When it comes to brewing beer, a whole manner of ingredients
can be used as adjuncts ranging from liquorice, fennel, ginger, honey and even
chilli powder. What is less well known is uses of nettles in beer, indeed
unlike its cohorts, only a small clutch of beers has been brewed with this
‘pugnacious weed’ often found around hedgerows and gardens, and since the first
commercialised examples appeared in the mid 1990’s, it has been slow to take
off. Is this down to lack of appeal or the willingness from brewers to deal
with this plant, a number of reviewers over the years have cited nettle beers
as lacking in flavour, indeed the Beer Nut once described Stinger Organic
Ale (4.5%) by Hall & Woodhouse as “there's a spice to it as well,
buried quite deep, but I challenge anyone to drink it and tell me it tastes of
nettles.”[1]
This is probably due to the quality of the beer, rather than the level of flavour
from the nettle leaves. There is also a common misconception that nettle
flavoured beers tend to be lower ABV which is absolute tosh as there are good
number of stronger examples out there, for instance Sean Clarke described Heavy
Nettle (6.66%) by Abbeydale as “a 6.66% Spicy Saison brewed with locally
foraged nettles that's been aged in American Oak Barrels for six months.
Patience is duly rewarded. The result is a delicious beer that's well worth
seeking out from your local beer shop or pub.”[2]
Moreover, the vast majority of nettle beers have been golden and pale ales,
although there have been occasional examples that have deviated from the norm
like Nettle Ale (4%) by Llanddarog based Coles Family Brewers, a copper-coloured
bitter which proves that brewers don’t need to restrict themselves to
pale and low coloured malts. Yet within the ever-congested market of innovation,
brewing with nettles stubbornly remains an anathema. From early efforts from
the likes of St Peter’s and Hall & Woodhouse, to the growing trend of
examples over the past decade from small independent breweries like Gyle 59,
Perivale, The Little Earth Project, Stroud and Wildcraft for instance, which
have been met with increasing acclaim for industry experts and punters.
Although the majority of nettle flavoured beers have been produced in the UK,
examples have been found in countries like the US, Czech Republic, Spain, Denmark,
Belgium, Canada and New Zealand for example. Even-though this type of beer is comparatively
niche compared to more popular and commonly used adjuncts, nonetheless over the
years brewers have taken up the challenge of brewing innovative and flavourful
beers utilizing the leaves from this most curious of plants.
Prior to the introduction of hops as a common brewing ingredient in the 17th century, Mark Dredge notes “before hops, brewers would add a wide variety of locally available herbs and plants to their beers, the most common ingredients were bog myrtle and yarrow.”[3] Among these ingredients were nettles which were used in the brewing process during this period; interestingly stinging nettles are distantly related to the likes of hops and cannabis, since they all reside within the nettle tribe of plants known as Cannabineoe. The use of nettles in brewing soon declined when hops became commonplace as they were found to be a useful adjunct in terms of flavouring, bitterness and it’s antimicrobial properties which allowed the beer to stay fresh for longer. The first nettle beers appeared in the late 19th century[4], yet these beverages were non-alcoholic tonics, useful for their health-giving properties, which Kevin Flude details “nettle beer was used for old people against ‘gouty and rheumatic pains’, and flogging with nettles was a cure for rheumatism and the loss of muscle power.”[5] For instance, in a recipe developed by Maude Grieve in the early 1930’s, who was a member of the Royal Horticultural Society, and a well-respected herbalist, she bluntly proclaimed in her book ‘Magnum Opus: A Modern Herbal’ “don’t expect anything alcoholic or ‘sweet’, as this Nettle Beer recipe produces a drink that is dry and crisp, yet extremely refreshing. Most of my friends that I tried it on liked it, and found it an unusual drink. Some friends simply didn’t get on with it at all.” For nearly a century this image stuck, yet the earliest recorded use of nettles in the brewing of beer dates back to 1963, when CJJ Berry, one of the fathers of modern home brewing in the UK, devised a Nettle Beer recipe that utilized malt and hops. He mentions using a gallon of young nettles, ¼ oz of ginger root, 4 oz of malt, a tablespoon of yeast, 2 oz of hops, 4 oz of sarsaparilla, 1 ½ of sugar, 2 lemons and 2 gallons of water. The process for the recipe roughly follows the lines of the brewing process, which likely resulted in an alcoholic beverage, perhaps one of the earliest recorded modern uses of nettles in the brewing of beer.
