
- 1 cup honey
- 3 cups water
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 wine yeast, Lavin QA23 is my favorite mead yeast
Instructions
- **This recipe makes a micro batch (1 quart, or about 1 bottle). Quantities for a standard 1 gallon batch (4 bottles) are in the notes.
- Add the honey and rhubarb into a quart mason jar. If you'd like, allow the honey to draw the juices out of the chopped rhubarb for 24 hours, but that's optional.
- Add the lemon juice and water to the mason jar and stir to incorporate and dissolve the honey.
- Dissolve 1/4 packet of wine yeast in a small amount of water. Allow it to bloom for at least 5 minutes before adding it into the mason jar. Top the jar with water if necessary to bring it to within an inch of the top.
- Seal the quart mason jar with a mason jar fermentation kit and allow to ferment at room temperature for about 6 weeks.
- Once fermentation has stopped, gently pour the mead into another container, leaving behind any sediment in the jar. Pour it through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any rhubarb hunks.
- Bottle in a flip-top Grolsch bottle and let it age for at least 2 more weeks before drinking.
Notes
- 4 cups chopped rhubarb
- 4 cups honey (about 3 lbs)
- 12 cups water
- 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 packet wine yeast
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Mead Recipes
Looking for more mead recipes? Try any of these:
- Wild Foraged Linden Flower Mead
- Small Batch Raspberry Mead
- Blackcurrant Mead
- Small Batch Elderberry Mead
Hi – do you need to use the glass weights for this? I’m new to trying this and I have the mason jar airlocks and the glass weights (I want to do sauerkraut). Thanks!
Glass weights aren’t typically used for mead or wine making.
I can only get hold of ale yeast, do you think it’s worth a try? Thanks!
If that’s all you have access to then you’re welcome to try it. Let us know how it goes.
I’m new to making Mead but have read that you don’t want to get oxygen into mead after fermentation. Aren’t you concerned at all about oxidation when using a mesh strainer, instead of a siphon? Has it ever made a difference or caused a problem for you?
If you’re doing a larger batch, you would want to use a siphon but for a small batch like this a strainer is much easier.
I’m not sure what I’ve done wrong. I’m a very meticulous person by nature, & followed your instructions to a tee. I made 5l6 Mason jars worth. So far I’ve dumped out 3. 2 had mold & one smelled..funky. I read all your q & a. Nit sure what I can do to salvage to remaining 3 jars. Please help.
How long has the mead been fermenting?
My mead is about 5 weeks in. I don’t see any bubbles and it has turned a darker color. I see no mold and it definitely smells like alcohol. Do you think it is still ok?
If there is no mold and it smells like alcohol then it sounds like it should be fine.
My husband and I tasted it as I was bottling it. His quote, “it tastes mead like…” So, I think I call that success! We will try it again in a couple of weeks to see how it mellows. What is the best way to store it after bottling?
Sounds like a success to me. I would store it in a cool, dark location.
Is there anohher option for bottling? I assume water bath canning would affect the mead. What about vacuum sealing? How long would the mead last in a standard (nonsealed) mason jar?
Mason jars typically are not recommended for long term storage of mead. It’s possible that the pressure could cause the jars to bust.
Hi there!
I started a small batch x4 on June 7th. Followed all direction and did use the wine yeast. I definitely had good bubble action the first week and a half, but it has basically stopped. It is now June 22. Checked my airlock, seems o.k, I did get a whiff of alcohol. Can I still wait the 6 weeks or should I just strain already? Or should I add something to try to get it working again?
What is the temperature where is it fermenting?
I think our temp is a bit on the cool side being in a basement. Maybe around 65- 70. We are not lighting our woodstove these days.
If you think that the temperature is on the cool side I would try to move it to a warmer location and you will probably see an increase the activity.
Adding dandelion to This rhubarb recipe came out pretty decent. My sweet wine lovers said it tasted more like a beer but my dry wine lovers said it was great.
What do you think I would need to do to tweak this recipe if I wanted to do a pumpkin spice mead. Is there anything I should do different should I use purée or whole pumpkin chunks?
I would think that the pumpkin chunks would be easier to deal with and strain out in the end.
Do you think adding a handful of dandelion petals would help or hurt the recipe. I wanted to make a dandelion mead but didn’t get enough petals for dandelions alone.
I definitely don’t think it would hurt anything. I am very interested to know how it turns out.
i tried to make this but see no bubbles and now i notice mold on the rhubarb is mold normal do you use the weight thing in the jar that comes with the fermentation kit , sorry newby at this thanks, paul
Mold is definitely not normal. Did you follow the directions exactly as they were written?
Hello! I have not made this yet but I want to, I’m taking literal notes. I want to use apples though, not rhubarb. I’m even considering adding a tbsp or two of rose water… what I don’t know is what all I need. An airlock, water lock? Are these one in the same? Do you have a recommendation for purchasing? Also, can I use unpasteurized apple cider or juice in place of water? What other suggestions would you have for my particular recipe idea?
Hello! I have not made this yet but I want to, I’m taking literal notes. I want to use apples though, not rhubarb. I’m even considering adding a tbsp or two of rose water… what I don’t know is what all I need. An airlock, water lock? Are these one in the same? Do you have a recommendation for purchasing? Also, can I use unpasteurized apple cider or juice in place of water? What other suggestions would you have for my particular recipe idea?
This post about making a small batch mead goes through all of the equipment needed and even has links to everything. It explains what you would need for a small batch and also for larger batches.
Fresh lemon juice or bottled lemon juice?
You should be able to use either one.
I already have pure rhubarb juice (chopped, frozen, thawed, then pressed out). Can I use this, and how would it change the amount of water and honey used in the recipe? Do I just use the juice without adding any water? Would I need additional honey? Thanks!
You can definitely use the juice. I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use the juice without water, it will most likely have a stronger flavor. You could also try diluting it with some water if you want. I would just try it with the same amount of honey that is recommended in the recipe and then you can tweak it a bit depending on the taste.
One more question… I started the rhubarb mead 6 weeks ago. I see your recipe says “once fermentation has stopped” – how do I know? It’s too late in any case; I’ve strained the mead and it’s in a Grolsch bottle…!
You should see bubbles as long as the fermentation is active. Once the bubbling has stopped, the fermentation should be complete.
Do you heat the water before adding to honey.and rhubarb?
No, there is no need to heat the water.
Could I do this with saskatoons as well? We have way more saskatoons in our freezer right now than rhubarb…! Thanks!
Yup!
Hello! I’d love to try this. I have not made wine/mead/sauerkraut etc. Can I use the fermentation kit I would use for, say, fermenting cabbage?
Yes you can, they’re the same basically. Good luck!