Easy Nettle Beer

The Perfect (almost free) Summer Drink...

I'm pretty much constantly asked for this recipe any time I make a batch of the nettle. So, rather than the continuous emails, I thought I'd post it here and then peeps can come find it if they want it...I think this recipe is very close to the River Cottage one.

This drink is almost embarrassingly easy to make, very quick from prep to drink, and ranges from a light pear cider-ish fizz that tends to go down like lemonade; to a slightly less-lively-more-ethanol affair at the very end of the ferment when it clears to become a dangerous threat to all things sensible.

Home-brewers everywhere will no doubt condemn the slap-dash nature of this method, but it is supposed to be a quick, easy, minimal equipment way to get to the end result. 

Nettle Beer 6 Litres 

Equipment you will need:

• A container you can boil at least 6 litres of water - 7 is better, you will lose some during the boiling and cooling.
• A separate bucket - obviously this should hold at least the same amount of liquid as above. If possible the bucket should have a lid - but not an airtight one - that is unless you have something like a fermentation bin you can stick an air lock in. More on this below.
• A length of rubber tubing for syphoning.
• Something to syphon the beer into - a demijohn or some swing top bottles are both good. Again, avoid anything that is too airtight. Grolsch bottles, for example, will become grenades, rather than a refreshing beverage,
• A sieve or colander. 

Ingredients you will need:

• 6-7 litres of water.
• Half a carrier bag of nettles - I appreciate this is a bit vague. 'Some' nettles. More than 3 say. Preferably you want to take the top 10 or 20 centimetres from young plants, but really if this isn't possible any healthy nettle will do.
• 2 Oranges (or lemons,, or limes) - whatever citrus fruit you like.
• 750g sugar - the more refined the better in terms of fermentation, but any sugar is fine.
• 30g cream of tartar - available from any supermarket.
• 5g dried yeast - again, available from any supermarket. You can of course buy brewers yeast, but we're doing this quick and dirty rather than making an art form out of it just yet. Bear in mind if the yeast packet says 'For Bread Makers' you've got the wrong stuff...

Method:

1. Measure out everything you'll need ready to add later. Cut and squeeze the oranges (or whatever fruit you've chosen).Save the juice and the orange halves.

2. Fill your container with 6 - 7 litres of water, cover, and bring it to the boil. I this 7 litre stew pot I managed to pick up for about £15 from the local cookware shop:

3. Once boiling, take the water off the heat and add your nettles and the orange halves. Make sure you submerge the nettles well. Cover, and leave for an hour.

4. Now you need to strain the liquid through the sieve or colander into your fermentation container (the bucket or fermentation bin). The nettles and orange halves can be thrown away. As stated above, you don't want this container to be completely airtight. a lot of pressure builds up during fermentation. If you already have a fermentation bin and airlock then all good. Otherwise a plastic bin with a loose lid will be fine. I started with a lid-less bucket covered with a book...

5. Add the sugar slowly, stirring  the mixture the whole time until everything is completely dissolved.

6. Add the cream of tartar and orange juice, stir until the cream of tartar has dissolved.

7. Cover and leave to cool. If you add the yeast while the liquid is too hot you'll kill it, and end up with smelly water and nothing else. I typically leave the mixture overnight if I've got to this stage in the evening.

8. Add the yeast, stir, cover, and wait...

Leave your beer fermenting  for a few days. Syphon it into your demijohns or bottles and leave for another 3 days.....and.....drink it. It's that quick and simple.

After a week you should have something a little like this:

This is one week old, and is sweet and fizzy. You'll need to drink your beer within about one month. Over a couple of weeks you'll notice it will clear. Once completely clear it can be a bit of an acquired taste, and will be much stronger ... my sister in law will drink it whatever state it's in...

I've tried a number of variations of the years, including adding cleavers (faintly psychotropic),  dandelion (explosive), ginger (ginger-y, I guess) and chilli (baaaaad).

And Finally:

From the same batch, here's the 16 litres ready for the party it was brewed for: