How to Make Nettle Beer Recipe | Homestead Honey (2024)

FAQs

How do you make beer with honey? ›

Mash-in grains with 2.5 gallons of 160° F water. Hold at 160° F for 30 minutes, strain and sparge with 0.5 gallon boiling water. Add extracts and honey, bring to boil. Boil 10 minutes before adding hops.

To prepare nettle leaf tea, bring 10 ounces of water to a boil over a hot stove, then pour a tablespoon of fresh nettle – or a teaspoon of dried nettle – into the water. Allow the nettle to steep for 5-10 minutes, strain, and serve.

The variety of honey to use depends on your desired flavor profile. Often the types used with mead are best, depending on the style of beer you are brewing and desired character. The percentage of honey to use should be between approximately 2-10%.

Mead (/miːd/), also called hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops.

Stinging nettle is generally considered safe when used as directed. Occasional side effects include mild stomach upset, fluid retention, sweating, diarrhea, and hives or rash (mainly from topical use). It is important to be careful when handling the nettle plant because touching it can cause an allergic rash.

Avoid if you're pregnant or breastfeeding because there isn't enough information on its safety. Use with caution if you're elderly because of the potential of causing low blood pressure. And use stinging nettle with caution if you have diabetes because of the potential that it may lower or raise blood sugar levels.

Quickly blanching them in a pot of boiling water will deaden the sting. But leave them for too long and - like spinach - the leaves will wilt too far, and start to lose flavour, texture and goodness. Treat the cooked nettle leaves as you would treat cooked spinach leaves.

When added at peak fermentation, honey will add sweetness and aromatics to the beer. Honey also can be added post-fermentation to trigger a second fermentation in a barrel or used as a priming sugar. When used to condition, honey adds complexity and produces a tighter foam that imparts an exceptional mouthfeel.

Mead, also called honey wine, is traditionally an alcoholic beverage obtained through yeast fermentation of diluted honey.

Cane sugar is well known to give beer a cidery or winey flavor. If you want to get rid of this flavor, using honey in place of sugar is one of several solutions.

How do you add honey to fermentation? ›

Adding honey to the fermenter:

Warm your honey to make it easy to pour by placing the container in hot water for 20 minutes. Add the honey directly to your fermentor, perhaps a Big Mouth Bubbler, and stir gently, expect a renewed fermentation within a day or two.