Nettle Beer

Its finally spring and for us this means it is time to make Nettle Beer. We cannot recommend this recipe enough and we honestly believe it is as good as some real ales. It is an easy recipe to make and if you are going to make a foraged beer this is the one to do. Serious, this is a quick and easy recipe that tastes fantastic; this is the best sort of weed control there is. 

Makes 4.5 litres - which is around 8 swing bottles.

Ingredients

1kg Nettle Tops

50g Cream of Tartar

1 tsp Dried Carragheen (I didn't have any in so I used 8 sheets of gelatine)

450g White Sugar

Juice of two Lemons

11g Sachet ale Yeast

Method

Bring 5 litres water to the boil in a large pan, add the nettle tops, cream of tartar and the Carragheen (or gelatine) and boil for about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time. Strain the liquor through a colander or sieve into a fermenting bucket. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Leave to cool to room temperature.

Add the lemon juice and the yeast. Cover and leave to ferment for three days. Carefully siphon into strong sterilised swing-top bottles, making sure you do not disturb the sediment that will have accumulated at the bottom of the bucket.

The beer will continue to ferment in the bottle, gradually building up a light fizzy in the beer, and it is ready to drink in a week, although if you leave it longer it will be better. This beer is usually a little cloudy which is perfectly normal.