During the 1980’s and 1990’s, the Firkin pub chain became one of the big players on the UK pub circuit, boasting an impressive 60 brewpubs and a further 100 standard pubs across the country. Des de Moor notes “firkin pubs typically brewed a bitter branded exclusively to the specific pub and a handful of other beers and specials.”[6] The pubs tended to experiment with niche beer styles like fruit beer for instance, and in 1996, Martyn Cornell recalls trying one of the first commercially produced nettle beers at the Frigate and Firkin in Earls Court, he stated “it was a hop-free beer with a green, herby taste, very pleasant once you accepted it for what it was.”[7] In 2000, St. Peters became the first notable brewery to release a nettle flavoured beer, known as Millenium Ale (7%), it featured the intriguing combination of nettles and juniper berries, in a bid to recreate the beers of a thousand years before. A few years later in 2005, Hall & Woodhouse made a splash in the press when they released Stinger Organic Ale (4.5%), a collaboration between the brewery and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of River Cottage fame, made from organic nettles grown on his Dorset estate. At the time of its release Fernley-Whittingstall was one of the few celebrity chefs at the time to directly get involved with the creation of the beer, so this release was seen as a marketing coup for the brewery. Described as a tongue tingling ale, it’s label was written by Fearnley-Whittingstall himself, stating it was delicious, refreshing, slightly spicy, a light bitterness and full of West Country character. Indeed, then head brewer at Hall & Woodhouse, Tim Morris stated at the time “Stinger is made from fresh organic Dorset nettles from the River Cottage estate that are added to the copper. It has a grassy herbal aroma with subtle gooseberry and lemon citrus notes that build up towards the end of the glass. It is finished with a slightly spicy after-taste that lingers beautifully.”[8] Meanwhile Sonya Hook described it as “the recipe reflects an old English tradition of adding nettles to beer as this was often regarded as a remedy for gout and rheumatic pains, as well as being a refreshing drink in spring and summer months.”[8] Yet despite all this marketing fanfare for this, latest innovation in beer, it was met with a mixed reaction from punters, Hywel’s Beer Blog stated in 2008, “Stinger seems to be avoiding the downsides of being very hoppy. While being a little of the bitter, arable side of the flavour spectrum. Not greatly so, mind. And that I think, could be the weakness.”[9] The beer continued to be sold for several years upon its release, yet due to its relative lack of success, the beer was quietly dropped from their range and for a while, nettle beers were once again forgotten.
For several years nettle flavoured beers remained dormant but with the growing craft beer craze and increasing diversification of beer styles as customers expanded their tastes, the idea about make a nettle flavoured beer became once again an appealing prospect for brewers. One of the early shoots for this revival, came in the form of Nettle Ale (4.5%) by High House Farm Brewery that first appeared in June 2011 which was based on a 14th century recipe and brewed only once a year, described as having a grassy aroma with hints of honey, Ale Beer Seeing You defined the taste as “at first I would say it doesn't have a lot of taste but then I'm hit with smooth honey tones and the taste of 'green'. It's so refreshing and slightly sweet that I think that if I had a blind taste test, I would find it hard to decide whether it was a very unsweet cider, a slightly sweet ale or a cider/ale mix of both.”[10] The latter part of the decade saw an increase in the proliferation of nettle flavoured beers on the market, in 2015 the likes of Incredible Nettle Beer (4.6%) by microbrewery The Incredible Brewing Co first appeared on the scene, an unfiltered concoction it uses young nettle leaves to add an earthy spiciness to the brew that helps underly the bitterness from the hops, this beer has frequently appeared on the brewery’s books and is sold on a seasonal basis. In August 2017, the newly launched Wildcraft Brewery released Wild Sting (5%). The influence behind this beer harked back to medieval times when monks experiment with various herbs and spices to develop beer, and one of these ingredients was nettles, in the press release the brewery expressed their desire to recreate these ancient brewing techniques. Within a month of it’s release it had sold out, helping establish the budding brewery, and by the year’s end Wildcraft was voted 1st place by Norfolk Magazine as the county’s top microbrewery for their innovative range of products. The brewery has been noted for their business ethos “the “wild” in Wildcraft comes from the fact that the Head Brewer (Mike Deal) likes to forage the ingredients for their seasonal specials from the Norfolk Countryside.”[11] Wildcraft is among a number of breweries who uses locally foraged nettles in the development of these beers, for instance Perivale Brewery utilized nettles grown on their adjoining farm towards the likes of Nettle (4.1%) and VeriCrisp (5.2%), whilst The Little Earth project, based in Edwardstone, Suffolk specialises in producing historic, farmhouse and wild beers, utilizing ingredients foraged from the Suffolk countryside, have developed a range of limited release beers that use nettles including Blackberry and Nettle Sour (4.4%), Hedgerow Sour (4.7%) and Nettle Saison (7%). Conversely the foraging for nettles is solely confined to the countryside, indeed Full On Nettle Racket (6.5%) by The Shilling Brewing Co. based in Glasgow, used locally foraged nettles from nearby Queen’s Park. The majority of these releases tended to be seasonal or limited-edition specials, notably Heavy Nettle (6.66%) a barrel aged Saison made with foraged nettles, matured in oak barrels for six months and then secondarily fermented with the brewery’s house Brett blend. It was sold as part of Abbeydale’s ongoing Funk Dungeon series, which was a project launched in 2018 by brewer Jim Rangeley, in a bid to showcase mixed fermentation techniques and created innovative small batch brews. Although occasionally there have been some examples out there that have gone onto become regular core-range releases.
