Nettle Wine Brew Along

[British Red]

This is a simple recipe based on CJJ Berry's "First Steps in Wine making" as recommended by John Fenna (I've used the book many times - but not tried Nettle Wine before)

Okay - first find a patch on nettles that isn't used by dog walkers or sprayed by the landowner. Do not pick from any yellowing specimens like those on the bottom right.

Nettle Patch by British Red, on Flickr

Here is what we need for one demijohn / 4.5litres / 1 gallon / 6 bottles of nettle wine

2 litres of young nettle tops
1.5 kilos of sugar
2 Lemons
Small piece of root ginger
4.5 litres of water
Yeast and Yeast nutrient

So, get some stout gloves and pick 2 litres of tender nettle tops - an ice cream tub makes a handy 2 litre container

Nettle Tips by British Red, on Flickr

(one big leaf there - that needs to go)

If you look closely, you can see greenfly and other crawlies on the nettles - so a good blast in the colander under the tap is useful to remove the unintended protein.

Flies on Nettle by British Red, on Flickr

When rinsed, put them in a pan, zest and juice two lemons and put the zest in with the nettles

Juice and zest of 2 lemons by British Red, on Flickr

Peel and grate a thumb sized piece of root ginger and add the grated ginger to the pan

Root Ginger by British Red, on Flickr

Add three litres of water to the pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes.

Simmer Nettles by British Red, on Flickr

At the end of 45 minutes boil 1.5 litres of water. In a sterilised brewing vessel (plastic lidded bucket), put 1.5kg of sugar and the lemon juice and dissolve in the boiling water. Then put a fine sieve (or coarse sieve lined with muslin) over the vessel and strain the nettle liquid into it.

Strain Nettles by British Red, on Flickr

Leave this liquid to cool to room temperature. During this time put your yeast and yeast nutrient in a glass of room temperature orange juice to reactivate it.

Yeast Starter Culture by British Red, on Flickr

When the liquid is cool and the yeast bubbly, pour the yeast into the nettle "must"

Pitching the Yeast by British Red, on Flickr

Add a tight fitting lid with either an airlock or a couple of tiny pinholes to let the CO2 out

Lid with airlock by British Red, on Flickr

Ferment for four days and then transfer to a demijohn


I'll add more as we get to it.............

 

[Hedgecrafter]

Nice.
I'll give it a wirl.

I just need to pick up a bucket with a lid. Any suggestions?

 

[British Red]

All homebrew shops sell them, but if you have a local bakery or doughnut shop, ask in there - they get ingredients supplied in the buckets and will often give one free Failing that use a normal bucket and tie a tea towel over the top - works fine

 

[JonathanD]

Ooooo, watching this with interest. Tried nettle wine a few years back and it was so good I can't remember it.

 

[CLEM]

Hmmmmmm,

 

[Muddypaws]

Thanks for this brew along Red. I was going to make nettle beer but having seen all the talk of nettle wine I thought I'd give it a go.
Here it is in the bucket (the colour looks a bit odd, but that's because it is in an orange bucket)

 

[British Red]

That'll work just fine - put a tea towel over the top to keep vinegar flies out (or a t shirt or a tray or.....)

If you haven't got a demijohn (which you will need later), get a 5 litre water container from the supermarket - they work fine!

 

[Muddypaws]

That'll work just fine - put a tea towel over the top to keep vinegar flies out (or a t shirt or a tray or.....)

If you haven't got a demijohn (which you will need later), get a 5 litre water container from the supermarket - they work fine!

I've got a round stainless tray that sits just fine over the B&Q special bucket, it just leaves the pouring lip to be covered. I use a bit of kitchen towel pegged in place to cover it.

I already have some demijohns. I also built a fermenting cabinet a couple of years back, but it really is for use during the winter months, as the spare room is pretty cold.

 

[Baelfore]

Going to have some catching up to do when my exams are fin in 2 weeks!

Thanks a mill for running this brew-along BR.

I still fondly remember my blackberry brandy from last summer (long gone now)..........me thinks me must make more soon..

Ste

 

[British Red]

Ahh blackberry brandy - I think its t he nicest of the fruit spirits!

 

[Mesquite]

Ahh blackberry brandy - I think its t he nicest of the fruit spirits!

That is so very true...

 

[Baelfore]

Indeed. The down side was that I only made a small batch and as a result of the above stated it did not last very long!

Ste

 

[Floyd Soul]

That looks great, strongly tempted to but on a brew now as nettles are so easily gathered.. not like the several hours I spent picking gorse flowers last month!

 

[British Red]

Here is the wine on Day 5

First fermentation by British Red, on Flickr

Next step then after the first four or five days the wine needs to be "racked off" (siphoned) into a clean container.

You can use any bit of tubing (available from B&Q etc.) as a siphon - but a specialist wine siphon from Wilkos costs a couple of quid.

Siphon into Demijohn by British Red, on Flickr

Handle the racking off carefully so as not to disturb the sediment

Leave sediment behind by British Red, on Flickr

Put into a demijohn with an airlock (or a 5l water container with the neck covered with a balloon with a pihole, or the neck stuffed with cotton wool)

Nettle wine in demijohn by British Red, on Flickr

Transfer and update the label

Add label by British Red, on Flickr

Now we need to wait for fermentation to stop. One of the advantages of an airlock is you can easily notice when the CO2 bubbles stop forcing their way through the water. This is a good indication that fermentation has ceased.


More as it happens

 

[treadlightly]

Watching this with great interest. Is the basic process you are describing the same whatever type of wine produced?

 

[British Red]

Pretty much - ingredients and quantities vary, amounts of racking off depend on ingredients, but yes, this is pretty much what to do for most hedgerow wines and meads. I'm doing a couple of other recipe "brew alongs" you can check to see the differences - and there are step by steps of mine for mead, elderberry port and blackcurrant wine amongst others already on the forum

 

[treadlightly]

I'll check them out - thanks.

 

[British Red]

The wine has fermented out - there is less than one bubble a minute working through the airlock

Fermented Nettle Wine by British Red, on Flickr

The wine now needs to be siphoned into a clean sterile demijohn leaving the sediment behind

Sediment by British Red, on Flickr

Finings can be added to settle out any other suspended matter. If you don't want to do this, keep racking as more material settles.

Finings by British Red, on Flickr

After a few days it should be nearly clear and can be racked again

 

[British Red]

Well now, this has proved to be hard to clear. I replaced the fining stage and ended with something still a bit cloudy

Cloudy Wine by British Red, on Flickr

Not bad - but not as clear as I would like. I Could just keep racking off - it would clear over time, but there is an alternative.

I racked the wine off

Rack Off by British Red, on Flickr

...and then ran it through a wine filter

Wine Filter by British Red, on Flickr

That polished it up

Filtered Wine by British Red, on Flickr

I then bottled it up

Bottle by British Red, on Flickr

Put shrink caps on

Shrink Cap by British Red, on Flickr

and added some labels.

Its nice - very nice. Next year, I'm going to cut the sugar by 20% for a drier finish - but that's personal preference. Thanks for the suggestion Mr Fenna

 

[bigbear]

Just done exactly that Red, racked and filtered and bottled. Like yours it came up nice and clear, but its a touch sweet for me too. That said it will male a very nice spritzer I think. Less sugar next time !