This is not beer ... So what is it?

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lacto

lacto

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Hello folks,

Please can someone enlighten me. Years ago I was given a simple recipe for what was called nettle beer. It was very enjoyable - but tasting more like cider. Now I would like to find similar recipes for drinks made with my local wild plants and herbs and leaves. I have not been able to find what I want because what I am after is not beer or cider or mead or wine ... So what am I looking for? I do not want a drink where it is drinkable after a few months to a year. I would like a low alcoholic beverage (around 3 to 5abv) which I can drink within a few days after brewing. So is there an appropriate description I can use to search online?
Thanks for any information.
 
I don't know what to call something like you're describing, but if you look for beer or wine recipes, you'll find a lot that have interesting ingredients.

As for drinking a few days after fermentation, anything that is fermented takes time to fully ferment. Your "few days" should be "few weeks". Patience is the most important ingredient in any fermented drink.
 
Thanks for the info. But I am looking, for example, for a strawberry beer ... is there one? I can only find info for strawberry wine not beer. I do not want 10abv or more, neither do I want a sweet drink or one that is better drunk after resting it for a year or more ... or one that has lots of additives. I found a recipe for rhubarb beer which was rhubarb, sugar, lemon, water, and a little tartar - fermented for around two weeks ... sounds perfect to me, so can I do the same with dandelion leaves or whole strawberries (not mixed together)?
 
lacto said:
Thanks for the info. But I am looking, for example, for a strawberry beer ... is there one? I can only find info for strawberry wine not beer. I do not want 10abv or more, neither do I want a sweet drink or one that is better drunk after resting it for a year or more ... or one that has lots of additives. I found a recipe for rhubarb beer which was rhubarb, sugar, lemon, water, and a little tartar - fermented for around two weeks ... sounds perfect to me, so can I do the same with dandelion leaves or whole strawberries (not mixed together)?
Click to expand...
Just decrease the amount of sugar till you hit your desired abv and you're good! Any wine recipe can be tweaked that way. However, no residual sugars means that it's going to be bone dry. Some like this, some don't.
 
lacto said:
Thanks for the info. But I am looking, for example, for a strawberry beer ... is there one? I can only find info for strawberry wine not beer. I do not want 10abv or more, neither do I want a sweet drink or one that is better drunk after resting it for a year or more ... or one that has lots of additives. I found a recipe for rhubarb beer which was rhubarb, sugar, lemon, water, and a little tartar - fermented for around two weeks ... sounds perfect to me, so can I do the same with dandelion leaves or whole strawberries (not mixed together)?
Click to expand...
Strawberry is one of the hardest flavors to do, from what I read.
 
lacto said:
Thanks for the info. But I am looking, for example, for a strawberry beer ... is there one? I can only find info for strawberry wine not beer. I do not want 10abv or more, neither do I want a sweet drink or one that is better drunk after resting it for a year or more ... or one that has lots of additives. I found a recipe for rhubarb beer which was rhubarb, sugar, lemon, water, and a little tartar - fermented for around two weeks ... sounds perfect to me, so can I do the same with dandelion leaves or whole strawberries (not mixed together)?
Click to expand...

Do you want a beer (grain & hops) flavored with strawberry? I can imagine a strawberry blonde ale could be nice. If not, your fermentables all from fruit and sugar, you are looking for wine. Not beer. The difference between the two is ingredients, not ABV.

Dandelion wine, absolutely. Typically the flowers. Nettle wine was suggested above. Maybe swapping out the nettle leaves for dandelion will be enjoyable to you.

Strawberry wine, absolutely.
 
Maybe include fermented foods in your search. Something along the lines of Tepache but with sugar and herbs/strawberrys instead of pineapple.https://youtu.be/jUa6SgFlgX0
 
It's probably not practical to search for the word "beer" in modern times if you're looking for a beverage fermented from entirely or primarily fruits. Sure, the term has been used in old english to mean something other than a grain based sugar source but it's going to take some specific research to find that narrow usage.