There have been a number of nettle beers that have gone onto making regular release such as Nettle IPA (5.3%), which was brewed originally for the International Nettle Eating Competition, which is held annually at the nearby Bottle Inn, Marshwood. The beer utilized a hoppy IPA base, and a nettle-based tea mixture made from young plants which added after fermentation. Brewery founder Jon Hoskin noted “the addition of nettles provides a herbal note to the aroma and taste, which smooths out some of the stronger citrus/ grapefruit hop notes present.”[12] It was quickly met with a popular response from customers, and subsequently the beer became sold as part of their main range. Rather ironically one of the first retailers of the bottle version for this beer was the River Cottage canteen in Axminster, whom only several years before been involved in the development of Stinger Organic Ale (4.5%). The beer has met with a raft of success, such as when it awarded 7th place in the 10th best South-West beers by Nick Moyle in 2017, which he described it as “the addition of nettle tips to the brewing process gives it a novel twist – the flavour imparted by the stinging leaves isn't obvious but the finished beer has enough of a distinctive taste to know they've had some effect.”[13] This beer continues to be sold as part of the brewery’s core range and remains one of their flagship releases. Buoyed by the increasing proliferation of nettle beers on the scene, in 2020, Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall took the plunge and ploughed ahead with production of a new nettle flavoured beer. Also named Stinger (4.2%) like its earlier incarnation, this time it was developed in conjunction with Stroud Brewery. A pale ale made with nettles foraged from the River Cottage estate, it was initially released as part of the brewery’s Organic September promotion alongside Rye IPA (4.1%), the following July it was re-released as part of a trio of beers to help promote the #FoodToInspireChange campaign, the Brewers Journal adds “the #FoodToInspireChange beer trilogy celebrates the undisputed flavour champion, the humble hop. A key aromatic flavour ingredient for making flavour full beer yet difficult to grow organically here in the UK with the diseases and pests rife in our temperate climate.”[14] The brewery is currently involved in a three-year initiative through the Innovative Farmers program in order to identify disease free hop varieties to help UK brewing industry become more reliant on organic ingredients and cleaner for the environment. This beer is a good example of this initiative which showcases the qualities of the hop, which Roger Protz described in detail “it has sherbet lemons, creamy oats and floral hops on the aroma with a hint of herbal nettles. Biscuit malt, tart hops and lemon fruit dominate the palate followed by a bittersweet finish that becomes dry with gentle hop bitterness balancing rich malt and herbal nettles.”[15] There have been other examples of collaborations in recent years, such as The Ladder Model (4.5%) a Belgian style witbier by Castle Brewery and Lynher Dairies that utilizes an unusual combination of nettles, East Kent Goldings and Lactobacillus into the fermentation for added tartness, or latterly Petite Saison (3.5%), developed in conjunction between Ampersand Brew Co and The Little Earth Project that first appeared in 2022. A Belgian style farmhouse ale flavoured with locally grown nettles from Diss, journalist Charlotte Smith-Jarvis writing for the East Anglian Times described it as “Ampersand’s Nettle Petite Saison was an unusual but pleasurable drink. Really interesting, almost with hints of young green pepper and fresh lime.”[16] Like the majority of Ampersand’s releases, this thirst-quenching beverage is sold in can and keg. Some of these beers have even gained plaudits such as Nettle & Elderflower Saison (4.5%) by the Humber Doucy brewing Co., it was produced in conjunction with the Food Museum based in Stowmarket. It was initially sold as a limited edition special for a beer festival organised by the museum in 2022. It was described as a funky, crisp and refreshing beer with an earthy aroma and hints of orange flavourings, inspired by the hedgerows of Suffolk. The beer quickly gained a venerale reputation and later that year it won Bronze at the 2022 SIBA Regional Bottle & Can Awards for Speciality and Flavoured Beer. This beer is now part of their core range, and helps prove the growing appeal for nettle flavoured as brewers increasingly turn towards using this adjunct.
