a healthy brew

throw in some eye of newt and tounge of bat for good measure

ehhhhhh.....hmmmmmmm This sounds unique! I dunno about "stinging nettles" though...that does NOT sound good at all. I would tend to think that might put you off of beer forever.

I've had beer with a jalapeno in the bottle from out in New Mexico way, but I just wonder if the herbs & spices might not throw off the entire brewing process or taste.

Please keep us posted on how this turns out. I HAVE heard of hemp or marijuana beer, so this might actually be possible.

Al

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Yeah, some, depending on what you mean. I use coriander and black pepper quite a bit in Belgian beers. Just made a witbier with those as well as both bitter and sweet orange peel and chamomile. Made a spruce porter once. I've used honey a few times. There's a book caleed something like Sacred and Healing beers that has quite a bit of info in this. If you got to

and look around, you can find it.

------------->Denny

Have tried a New Zealand beer (Macs Blonde) which is a wheat beer with orange and coriander and is a lovely refreshing summer drink. I'd be interested in trying something like that, but have no idea how much coriander or orange zest (peel) to use. What are your experiences?

Cheers

A Belgian witbier is a slightly lactic sour beer, made with 50% unmalted wheat and 50% malted barley. I typically use .5-.75 oz. each freshly ground coriander and dried bitter and/or sweet orange peel for the last

5 min. of the boil.

------------>Denny

Dude,

The recipes you are describing are SODA POP not BEER. The yeast is to carbonate. Note the lack of malted grain of any sort. Refer to this recipe which describes the "nettle beer" as a "wholesome sort of ginger beer". Also known as GINGER ALE. This is the original method for carbonation of soda and is still used by home soda makers. I have made root beer and ginger ale this way. If you wish to actually make a beer flavored with ginger or nettle or lemon or cream style soda, recommend you make a 5-gallon batch of a pale ale and experiment with your ingredients to flavor it. Hope it turns out well for you, but you will have to ferment more than 3 to 4 days.

ATCS

6-gallon recipe by adding gravity readings substituting yeasts, adding mild hops spices malt extracts and what ever it takes.........

RECIPE#1 Nettle Beer

2lb young nettle tops 1 gallon of water 8oz of sugar 0.25oz of fresh yeast small piece of toast 0.25oz of Ground Ginger Method Boil nettle tops 1/2 hour. Strain and add sugar, stirring to dissolve. stir in 0.25oz Ground Ginger. Pour mixture into a sterile container. Spread the yeast onto the toast and float on the surface of the nettle liquid. Cover and leave for 3 days. Strain again and put into clean, strong screw top beer bottles.

RECIPE#2

2 lb young nettle tops 2 lemons 1 oz cream of tartar 1 lb brown sugar Lager Yeast Method: boil nettle tops in 1/2 Gallon of water for 15 to 20 minutes. Strain and add the juice of the lemons, cream of tartar and 1lb brown sugar Add another 3 pints of water and transfer to a gallon jar and add the yeast. Fit a fermentation lock and allow to work until nearly dry. Rack and transfer into beer bottles and keep for a week or so before drinking.

RECIPE#3

1 Gallon Water 2lb Young Nettle Tops (1lb) Sugar Brewers Yeast 1 Lemon 1 lime 25g or (1 oz) Cream of Tartar Method: Place nettles in one Gallon water, boil15 to 20 minutes. peel or scrape the outer layer of lemon and lime (do not use white pulp/skin) Strain liquid into a large container, squeez in juice and rind add 1lb sugar and cream of tartar stir well. Allow to cool and add yeast. fit container with fermentation lock, rack and bottle in 3 to 4 days when fermentation slows alow to age i week before drinking

Not really. Before hops were used or cultivated, any number of herbs were used to bitter beers. I make a dandy lavender gruit myself.

Stinging nettles loose their ability to sting when dried or cooked. They're actually my favorite spring veggie (like 'em better than spinach, not quite as much as Swiss chard). They used to be a very common beer additive.

Well, it does take a little trial and error. When I first made my lavender gruit, I "dry hopped" with lavender flowers, resulting in something that tasted like soap ale. Used for bitterness, though, lavender turned out to be a great success. A couple of good books on the subject of brewing with herbs are "The Homebrewer's Garden" and "Sacred Herbal and Healing Beers". Both are good, but I like "The Homebrewer's Garden" best. More nuts-and-bolts with less of a spiritual focus.

Brina

While the current definition of "beer" generally means "fermented malted grain beverage", this hasn't always been the case. Any number of veggies and grain flours (often in the form of bread) were used to produce beers.

Trust me, the recipes the previous poster offered will NOT be soda pop. If fermented to completion, they'll have an alcohol content similar to beer because of the copius addition of sugar.

Brina

"John" held forth in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

Who the heck wants to get that close to nettles? You might as well make poison ivy beer or poison oak beer. I've heard of people eating cooked nettles so I understand the stingy stuff can be neutralized. I will continue to make my beer out of non-irritants thank you very much.

Harry in nettle infested Iowa