super food for yeast

[poteen]

hi; I'm new to this forum but I'd like to share with you my findings on freely available yeast nutrients that I now use after many months of investigation trial and error. Many people will be familiar with the herb Urtica dioica aka the Stinging Nettle, these plants are full of great nutrients such as vitamins A, C, D, maganese, magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium and nitrogen.

I collect about 3 shopping bags of nettle tips, these are the small leaves of the heads of the plant down to about 5" from the top, I then was these with cold water to remove any dirt, bugs etc.. You won't find many bugs if any at all because Nettle's make a great pesticide! When clean I place them all into a large pot and boiling water from the kettle about 2 litres place the lid on the pot and place on the stove, bring the heat up slowly and let it simmer for about an hour somewhere around 65-degree you should notice the water turns green, pour this water into another pot and add about 25g of treacle/molasses stir until its dissolved into the liquid and pour into a glass demijhon/jar place the lid and keep it in the fridge for future use.

I use about 250ml of this green nectar per gallon of wash with tremendous results! The next time you get a stuck fermentation add a little about 50ml per Litre of wash and watch it explode into life!

Graham

[theholymackerel]

Nettle's make a great pesticide!

What chemical is in the nettle that is a pesticide? What is it's vapour point?

Sounds a bit risky without knowin' more.

[poteen]

The pesticide is believed to be the smell however I cant comment on this... however there is nothing to fear from nettle juice as you can drink this stuff yourself and is believed to be very good for you. hell you can even use it to cure you from dandruff if you was your hair with it. People having been drinking nettle tea for thousands of years and eating nettle's as a replacement for spinage.. Gardner's use it as plant food because its great for plants and has the added benefit of a pesticide.

[joes2]

Does any nettle taste make it over to the distillate?

[poteen]

taste via still.. if your use a pot still very little to none, done well no taste what so ever! reflux still 0% .. note the nettle tastes great anyhow so you can use it to flavour drinks and food.

I started on a path quite some time ago investigating the true recipe for poteen made in Ireland many of my findings pointed to the use of nettles when potatoes where used instead of barley!!

[BW Redneck]

IIRC, the pesticide in stinging nettles is formic acid (Boils @ 100.8*C) and a mix of a few neurotransmitters, and this is delivered when the tiny "needles" on the leaves break when someone touches them. Wikipedia has some background info.

We don't have many stinging nettles around my place, but I could probably find some if I looked harder.

[Tater]

are those same plant as bull nettles found in south east?

[trthskr4]

are those same plant as bull nettles found in south east?

From the photos on Wikipedia it looks like the same stuff I've seen in Louisiana.

[oakie]

It's really common around here. It is supposed to be very good for you. People around here have always used it in food. I never liked it much myself I've always seen it as the plant version of a jellyfish.

My grandma used it as an insect repellent. She would crush it and then stick it in the cabinet to help word off pests.

[alice]

A hippy-ish girl I used to do it to a few years back used to make a tea out of stinging nettles, it's supposed to be really high in iron.
It worked for me, but I was a bit younger then too..

[blanikdog]

Alice, many years ago at a company function I ate 72 oysters - natural, of course - in one sitting. Only 63 of them worked for me, but same as you I was also much younger then.

If anyone thinks the 63 is bullshit, you're quite correct.

[cob]

i bought a gouda cheese with stinging nettle in it because it had nettle in it in the store 2 days ago, i wasn't imperessed, however i have been using stinging nettle as bush food for 44 years. good eats cob

[northcountry]

My sister made a nettle beer and said it was the best? Didn't get to try it, but think I'll stick to the guinness.

[Dnderhead]

I thinking that nettles curdels milk, works like renit, thisels also.

[junkyard dawg]

I remember playing as a kid...maybe 12 years old... I ran right into a big patch of bull nettle. arms, legs, face... little red stings everywhere...

I still hate that plant...

[zwinzilious]

Fantastic news! It grows like wildfire in my European country. I plan the next mash with nettles, barley, and corn to a malt, then cool, then pitch, and will share my findings. Looking forward to see what happens

[hstuurman]

i bought a gouda cheese with stinging nettle in it because it had nettle in it in the store 2 days ago, i wasn't imperessed, however i have been using stinging nettle as bush food for 44 years. good eats cob

It's not gouda, but frisian.
In the earlier days they used nettleleaves as a package for butter, fish and meat. Nettle is supposed to help stopping bacteria to grow.

I told an old friend, a time ago, about me making jenever, and he asked me to make a "nettle-jenever", I like the idea. Reading this topic I will try it asap.

[zwinzilious]

Hi,

I am somewhat divided on using this. In my experiment I did not see any significant improvement. It did smell fantastic when I was making the mash however, so will recommend it for lodge cooking served with wild rice and dear or elk meat.

If I am wrong, I can only be glad that you prove it. This is an intriguing idea, and very natural- so long as its in an area free of pesticides, roads, or possible pollutants. If you know that for a fact- try it and get back to us.

Zwinzilious

[Caprimulgus]

Swedes make nettle soup and eat them as spinage. Dried, they make a good tea to help cure urine infections.