Nettle Beer

I came across an article for nettle beer a few months ago and commented then (to myself) that I must give it a go sometime. Then last week I saw a video on You Tube on the same subject so decided to give it a go myself. Being me I like to do things correctly so did a lot of research before just launching into it. I purchased a Homebrew beer making kit from the world wide web which arrived within a few days. 

Initially I got lost in the lingo of hydrometers, specific gravity readings, wort, activation of yeast etc. The methodology however is much the same no matter what kind of beer you are brewing so time spent learning the different equipment and its purpose at the start is time well spent.

STEP 1 - THE EQUIPMENT 

The above picture shows the kit which included the following:

• fermenter with lid, grommet, and bubbler airlock
• bottle filling system
• hydrometer
• glass trial jar
• stirring paddle
• large liquid crystal thermometer
• 100 grams VWP cleaner / sterilizer

Additionally I purchased:

• youngs dried active wine and beer yeast (100 gram tub)
• coopers Ox-Bar 24 500ml PET bottles (bottles not in picture)

From all my research I figured out the above kit would be the minimum I would need to brew my first batch of nettle beer. 
Other equipment needed will be a large saucepan or several smaller ones if you don't have a large one. I also use a potato masher and a sieve for straining the nettles into the bucket. Whatever you have lying around though will do fine.

STEP 2 - THE INGREDIENTS 

The next stage involves becoming one with nature and getting out to pick the nettles, not sure how many I would need I picked 2 extra large shopping bags full, only picking the top 6-8 leaves with the newest growth to ensure the best flavour. I think I picked about 2.5 kgs worth of nettle tops but realistically only used 1kg worth.

Other ingredients include the following:

• 3 bags 500g demerara sugar
• 1/2 kg white sugar
• 10 lemons
• 3 oranges
• 1/2 container cream of tartar powder
• brewing yeast (amount varies depending on instructions)

STEP 3 - PREPARATION

Sterilisation is a key part to brewing any beer to avoid bacteria contaminating your finished product. I filled my brewing bucket with warm water and added sterilising powder as instructed. I think it was 1tsp per gallon but it will tell you on the container.

Chuck in all you other implements too to the bucket such as your hydrometer, testing jar, stirring paddle and any other items that will be coming into contact with your beer. Leave them for 10 mins or until they are about to be used being sure to rinse them off well beforeh use.

Meanwhile you can add your nettles to your pot(s) and get them boiling. I boiled mine for around twenty minutes. At the same time as the nettles are boiling you can prepare your other ingredients, zest and squeeze the juice from all the lemons, only squeeze the juice from the oranges and set aside.

Get your sugar bags open and ready to chuck in, saves faffing about later.


STEP 4 - ADDING TO FERMENTER

Once the nettles are done you can transfer the liquid to the fermenter. Using your strainer pour the nettle liquid and nettles into it over the bucket, use the potato masher to squeeze and residual juice from the nettles into the bucket. An extra pair of hands go a long way at this stage.

Add in all your sugar in stages making sure it all dissolves in the hot water.

Next add in your lemon zest, lemon juice and orange juice and again mix through well.

Add in the 1/2 container of cream of tartar powder, mix.

Lastly for this stage, top up the bucket to the required level, in my case the 25L mark with cold water. Give it all another good mix to make sure all the ingredients have mixed together well and the sugar is fully dissolved.


STEP 5 - MONITOR & TAKE HYDROMETER READING

The kit I got came with a liquid crystal thermometer (see picture above) which sticks onto the side of the fermenting bucket. We are aiming for a temperature between 21 and 24 degrees which is the optimal temperature to pitch (add) your yeast to the mixture. Adding the yeast to the wort (mixture) at a higher temp would mean the yeast will not activate and you will have alcohol free beer. Not good! 

In my case I decided to sit tight and let the mixture cool naturally but I have heard you can chuck the entire bucket into a cold water filled bath and speed up the process. It took a few hours but eventually the temperature came down to 24 degrees which meant time to pitch the yeast. However before pitching the yeast there is one critical step that must be done, you must take a hydrometer reading.

Now I don't understand all the ins and outs of the hydrometer (at least for the moment) but the basics are as follows:

• you take a reading before the yeast is added
• you take a reading after fermentations is complete
• you do a short equation and the answer gives you your alcohol content of your beer

(There is an added use of the hydrometer in that to test if fermentation is fully complete you take a reading after say 3-5 days or when the airlock is finished bubbling, if the hydrometer reading is the same for 2 / 3 days in a row then fermentation is complete and you can bottle your beer - more on this in later blog posts).

My hydrometer reading (Starting Gravity) is: 1032.


STEP 6 - PITCHING THE YEAST

The yeast I got states to simply add 1tsp per gallon to prepared liquid (in this case my wort), other yeast will vary though so be sure to read your packet carefully. I added the required amount of yeast and sealed the lid of the fermenting bucket tightly, popped on the airlock and half filled it with water.

The fermenting bucket is now sitting in our warmest room, its small and the boiler is located in here (we don't have a hotpress) and is generally a constant 22 degrees which should be fine for brewing.


STEP 7 - LEAVE IT ALONE & MONITOR

I woke up this morning to the sound of bubbling from the airlock. This is a good sign as it means the brew is fermenting. Something I was not ready for was the sulphur smell (a rather unfortunate resemblance to fart smell) that can sometimes be emitted from the yeast. This is meant to be perfectly normal and will dissipate after a few days (fingers crossed for that).


Progress Updates to follow..........