Never before, in the 6,000 years of beer history, have drinkers had such an incredible variety of styles and flavors at their fingertips. And with so many interesting ingredients and unusual taste profiles out there in beer land, it may seem like just about everything has already been done.
Fortunately for adventurous craft fans across the country, small, independent breweries are still coming up with brand new ideas! To find out how they do it, we talked to our friends at one of the most interesting and innovative young breweries on the scene: Seattle’s aptly named Bizarre Brewing.
As luck would have it, founders Derek Brown and Colette Boilini have been working on a new Stout that’s probably unlike anything you’ve ever tasted before — their upcoming Black Nettle will be brewed with hand-foraged stinging nettles!
“We were excited about the idea of brewing with fun local ingredients that are underutilized,” says Colette. “Stinging nettles are so interesting and cool!”
This isn’t the brewery’s first foray into the forest — in the past they’ve used nettles in an English Bitter and a Little Ale with strawberry and rhubarb. Last year they released the first experimental batch of Black Nettle Stout, and they loved it so much that they’re doing it again for 2026!
“We got really excited about the idea of using nettles in a dark beer — a combination we hadn't seen before,” explains Boilini.
With batch #2, they’ll really dial in the recipe with a complex mash bill featuring four different specialty malts and last year’s tried and true addition of Spalt Select Hops. But it’s the nettles that really shine — they should give the beer a slight earthiness and an herbal, peppery zing.
According to Colette, the finished brew will taste like “eating a Thin Mint cookie in a Northwest forest!”
We really can’t wait to try this one! And when it’s finally canned, we’ll grab a few for the app so you can taste it, too! But there’s a lot of work to do before that happens, and we’ll be following along with Colette and Derek over the next few weeks to find out exactly how a beer like this goes from a great idea to a delicious pint in your hand!
The hardest part, according to Colette? “Harvesting the nettles!”