For many years, the idea of a nettle flavoured beer was merely dismissed as a curiosity, or at worst bland and flavourless. Yet over the past decade brewers have paid great effort into producing premium quality beers that utilize this adjunct, from collaboration brews like Petite Saison (3.5%) developed in partnership between Ampersand and the Little Earth Project, to beers that aim to celebrate the humble hop and inspire change in brewing industry practises like Stinger Organic Ale (4.5%), or specialist examples like the barrel aged Heavy Nettle (6.66%). All these beers help paint a story, creating an illustrious patchwork of innovation that has helped elevate the image of nettle flavoured beers over the past decade. The UK is not alone in this field, over in the US a number of breweries have lent themselves to utilizing foraged hops like Slippery Pig Brewery, who have developed a range of beers that use nettles in the brew, including Stinging Nettle Extra Mild (6.6.%), Stinging Nettle Amber (7.2%), Stinging Nettle Pumpkin Mild (7%), Nettle Mild (7%), Nettle Pale (7%) and Nettle Gueze (7.4%), thus proving that innovation is boundless when it comes to using nettles. There have also been a number of examples found in Europe, notably such as Kopřivové (5%) by Czech brewer Pivovarský dům Benedict which renowned for its lurid green colour, Nettles in the Kettles (6%) by Danish brewer To Øl, and Heavy Nettle (6%) a collaboration between Brouwerij Hof ten Dormaal and the New Belgian Beer Company, a unique example of a international partnership between a Belgium and a US brewery. Even as far as New Zealand, there’s the likes of Nettle & Bilberry Lager (6.1%) by the Herbalist, a brewery run by husband-and-wife team Grant McKain & Rebecca Stenbeck, interestingly Stenbeck is a naturopath and medical herbalist, who has extensively studied the history of tonics created from herbs and other produce. From innovative brewers the world over they have strived to make nettle beers more flavourful and in return gain a greater level of appreciation from punters and critics alike. As we have seen from the activity over the past few years, this effort is beginning to pay off as more of these beers achieve popular and critical success. So, even-though nettle flavoured beers are still a relatively niche style and are hard to come by, as we have seen there are a number of examples of regularly produced beers out there that are easy to purchase, so why not purchase a bottle/ can and sample the herbal goodness that expounds from this humble hedgerow plant.
Prior to the introduction of hops as a common brewing ingredient in the 17th century, Mark Dredge notes “before hops, brewers would add a wide variety of locally available herbs and plants to their beers, the most common ingredients were bog myrtle and yarrow.”[3] Among these ingredients were nettles which were used in the brewing process during this period; interestingly stinging nettles are distantly related to the likes of hops and cannabis, since they all reside within the nettle tribe of plants known as Cannabineoe. The use of nettles in brewing soon declined when hops became commonplace as they were found to be a useful adjunct in terms of flavouring, bitterness and it’s antimicrobial properties which allowed the beer to stay fresh for longer. The first nettle beers appeared in the late 19th century[4], yet these beverages were non-alcoholic tonics, useful for their health-giving properties, which Kevin Flude details “nettle beer was used for old people against ‘gouty and rheumatic pains’, and flogging with nettles was a cure for rheumatism and the loss of muscle power.”[5] For instance, in a recipe developed by Maude Grieve in the early 1930’s, who was a member of the Royal Horticultural Society, and a well-respected herbalist, she bluntly proclaimed in her book ‘Magnum Opus: A Modern Herbal’ “don’t expect anything alcoholic or ‘sweet’, as this Nettle Beer recipe produces a drink that is dry and crisp, yet extremely refreshing. Most of my friends that I tried it on liked it, and found it an unusual drink. Some friends simply didn’t get on with it at all.” For nearly a century this image stuck, yet the earliest recorded use of nettles in the brewing of beer dates back to 1963, when CJJ Berry, one of the fathers of modern home brewing in the UK, devised a Nettle Beer recipe that utilized malt and hops. He mentions using a gallon of young nettles, ¼ oz of ginger root, 4 oz of malt, a tablespoon of yeast, 2 oz of hops, 4 oz of sarsaparilla, 1 ½ of sugar, 2 lemons and 2 gallons of water. The process for the recipe roughly follows the lines of the brewing process, which likely resulted in an alcoholic beverage, perhaps one of the earliest recorded modern uses of nettles in the brewing of beer.
