With spring in full bloom, bringing birdsong, blossom, and a plethora of wildflowers, a team from Stroud Brewery set out on a foraging mission with a twist.
Brewery founder Greg Pilley among the nettles
They have been gathering young nettles to brew a seasonal pale ale called Stinger, produced in collaboration with Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s River Cottage. The nettles, harvested from organic-certified Slad Farm in Stroud, align with the brewery’s 100% organic ethos.
Before hops were introduced into Britain, nettles were one of the many botanical components of gruit, used to brew beer instead of hops. Plants like yarrow, mugwort, burdock, sage, and dandelion were also commonly used.
While Stroud Brewery wouldn’t give up hops, the brewery’s founder and managing director, Greg Pilley, along with brewer, Arthur Wear, and marketing manager, Sam Oliver, collected 40kg of fresh nettles to combine historical and modern flavours in their latest beer.
“The nettles add a fresh vegetal taste to the beer, along with a zing originating from the citric acid contained in the leaves’ stinging cells,” said Greg. “It’s interesting how the modern taste for citrusy flavours was also there hundreds of years ago.”
“There’s no problem with drinking it — the sting doesn’t get transferred to the beer! The boiling breaks down and neutralises the stinging cells, so the flavour remains: more zing, no sting.”
They’re added with the hops towards the end of the boiling stage and then, at the end, given free to allotment holders to repurpose as fertiliser, fitting in with the brewery’s sustainability and community values.
Greg, Arthur, and Sam found their activities attracted an audience — of sheep! It seemed they were particularly interested in licking traces of malted barley from the inside of the plastic collecting bags, previously used to deliver malt supplies to the brewery.
Stinger pale ale will be available from June in the brewery’s taproom and via the brewery’s website. In addition to the spring brew, there’ll be enough nettles for two more brews during the year.
