Hi All, I've been kicking around ideas with my roommate for some post-finals brewing. We're thinking of making a pilsner with cucumber and potentially aging it on hendrick's gin/oak. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with cucumbers. I'm thinking of adding about two, sliced thin, as a "dry hop" once the beer is done lagering, but i'm not basing that on anything whatsoever. Any and all help is much appreciated. Cheers!
There are several breweries that have cucumber saisons (Cigar City and Trinity in Colorado Springs) - a little research could probably turn up how they manage it (flame out addition or in fermenter). I've had both and they're a decent summer beer - not sure i could/would want to drink 5 gallons of them but would be an interesting experiment. I'd probably just add the gin, not sure the oak would do you any favors to a pilsner.
I would skin the cucumbers, grate them, tie them in cheesecloth, then steep them after your boil at, say, 170*. I would pre-test with a lesser amount of water to determine the right amount of steeping time. To tell you the truth, I've never done this with beer, but I used to make a cucumber juice with this method and I extracted the flavor very easily. Also, love me some hendrick's. good luck!
Adding to scray24's feedback, if you can't find Cigar City and Trinity method, I'd email them. That seems like feedback even a pretty tight lipped brewer would release.
Cigar city's cucumber saison was one of the most disgusting beers I have ever drank, and I like cucumbers. Something about the combination of beer and cucumber was awful.
I had a 2.9% cucumber and mint saison last year that was surprsingly good. Didn't think it would work but it did " Cucumber and Mint Saison collab with Wild Beer ABV: 2.9% IBU: 15 OG: 1027 Hops: Magnum, Celia Malt: Pale Malt, Crystal, Spalt, Torrified Wheat. Strong cucumber aroma and flavours with underlying peppery notes. A fantastically refreshing and sessionable beer for summer. What makes it special? This is the first of our collaborations with The Wild Beer Co. This saison is made by adding mint to the copper and the fermenter and lots of cucumber to the fermenter. Brettamonyces and saison yeast is added to this unique beer giving a subtle spice and peppery flavour. "
IIRC Cigar City has used a number of "teas" to add flavors to their beers (Peach IPA, Caramel Maduro etc.). I wouldn't be surprised if Cucumber Saison had something like this in it: http://www.adagio.com/white/white_cucumber.html
Cigar City uses a cucumber extract from here It doesn't look like they're available on a homebrewer scale though.
Am I the only one who thinks a cucumber doesn't really taste like all that much? Id use a fruit/veggie that would actually impart some flavor.
that's sort of the point. it's a subtle flavor to accent a lighter beer. i could hit it with blueberry or something like it but i want the base beer to dominate.
I made a cucumber & rosemary blonde ale for an Iron Brewer competition with our homebrew club that was probably too cucumbery (had two use 2 out of these 3 ingredients: cucumber, sour cherry, rosemary). My beer took 4th place out of 13 entries. For 5 gallons, I took two cucumbers - peeled them and deseeded them, cut them in chunks and soaked in a vodka/gin mixture for 2-3 days. I then added just the cucumbers to the primary fermenter after the krausen dropped and beer was pretty clear. They were in there for 7 days - cucumber flavor was VERY strong. I would suggest for a more subtle flavor, probably only 1/2 of one cucumber would be enough. Taste after a few days and let in longer to get to the flavor intensity you're looking for. Cucumber has a very strong flavor, even though it wouldn't seem like it. The thought of cooked cucumber was unappealing to me, that's why I added it after fermentation.
Thanks for sharing! I was considering slicing them and soaking them in hendricks for a day or two before adding, then tasting every day to see how the flavor develops. did you just leave it for seven days or did you check it periodically to see how it was coming along?
I did not taste test the "dry cuc-ing" along the way, coming back to the beer 7 days later I was amazed at how much cucumber flavor came through. I originally thought that cucumber would be mild and was worried that 2 cucumbers wouldn't be enough. Instead, probably could have used only half as much for what I was going for.