During the 1980’s and 1990’s, the Firkin pub chain became one of the big players on the UK pub circuit, boasting an impressive 60 brewpubs and a further 100 standard pubs across the country. Des de Moor notes “firkin pubs typically brewed a bitter branded exclusively to the specific pub and a handful of other beers and specials.”[6] The pubs tended to experiment with niche beer styles like fruit beer for instance, and in 1996, Martyn Cornell recalls trying one of the first commercially produced nettle beers at the Frigate and Firkin in Earls Court, he stated “it was a hop-free beer with a green, herby taste, very pleasant once you accepted it for what it was.”[7] In 2000, St. Peters became the first notable brewery to release a nettle flavoured beer, known as Millenium Ale (7%), it featured the intriguing combination of nettles and juniper berries, in a bid to recreate the beers of a thousand years before. A few years later in 2005, Hall & Woodhouse made a splash in the press when they released Stinger Organic Ale (4.5%), a collaboration between the brewery and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall of River Cottage fame, made from organic nettles grown on his Dorset estate. At the time of its release Fernley-Whittingstall was one of the few celebrity chefs at the time to directly get involved with the creation of the beer, so this release was seen as a marketing coup for the brewery. Described as a tongue tingling ale, it’s label was written by Fearnley-Whittingstall himself, stating it was delicious, refreshing, slightly spicy, a light bitterness and full of West Country character. Indeed, then head brewer at Hall & Woodhouse, Tim Morris stated at the time “Stinger is made from fresh organic Dorset nettles from the River Cottage estate that are added to the copper. It has a grassy herbal aroma with subtle gooseberry and lemon citrus notes that build up towards the end of the glass. It is finished with a slightly spicy after-taste that lingers beautifully.”[8] Meanwhile Sonya Hook described it as “the recipe reflects an old English tradition of adding nettles to beer as this was often regarded as a remedy for gout and rheumatic pains, as well as being a refreshing drink in spring and summer months.”[8] Yet despite all this marketing fanfare for this, latest innovation in beer, it was met with a mixed reaction from punters, Hywel’s Beer Blog stated in 2008, “Stinger seems to be avoiding the downsides of being very hoppy. While being a little of the bitter, arable side of the flavour spectrum. Not greatly so, mind. And that I think, could be the weakness.”[9] The beer continued to be sold for several years upon its release, yet due to its relative lack of success, the beer was quietly dropped from their range and for a while, nettle beers were once again forgotten.
