18 months later ...

An update to the nettle beer/wine experiment ...

started back in May last year (see here)

So, it turns out, if you leave it about 18 months

nettle wine is actually quite drinkable - 

rather 'herbal', albeit, but ...

not unpleasant and patience prevails!

Nettle wine/beer ... sometime later

So, I started off a little nettle beer experiment back in May (here)

As a quick brew beer: RANCID!

So, Plan B: wine trial.

Seven months later and the wine has cleared

and a taste-test suggests it's well worth syphoning ...

Nettle beer update

Nettle beer after only a few days: fermentation done

...apparently 'ready' to DRINK

Just a shame it tastes unequivocably RANCID

Nettle beer: it was only ever a matter of time!

One carrier bag of carefully (!) picked nettle shoots,

plus rhubarb, ginger and lemon

Boiled for about 15 mins (to break down the formic acid);

smelled, BEFORE: great, something akin to elderflower even;

AFTER: yuk!

Added a little ginger powder and cream of tartar, which

resulted in a lot of fizzing and seems to have helped the yeast get going

And the dregs will make a good addition to the compost,

since nettles, like comfrey, make a good plant feed