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Dig for victory and your reward will be a very British root beer Dandelion and burdock roots, being perennial, are available all year, but it is important to collect them only when the leaves are visible so that you do not confuse them with anything nasty. The very common hemlock water dropwort (pdf), for example, has roots which will see you dead in three hours! Spring or autumn when the roots are at their fattest is the best time to search them out. Burdock has large, heart shaped, furry leaves and a tiresome reputation for providing those burrs that accompany us home after a country walk. It is, of course, an offence to uproot any plant without the permission of the landowner. If you think that no-one would actually be prosecuted for such things, think again; I know of a fellow who was fined (£10) at the behest of an irritable local council for digging up horseradish. Having no dandelion roots of my own, due to my fondness for dandelion coffee, I had to venture out. There is a nice grassy bank near our village school which was planted out with daffodils by the children some years ago. It has become rather overrun with dandelions so I did a little public spirited - and rather nervous - weeding. Burdock is slightly more of a problem as, while the hole made by an uprooted dandelion is a discreet affair, that made by a dislodged burdock root is large enough to twist an ankle. Burdock roots are tough, go down a long way in several directions at once and are particularly fond of soil rich in immoveable rocks. I shall not tell you where I went – suffice it to say that it was a quiet spot. Being an experienced digger-up of burdock I went prepared with a pickaxe as well as a spade. My barrister friend tells me that this may count as "going equipped" and could involve free accommodation for up to seven years if things turned out badly. Foraging can be a nightmare. Of course, you'll have the permission of the landowner for yours. While D&B beer is reputed to have a long pedigree going back to St Thomas Aquinas, the earliest reference I can find, beyond a recipe or two, is an 1897 report from Ashton-under-Lyne of some poor devil being fined a couple of quid for selling the stuff. No peace for the enterprising in those days either, it seems. Most of us will have tried D&B Beer at one time or other but much of the commercially available offerings contain neither of its eponymous ingredients nor, in my opinion, any or their flavour (a notable exception is produced by Fentimans). I have slightly stolen this recipe from my friend Hugh.
A couple of large burdock roots (about 150g)
A handful of dandelion roots (about 50g)
500g sugar
2 tablespoons of black treacle
Juice of one lemon
Teaspoon of copper finings (carragheen) to help clarify the beer – optional
A beer yeast
4.5 litres of water Scrub and finely slice the roots then boil them with half the water (and the carragheen if using) for half an hour. Experience the aroma of an unpromising vegetable stew. Take off the heat, add the remaining cold water, the sugar, treacle and lemon and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Strain the liquid into a clean fermenting bucket and cover. When your brew reaches room temperature add the yeast, keep covered for up to a week then bottle in strong swing top bottles. Another week and it will be ready to drink, though it is well worth easing the top off of a bottle every now and then to check for potentially explosive levels of fizziness. Once ready it is a good idea to keep the bottles in the fridge to prevent further fermentation. The bottle pictured above was quite sweet with a low alcohol content and a touch cloudy because I did not use finings. The flavour is mildly bitter and aromatic with a now pleasant hint of that vegetable stew. John Wright
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