Fruit, sugar, water and yeast makes a fruit wine and it doesn't matter how strong or weak you make it. Less sugar, less alcohol. More sugar, more alcohol. Soake dandelions in water, add sugar and yeast. Dandelion wine. Strawberry, water, sugar yeast; strawberry wine. Honey, water yeast; mead.
 
suzeQ said:
Maybe include fermented foods in your search. Something along the lines of Tepache but with sugar and herbs/strawberrys instead of pineapple.https://youtu.be/jUa6SgFlgX0
Click to expand...
Ah ... now you have my attention. I like this idea a lot although I have not read of anyone making a brew from fermented vegetation. Having said that, a couple of months ago I went mad and rediscovered a two year old fermented gerkin in my pantry. I decided to simply dissolve the gerkin in the brine, then added sugar then yeast and I ended up (after resting the brew for about ten days) with what tasted a bit like gin! Amazing accident perhaps, but it did not last long (wink!). So thanks suzeQ for the reminder.
 
lacto said:
Ah ... now you have my attention. I like this idea a lot although I have not read of anyone making a brew from fermented vegetation. Having said that, a couple of months ago I went mad and rediscovered a two year old fermented gerkin in my pantry. I decided to simply dissolve the gerkin in the brine, then added sugar then yeast and I ended up (after resting the brew for about ten days) with what tasted a bit like gin! Amazing accident perhaps, but it did not last long (wink!). So thanks suzeQ for the reminder.
Click to expand...
Wow, you're fearless! :D
 
lacto said:
Ah ... now you have my attention. I like this idea a lot although I have not read of anyone making a brew from fermented vegetation. Having said that, a couple of months ago I went mad and rediscovered a two year old fermented gerkin in my pantry. I decided to simply dissolve the gerkin in the brine, then added sugar then yeast and I ended up (after resting the brew for about ten days) with what tasted a bit like gin! Amazing accident perhaps, but it did not last long (wink!). So thanks suzeQ for the reminder.
Click to expand...
This brave man ferments any non toxic veg/weed or flower. He is however making a higher alcohol country wine with good results. Maybe you can modify his recipes. chickweed-wine-im-going-for-it.77661
 
A quick turn around honey wine, hopped or not, is called a hydromel. They can also be still or carbonated. Mostly designed for less than 10% for sure. Usually 4-7% I’ve found. Old beers that were herb based instead of hopped were called Gruit and used other herbs as the bittering and preservation agent. You may have some luck there.
If you have a basic understanding of the fundamentals of fermentation, you shouldn’t have any trouble formulating your own recipes. Choose your base, whether sugar or grain, then your flavoring agent- strawberry, dandelion- flower and root are common, other berries, other flowers or vegetation, fruits, etc. use a calculator to hit your target Abv. Once done if you want it carbonated and sweet, use something like monkfruit or erythritol as a sweetener for flavor, and a fermentable sugar for bottle carbonation.
 
thanks kjdevault1, good helpful, and concise info - I can follow this (perhaps with the exception of the monkfruit - I don't know of any monks around here!)
 
Mix Sugar, water, turbo yeast and you'll have "seltzer" in about 48 hrs. Its better if you ferment on the cold side and go slower though. The fast ferment can throw off some strong flavors. Its not beer, and you could add some fruit and call it wine, but I think calling it fruit seltzer would work. I've done some experiments with Selzer and adding a percentage of DME helps the flavor, but then maybe you're getting back into beer territory....
:bott:
 
OK thanks for that ... but if, because I am looking for a kind of alcoholic herbal tonic (one that uses leaves and other thinngs like mushrooms or bark), that would not be classed as a seltzer - is that right? So, if I am to search for such an entity online what would I call it? I have just obtained Culpeppers and I am hoping that, whatever it might be called, I will find something similar there to what I am experimenting with. and hoping for relevant inspiration. ... Oh, and something that tastes nice!
 
kjdevault1 said:
A quick turn around honey wine, hopped or not, is called a hydromel. They can also be still or carbonated. Mostly designed for less than 10% for sure. Usually 4-7% I’ve found. Old beers that were herb based instead of hopped were called Gruit and used other herbs as the bittering and preservation agent. You may have some luck there.
If you have a basic understanding of the fundamentals of fermentation, you shouldn’t have any trouble formulating your own recipes. Choose your base, whether sugar or grain, then your flavoring agent- strawberry, dandelion- flower and root are common, other berries, other flowers or vegetation, fruits, etc. use a calculator to hit your target Abv. Once done if you want it carbonated and sweet, use something like monkfruit or erythritol as a sweetener for flavor, and a fermentable sugar for bottle carbonation.
Click to expand...
Non-hopped beers were called ale. Well I guess it depends on the area. They were different terms for the same thing.
 

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