This article is still under construction and will contain information on the brewing of herb beers as well as some history, recipes and related information. For now, please enjoy the following recipes:   Yarrow Beer Ingredients 5 lbs malted barley 6 oz of dried yarrow 5 gallons water Directions Boil everything together an hour, strain it into a fermenter, and add yeast. Allow to ferment until done, siphon into bottles with 1/2 tsp. sugar, and cap. Wait for about 2 weeks before opening and drinking. To get a stronger flavor of the yarrow, you can use half of the yarrow in the boil, and then put the other half in a muslin bag, and allow it to remain in the fermenter until fermentation is complete.   Nettle and Ginger Beer This is a “small beer” with a short fermentation time so it does not contain much alcohol and is not very sweet. It makes enough for a 2 litre bottle Ingredients About half oz root ginger (chopped or grated) 1 lemon (juice and zest) 11oz sugar ¼ teaspoon of dried yeast About 4 pints nettle tops (For Mixed Herb beer: add e.g. some cleavers, a few dandelion leaves to the nettles) Other items required: Large bowl (plate large enough to cover) or fermenting bucket. (Scalded with boiling water or sterilized as below) Empty 2 litre bottle that contained a fizzy drink (Sterilize with a sterilizing solution e.g. the one you use to sterilize babies’ bottles, or from a brewing shop) Funnel Directions: Put the nettles and water in a large pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain through a sieve into the large bowl, add the grated ginger, juice and zest of the lemon. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Cover with a dinner plate and allow to cool to about 40 C (you can comfortably put your finger in). Sprinkle in the yeast, re-cover with the plate and leave in a warm room at a fairly constant temperature overnight. Strain through a sieve into a bowl/jug (scald these first to sterilize). Pour into the 2L drink bottle, using the funnel. Top up with cooled boiled water to about an inch or so below the top. Fasten the lid and put in a warmish room overnight to ferment. The bottle will feel hard when it has fermented enough to make the drink fizzy (24 to 48 hours depending on temperature.) Don’t leave any longer than this without releasing the pressure as it could burst the bottle! Put it in the fridge to chill before drinking; open with care.