For several years nettle flavoured beers remained dormant but with the growing craft beer craze and increasing diversification of beer styles as customers expanded their tastes, the idea about make a nettle flavoured beer became once again an appealing prospect for brewers. One of the early shoots for this revival, came in the form of Nettle Ale (4.5%) by High House Farm Brewery that first appeared in June 2011 which was based on a 14th century recipe and brewed only once a year, described as having a grassy aroma with hints of honey, Ale Beer Seeing You defined the taste as “at first I would say it doesn't have a lot of taste but then I'm hit with smooth honey tones and the taste of 'green'. It's so refreshing and slightly sweet that I think that if I had a blind taste test, I would find it hard to decide whether it was a very unsweet cider, a slightly sweet ale or a cider/ale mix of both.”[10] The latter part of the decade saw an increase in the proliferation of nettle flavoured beers on the market, in 2015 the likes of Incredible Nettle Beer (4.6%) by microbrewery The Incredible Brewing Co first appeared on the scene, an unfiltered concoction it uses young nettle leaves to add an earthy spiciness to the brew that helps underly the bitterness from the hops, this beer has frequently appeared on the brewery’s books and is sold on a seasonal basis. In August 2017, the newly launched Wildcraft Brewery released Wild Sting (5%). The influence behind this beer harked back to medieval times when monks experiment with various herbs and spices to develop beer, and one of these ingredients was nettles, in the press release the brewery expressed their desire to recreate these ancient brewing techniques. Within a month of it’s release it had sold out, helping establish the budding brewery, and by the year’s end Wildcraft was voted 1st place by Norfolk Magazine as the county’s top microbrewery for their innovative range of products. The brewery has been noted for their business ethos “the “wild” in Wildcraft comes from the fact that the Head Brewer (Mike Deal) likes to forage the ingredients for their seasonal specials from the Norfolk Countryside.”[11] Wildcraft is among a number of breweries who uses locally foraged nettles in the development of these beers, for instance Perivale Brewery utilized nettles grown on their adjoining farm towards the likes of Nettle (4.1%) and VeriCrisp (5.2%), whilst The Little Earth project, based in Edwardstone, Suffolk specialises in producing historic, farmhouse and wild beers, utilizing ingredients foraged from the Suffolk countryside, have developed a range of limited release beers that use nettles including Blackberry and Nettle Sour (4.4%), Hedgerow Sour (4.7%) and Nettle Saison (7%). Conversely the foraging for nettles is solely confined to the countryside, indeed Full On Nettle Racket (6.5%) by The Shilling Brewing Co. based in Glasgow, used locally foraged nettles from nearby Queen’s Park. The majority of these releases tended to be seasonal or limited-edition specials, notably Heavy Nettle (6.66%) a barrel aged Saison made with foraged nettles, matured in oak barrels for six months and then secondarily fermented with the brewery’s house Brett blend. It was sold as part of Abbeydale’s ongoing Funk Dungeon series, which was a project launched in 2018 by brewer Jim Rangeley, in a bid to showcase mixed fermentation techniques and created innovative small batch brews. Although occasionally there have been some examples out there that have gone onto become regular core-range releases.
There have been a number of nettle beers that have gone onto making regular release such as Nettle IPA (5.3%), which was brewed originally for the International Nettle Eating Competition, which is held annually at the nearby Bottle Inn, Marshwood. The beer utilized a hoppy IPA base, and a nettle-based tea mixture made from young plants which added after fermentation. Brewery founder Jon Hoskin noted “the addition of nettles provides a herbal note to the aroma and taste, which smooths out some of the stronger citrus/ grapefruit hop notes present.”[12] It was quickly met with a popular response from customers, and subsequently the beer became sold as part of their main range. Rather ironically one of the first retailers of the bottle version for this beer was the River Cottage canteen in Axminster, whom only several years before been involved in the development of Stinger Organic Ale (4.5%). The beer has met with a raft of success, such as when it awarded 7th place in the 10th best South-West beers by Nick Moyle in 2017, which he described it as “the addition of nettle tips to the brewing process gives it a novel twist – the flavour imparted by the stinging leaves isn't obvious but the finished beer has enough of a distinctive taste to know they've had some effect.”[13] This beer continues to be sold as part of the brewery’s core range and remains one of their flagship releases. Buoyed by the increasing proliferation of nettle beers on the scene, in 2020, Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall took the plunge and ploughed ahead with production of a new nettle flavoured beer. Also named Stinger (4.2%) like its earlier incarnation, this time it was developed in conjunction with Stroud Brewery. A pale ale made with nettles foraged from the River Cottage estate, it was initially released as part of the brewery’s Organic September promotion alongside Rye IPA (4.1%), the following July it was re-released as part of a trio of beers to help promote the #FoodToInspireChange campaign, the Brewers Journal adds “the #FoodToInspireChange beer trilogy celebrates the undisputed flavour champion, the humble hop. A key aromatic flavour ingredient for making flavour full beer yet difficult to grow organically here in the UK with the diseases and pests rife in our temperate climate.”