japanese knotweed wine?

[robsan77]

Just heard Andy Hamilton on radio 2 mention this. Anyone tried?

 

[anita]

think that I have a receipe in a book my hubby got me for christmas, I'd be dubious about gathering it and bringing it anywhere near my house.

 

[graysalchemy]

Himalayan balsam is supposedly like rhubarb so perhaps that would make wine as well. However I don't know if it is not illegal to remove knotweed as it spreads like wildfire.

 

[Somnophore]

I don't think Himalayan balsam stems etc are edible, just the flowers, pods and seeds, just to clarify.

 

[Somnophore]

Actually just checked should be ok to make wine from it it's only not edible as a survival food raw as it's got irritating hairs inside.

 

[klaus]

Only ever seen jap.knotweed on TV and the horror stories that go with it. What's knotweed contribute to the wine, fermentables or taste/aroma? You might need a permit from MAFF(?) to handle the stuff - I believe it's an offence to spread it etc (I know I know the nanny .....).

 

[tonyhibbett]

Gosh, this is a hot topic. Never encountered the stuff myself although I've been to the Himalayas several times. Notifiable pest here. They have huge rhodedendron forests there and they are considered pests here. Also huge cannabis plants too, growing wild. Illegal here, but made a nice wine out of discarded stems left in shared greenhouse once. Ground elder was introduced here as a food plant and I have encountered that. Gets everywhere and hard to control. Neighbours complained about 'triffids' which invaded their garden. Turned out to be jerusalem artichokes: edible but make you fart a lot. All a matter of perception, really.

 

[oldbloke]

Is Giant Hogweed still a problem?
ISTR Genesis doing a song - maybe a whole album - about that.
Mind you I wasn't entirely compos mentis that decade.