Nettle Beer

[Philr]

I have a fairly subststantial garden (by modern standards) with approx 11 mature scots pine at the end and around these I have let it go back to nature, Its nice to see the different native plants comming into my garden along with a lot of stingers which are a good source of food not only for me but the insects, Well reading the 'Articles' I came across the nettle beer recipe never tried it and had a go, WOW a week later 4 litres and what a lovley refreshing drink nice and sparkling, Took it to work they all had a mouth full, took it to Scouts they all had a taste and now with less than a pint left I will have to make some more.
It was so easy and i just poured it into two washed out 2Ltr plastic lemonade bottles left it for a week then started drinking,......
Try it.

 

[JonnyP]

I have a fairly subststantial garden (by modern standards) with approx 11 mature scots pine at the end and around these I have let it go back to nature, Its nice to see the different native plants comming into my garden along with a lot of stingers which are a good source of food not only for me but the insects, Well reading the 'Articles' I came across the nettle beer recipe never tried it and had a go, WOW a week later 4 litres and what a lovley refreshing drink nice and sparkling, Took it to work they all had a mouth full, took it to Scouts they all had a taste and now with less than a pint left I will have to make some more.
It was so easy and i just poured it into two washed out 2Ltr plastic lemonade bottles left it for a week then started drinking,......
Try it.

Sounds great, can we have the recepe please....

 

[andyn]

its here Jon: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/articles/food--cooking/nettle-soup-and-nettle-beer.html

 

[JonnyP]

its here Jon: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/articles/food--cooking/nettle-soup-and-nettle-beer.html

Cheers Andy.....I do have a recepe for beer in my book, but that one sounds so simple....

 

[dave k]

hmmm. nettle beer..

I made some last year. We tasted quite a few and came up with the name `sting a lot @ 6 strength` (as it was about 6%).. Belive me, it took about an hour of serious drinking to get that far

 

[Armleywhite]

Is there a particular time of year to harvest the nettles, I mean, can they be used now, end of Oct or will the heads be too mature?? Or am I talking bol****?

 

[Jim_aramis]

I think the younger heads are best.

You can still find new shoots where farmers have cut back hedgerows or grass verges have had the last cut of the summer/autumn.

 

[Armleywhite]

Did you see HFW on River Cottage Autumn last night. He made some nettle beer to the recipe above. Certainly gonna give this a go!

 

[Armleywhite]

BTW, cheers for the advice Jim.

 

[brancho]

I made some of this and left out the cream of tartar by mistake but is was Ok I will make some more in spring I think on a twist of this.

I have 40 pints of bitter on the go at the moment

 

[littlebiglane]

Ummm...this is a bit more involved but if you can be bothered, well worth it. However I think the best time of year is earlier than this when the nettles are flowering and have not gone to seed. But then the flowering season of nettles is quite long.

Littlebiglane's perfect nettle beer

To make 4.5 litres (roughly a gallon) of tip-top Nettle Beer:

50 nettles (this is a bit of a moveable feast as I prefer the tender top half of the plant rather than the woody, leafless base. The end result is about 1 kilo of nettles. I prefer ones that are in flower as it imparts a distinct elderflower/peach quality to the finished brew. I also have heard that it helps hay-fever sufferers.) Use gloves!

Zest and juice of 2 lemons (unwaxed if possible)

25g of cream of tartar

500g of demerara sugar

4.5 litres of water (I always use a bit more than this as I cannot be arsed with straining the remaining water out of the boiled nettles. But it depends on the size of your pan)

A sachet of brewers yeast (or nearest equivalent)

Sterilise your demi-john and use an air-lock. Milton can be used, a proprietory wine-making/brew cleaner or even very dilute bleach (!) as it is essntially the same thing (straight bleach not techno-bleaches). Remember to rinse everything really well afterwards as any residual steriliser or it can kill off the fermentation.

When it comes to bottling use pressure bottles (Cava, Champagne bottles) that have also been sterlised. I use a lever capper (£8/9) and slightly oversized crown caps. I recommend getting this from HopshopUK (online) based in Plymouth.


Directions:
Pick nettles (no need to wash them if you pick carefully)

Bring the 4.5 litres of water to the boil (or near boil)

Put nettles in and boil/simmer for 15 minutes. Believe it or not they reduce down - it does not seem possible at the time to get them in the pan with the water! But you can.

Meanwhile Zest and juice the lemons, put this into the demi-john or other receptical for fermenting along with the Cream of Tartar and the sugar.

Syhon, funnel or by jug the broth of the nettles into the fermenter trying to keep as much vegetation out of the fermenter as possible. But don't worry too much is an escaped leaf drops in! Top tip, let the nettle 'wort' cool a litte bit. It helps syhponing (ie not burning your mouth!) and it also reduces the risk of the demi-john's cracking with the heat.

You may need to stir or swill the fermenter to get all the sugar dissolved. Careful not to shake it too much as hot-solutions can oxidise more than cool water). Remember those pints of lifeless browning beer you sometimes get in a pub? That's the result of oxidation.

Let solution cool to room temperature (21 degrees) then add your yeast. I prefer to start the yeast with some warm water (old boiled water that has cooled sufficiently is best but I have used warm tap water in the past) and a small dash of sugar (half teaspoon) in half a glass (Paris goblet size) with the yeast helps start it and get it underway.

Stir in the yeast into the fermenter giving it a good stir/swill to get it mixed in and add a bit of oxygen to the solution (this is good at this point as yeast absorbs this dissolved oxygen before the fermentation starts and helps it get a good fermentation underway.) As it is cool there is little risk of oxidation of the solution.

Put an air-lock on the fermenter (or cover/stuff neck of fermenter with a cloth.

Leave for at least 4 full days of fermentation (so when it starts bubbling properly.

Bottle it (it should still be quite sweet after 4 days. This is good as it still has enough sugar to continuing fermenting in bottle to give it its sparkle. When bottling it make sure that the crown cap or cork or closure is secure as it will build up plenty of pressure. Make sure that you have sterlised the closures along with the bottle (at the same time is easier).

My top tip for bottling is either use a length of pipe (ie. hosepipe) to syphon the stuff from the fermenter into the bottles without disturbing the yeast at the bottom of the demi-john or carefully (!) pour it into a funnel. The former is much easier and also can be used earlier in the process when filling the fermenter with the hot nettle 'wort'.

The brew can be drunk after 3 days but it is best to leave it for a minimum of a week. Chill well before opening as it could be quite lively. The longer you leave it the clearer it will become, the drier it will become and the less it will have that elderflower note in the taste. However I think it drinks its best after about 3-4 weeks.

 

[Ian_The Outdoor Life]

ive just started making beer recipe off river cottagee
i hope it turns out good
this will be my first homemade brew
im making quite alot aswell because i over picked the nettles and didnt want to waste any
but there are plenty more things to make nettles from

 

[john scrivy]

watched Mr Whitingstall last night that looked a good drop of beer he made I think the River cottage program goes from strength to strength

 

[inthewids]

I also saw him making this, sounds good, think im going to try make some at the weekend. River Cottage is a great programme.