Nettles

[Snufkin]

I was in the garden today and noticed the stinging nettles beginning to grow! That means I can break out the last of the nettle soup from the freezer as I'll have fresh supplies soon ):

 

[tomtom]

good job.. i noticed new shoots up the road last week.. they are the worst stingers!!!

 

[Realgar]

I don't think they've stopped growing all winter. Fuzzy spinach mmm...
Anyone tried nettle wine?
Realgar

 

[jakunen]

Not yet, but if I can find a a big enough patch I was thinking about some nettle beer...

 

[Ed]

I don't think they've stopped growing all winter.

The frosts killed them all back a few months ago but the new shoots are on their way :biggthump

Ed

 

[tomtom]

i went to St Ives yesterday.. and in cornwall all the flower feilds are full of daffs already :yikes:

 

[match]

Not many nettles up here in Scotland yet, at leats not worthy of collecting. But when they're about, I'll be making nettle beer - easy to make and a refreshing spring tonic, as well as nettle soup and nettle salt - which is just dried nettles which have been finely powdered, but which contain more minerals than sea salt ad is better for you as a condiment.

I'll post a Nettle Beer recipe here if anyone is interested...

 

[bambodoggy]

Anyone tried nettle wine?Realgar

Yer, my Dad used to make it all the time when I was little....he'd send me and my sister out with a pair of gloves each and in return we got to taste the results..... I was hardly a wine Connoisseur at 7 but I remember it tasting good ): (actually I'm hardly one now either!)

 

[Toddy]

Yes please, recipe for nettle beer....mine's kinda explosive but a bit lacking in taste
Toddy

 

[match]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ingredients
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1 Shopping bag full of young nettle tops
2 Lemons
1 Gallon Water (8 pints)
1 lb sugar (brown is better)
1-2 tbsp cream of tartar
Yeast
1 inch cube of root ginger, chopped (optional)
Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
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[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Wash the nettle tops, (add spices) and bring to the boil in enough of the water to cover. Simmer for 15 mins. This will smell like cabbage and the water will go a greeny/browny/red colour! Take off the heat, remove the nettles, add the lemon juice, cream of tartar and sugar and stir until well dissolved. Add the rest of the water, and when cooled to body temperature, add yeast (about 1/2 a tsp beer yeast - beer yeast will not taste as 'yeasty' when finished).
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[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You now have 2 options.
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[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Either place in a demijohn/fermenting bin, fit an airlock/lid and ferment/rack/bottle like proper beer.
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Or put straight into 1/2 litre plastic bottles, leave for 3-5 days to build up pressure and server as a lightly alcoholic fizzy drink, similar to elderflower champagne. you can use bread yeast if you are following this method, but it will have a slightly yeastier taste).
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[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I've not made this in a couple of years so it would be good to hear if it still works
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[Toddy]

:wave: Thanks Match, I'll let you know.
Toddy

 

[brucemacdonald]

I checked the veg patch in our garden yesterday and noticed the nettles which I had cleared back to nothing last Autumn just starting to peek through. Do you start collecting them now, and just freeze the shoots in bits, or wait until the plants reach a few inches high?

I'm tempted to start picking now.

Best wishes

Bruce

 

[Seagull]

Now then!

I got a bit of flak, last year, for never having tried nettle tea.

Nettle Beer, foresooth.

Now youre talking!

Seagull

 

[Toddy]

Nettles coming through just now are best used for eating, just poach them lightly like spinach. When they're a little higher, a couple of handspans, use them for soup. A little more and they dry for tea or salt. A bit higher but still fresh and juicy, and best if you can get them with the Sun on them, gather them for beer
If you leave them too long they become bitter (tho' some prefer them for salt then) but are best for fibre or paper and are excellent for dye.
Mine aren't even showing yet,
Toddy

 

[Emdiesse]

What is meant by young nettle tops?
Do you mean anywhere about ground or the first 10-15cm, etc?

Thanks

 

[Snufkin]

What is meant by young nettle tops?
Do you mean anywhere about ground or the first 10-15cm, etc?

Thanks

Just pinch out the top 10-15cm of older plants, or, at this time of year the whole of the plant.

 

[Ketchup]

I've been reading the nettle beer recipe, but the nettles are only in there for taste. They're not essential. In fact you're making wine out of the sugar.

You could ad flavour with any other green veg or herb or tea or coffee if you wished.

(this not a beer, because in beer you turn a starch into an alcohol. This here, where you start from sugar, is a wine)

 

[Toddy]

I've been reading the nettle beer recipe, but the nettles are only in there for taste. They're not essential. In fact you're making wine out of the sugar.

You could ad flavour with any other green veg or herb or tea or coffee if you wished.

(this not a beer, because in beer you turn a starch into an alcohol. This here, where you start from sugar, is a wine)

To be pedantic, you're quite right....but the nettle stuff tastes and feels like beer not frothy wine. Somewhere I've got an old recipe that uses malt mash for the start process but it still uses nettles.
Best I can suggest is that you brew some up this Spring and give it a go.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Fluxus]

Right I followed the recipie and the nettle beer / wine has been bubbling away for a bout 4 days now with no sign of letting up. Do I siphon it into another demijohn straight away or wait for fermentation to stop and then bottle it? and why is it caramel coloured?!?
very troubling process
Flux

 

[tomtom]

when i last made wine we left it fermenting in the demijon for 6 months then bottled it and laft it in the dark cool for another 6 months iirc! but i have only ever done it once, im sure there are people more qualified to give you advice!