[14] The brewery is currently involved in a three-year initiative through the Innovative Farmers program in order to identify disease free hop varieties to help UK brewing industry become more reliant on organic ingredients and cleaner for the environment. This beer is a good example of this initiative which showcases the qualities of the hop, which Roger Protz described in detail “it has sherbet lemons, creamy oats and floral hops on the aroma with a hint of herbal nettles. Biscuit malt, tart hops and lemon fruit dominate the palate followed by a bittersweet finish that becomes dry with gentle hop bitterness balancing rich malt and herbal nettles.”[15] There have been other examples of collaborations in recent years, such as The Ladder Model (4.5%) a Belgian style witbier by Castle Brewery and Lynher Dairies that utilizes an unusual combination of nettles, East Kent Goldings and Lactobacillus into the fermentation for added tartness, or latterly Petite Saison (3.5%), developed in conjunction between Ampersand Brew Co and The Little Earth Project that first appeared in 2022. A Belgian style farmhouse ale flavoured with locally grown nettles from Diss, journalist Charlotte Smith-Jarvis writing for the East Anglian Times described it as “Ampersand’s Nettle Petite Saison was an unusual but pleasurable drink. Really interesting, almost with hints of young green pepper and fresh lime.”[16] Like the majority of Ampersand’s releases, this thirst-quenching beverage is sold in can and keg. Some of these beers have even gained plaudits such as Nettle & Elderflower Saison (4.5%) by the Humber Doucy brewing Co., it was produced in conjunction with the Food Museum based in Stowmarket. It was initially sold as a limited edition special for a beer festival organised by the museum in 2022. It was described as a funky, crisp and refreshing beer with an earthy aroma and hints of orange flavourings, inspired by the hedgerows of Suffolk. The beer quickly gained a venerale reputation and later that year it won Bronze at the 2022 SIBA Regional Bottle & Can Awards for Speciality and Flavoured Beer. This beer is now part of their core range, and helps prove the growing appeal for nettle flavoured as brewers increasingly turn towards using this adjunct.
For many years, the idea of a nettle flavoured beer was merely dismissed as a curiosity, or at worst bland and flavourless. Yet over the past decade brewers have paid great effort into producing premium quality beers that utilize this adjunct, from collaboration brews like Petite Saison (3.5%) developed in partnership between Ampersand and the Little Earth Project, to beers that aim to celebrate the humble hop and inspire change in brewing industry practises like Stinger Organic Ale (4.5%), or specialist examples like the barrel aged Heavy Nettle (6.66%). All these beers help paint a story, creating an illustrious patchwork of innovation that has helped elevate the image of nettle flavoured beers over the past decade. The UK is not alone in this field, over in the US a number of breweries have lent themselves to utilizing foraged hops like Slippery Pig Brewery, who have developed a range of beers that use nettles in the brew, including Stinging Nettle Extra Mild (6.6.%), Stinging Nettle Amber (7.2%), Stinging Nettle Pumpkin Mild (7%), Nettle Mild (7%), Nettle Pale (7%) and Nettle Gueze (7.4%), thus proving that innovation is boundless when it comes to using nettles. There have also been a number of examples found in Europe, notably such as Kopřivové (5%) by Czech brewer Pivovarský dům Benedict which renowned for its lurid green colour, Nettles in the Kettles (6%) by Danish brewer To Øl, and Heavy Nettle (6%) a collaboration between Brouwerij Hof ten Dormaal and the New Belgian Beer Company, a unique example of a international partnership between a Belgium and a US brewery. Even as far as New Zealand, there’s the likes of Nettle & Bilberry Lager (6.1%) by the Herbalist, a brewery run by husband-and-wife team Grant McKain & Rebecca Stenbeck, interestingly Stenbeck is a naturopath and medical herbalist, who has extensively studied the history of tonics created from herbs and other produce. From innovative brewers the world over they have strived to make nettle beers more flavourful and in return gain a greater level of appreciation from punters and critics alike. As we have seen from the activity over the past few years, this effort is beginning to pay off as more of these beers achieve popular and critical success. So, even-though nettle flavoured beers are still a relatively niche style and are hard to come by, as we have seen there are a number of examples of regularly produced beers out there that are easy to purchase, so why not purchase a bottle/ can and sample the herbal goodness that expounds from this humble hedgerow plant.
List of References
[4] Note:
The earliest recorded ‘modern’ use of Nettle Beer dates back to the 19th
century, such as recipe that featured in ‘A Treatise On Beverages or The
Complete Practical Bottler’ by Charles Herman Sulz, published in 1888. Where he
mentioned as recipe featuring: “one peck green nettles, one handful dandelion,
one ounce ginger, one ounce yeast, one handful colts-food, two pounds brown
sugar, one ounce cream tartar, three gallons boiling water.”
[6] ‘The Firkin
Brewery (Bruce’s Brewery, Allied)’ by Des de Moor, Beer Culture with Des de
Moor, 4th August 2022
