A question to those who don't like Fuggles.
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I love cilantro, but would probably avoid using fuggles again. It tastes kind weird; not awful, just weird.
JoePro
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Did it taste like dirty, musty basement floor?
No, no, no, a thousand times no! I hate that stuff. Even a tiny amount overpowers a dish and I hate the flavor. Blech.
Here's an interesting article about why some of us feel this way.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14curious.html?_r=1
Here's an interesting article about why some of us feel this way.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14curious.html?_r=1
JoePro
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So, as it turns out (It's in an NPR article I read) that:
PREPARE FOR SCIENCE
The same compounds that are found in Cilantro that give us folks that hate cilantro are present in fuggle hops-- saturated aldehydes. I'm wondering if I can't smell or taste fuggles in how they're supposed to taste/smell.
I mean, I know a lot of brewers hate fuggles because 'they taste like dirt', so that's why I made this thread.
If you hate fuggles then there's a pretty good chance you hate cilantro.
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I like Fuggles. Hate Cilantro. Love coriander.
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Hate fuggles. Love cilantro. Ambivalent about coriander.
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Too dirty, earthy for me.
JoePro
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At first sniff/taste.. would you be inclined to believe that your beer tastes bad?
Like, are fuggles a kind of hop that might make a beer undrinkable to someone who dislikes that kind of hop?
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Possibly. I love many/most IPA's, but English versions made with fuggles I just don't care for. Even though it's not a "flaw" per se, it just doesn't taste pleasurable to me.
Similarily, I love summit hops; though MANY report getting a bad onion/garlic flavor/aroma from summit hops.
JoePro
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See, I've made three 'English' type beers, all with fuggle hops. They all have this sort of basement, cellar-floor-y smell/taste to them. I can't tell if my beer is **** or if it's the hops.
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Try the same recipes with EKG or Willamette.
JoePro
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Haha, the NHC 2011 Brown ale winner recipe I tried to clone a bit ago called for EKG, Willamette, AND Fuggles, and had the taste/smell as well.
Sacdan
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GilaMinumBeer said:
Same here.
Fuggles has it's place in English beers.
I'm half mexican so I grew used to cilantro since my mom put it in everything, even though I'm one of those people that it tastes soapy to. I very rarely cook with it myself but when I do I just put a tiny amount since it tastes so strong to me.
I'm half mexican so I grew used to cilantro since my mom put it in everything, even though I'm one of those people that it tastes soapy to. I very rarely cook with it myself but when I do I just put a tiny amount since it tastes so strong to me.
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Despite my distaste for cilantro, most mexican foods don't taste good without it. Just so long as it's there but not center stage.
bwomp313
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I like all 3!!
When cilantro is actually incorporated into something like salsa I have no problem with it. My issue is the tendency for some people to just dump half a metric ton of raw cilantro on a taco or something of the like. As a garnish I can't stand it.
I don't feel too strongly either way about Fuggles.
ReverseApacheMaster
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I don't feel one way or another about Fuggles. Used it in plenty of beers because it was cheap. It's not my favorite hop flavor but it doesn't make me gag.
I like cilantro but it shouldn't be overpowering in a dish. I can see why some people think it has a soapy flavor but it isn't offputting to me. I'm fine with coriander.
I like cilantro but it shouldn't be overpowering in a dish. I can see why some people think it has a soapy flavor but it isn't offputting to me. I'm fine with coriander.
HATE fuggles. Hate them. They make a beer taste like dirt.
I LOVE cilantro, and even put it on my salad.
I LOVE cilantro, and even put it on my salad.
tojo
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Love Cilantrol....especially in homemade salsa
I better love Fuggles...I just bought a pound of it!!!!!
I better love Fuggles...I just bought a pound of it!!!!!
JoePro
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/huge sigh of relief
It's good to know someone like you, Yoops, who I've grown to trust on these forums, thinks fuggles make beer taste like dirt. I can't stand them! But is that what they're supposed to taste/smell like? All the beer I've made with Fuggles ends up being close to undrinkable.
Gameface
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I make almost exclusively English styles of beer, ESB, English IPA, Porter, etc. In the beginning I used Fuggles in recipes that called for it. I can't say why but I no longer use fuggles. Even when called for I use EKG. I very well may hate it without really knowing it.
Anyway, I LOVE cilantro. There is no such thing as too much and I get disappointed if when I'm buying it it doesn't have a very strong aroma. If I'm making salsa and tacos I sometimes buy 2 bunches of cilantro, just to make sure I'll have enough.
Anyway, I LOVE cilantro. There is no such thing as too much and I get disappointed if when I'm buying it it doesn't have a very strong aroma. If I'm making salsa and tacos I sometimes buy 2 bunches of cilantro, just to make sure I'll have enough.
Yeah. I talked to a guy in my homebrew club who loves fuggles. He says he loves the "earthiness" of them.
Bob likes beer made with a bit of fuggles, but not 100% fuggles -as he likes the earthy dank they provide but not in a huge dose. I made a beer for him that was a fuggles/cascade mix and he loved it. I thought it tasted like dirty grapefruit.
JoePro
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Yeah. I talked to a guy in my homebrew club who loves fuggles. He says he loves the "earthiness" of them.
Bob likes beer made with a bit of fuggles, but not 100% fuggles -as he likes the earthy dank they provide but not in a huge dose. I made a beer for him that was a fuggles/cascade mix and he loved it. I thought it tasted like dirty grapefruit.
Yuck.
Why would you ever taint the pure, bright tang of a Cascade hop with the foot-skunk from a Fuggle hop?
beergolf
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It is funny how much different everyones tastes are. One beer I really like, Bell's Amber Ale uses a combination of Cascade and Fuggles. I now make a beer that is similar using both and really like it.
Love cilantro, hate Fuggles. Gary Glass, head of the AHA, is also on record as a Fuggles hater. We were thinking of having T shirts made!
bwomp313
Well-Known Member
I strongly agree with this statement.
I haven't used Fuggles, and now I probably never will.
Cilantro is so gross to me that it takes all my will to not throw up. Can't stop the gagging, though. The smell of coriander is OK, and I use lots of it when making pastrami, but chewing a seed or putting it in beer tastes awful. Maybe the smoking kills whatever causes that flavor. It's described as soapy but to me it's more like mildew.
Cilantro is so gross to me that it takes all my will to not throw up. Can't stop the gagging, though. The smell of coriander is OK, and I use lots of it when making pastrami, but chewing a seed or putting it in beer tastes awful. Maybe the smoking kills whatever causes that flavor. It's described as soapy but to me it's more like mildew.
boscobeans
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Can't account for individual taste, that's for sure.
When I was a kid and my old man had a few buddies over for the friday night fights on TV (we had the first TV in the neighborhood) I didn't mind the smell of cigars, beer, pig's feet and smelts.
When the Limburger cheese and onion sandwiches came out it was time for me to make a quick exit.
LOL
I do like some Fuggles, but just for bittering in my ales.
bosco
When I was a kid and my old man had a few buddies over for the friday night fights on TV (we had the first TV in the neighborhood) I didn't mind the smell of cigars, beer, pig's feet and smelts.
When the Limburger cheese and onion sandwiches came out it was time for me to make a quick exit.
LOLI do like some Fuggles, but just for bittering in my ales.
bosco
jerryteague
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Absolutely LOVE cilantro, I use it alot when I cook. Not so much on coriander, it just doesn't do it for me. I'm on the fence with Fuggles, it has it's place as a background flavor, or as a bittering hop in English ales, but I can't stand the flavor if it's the only hop used. Now cilantro and Casade, that's a match made in heaven.....
I hate cilantro. It tastes exactly like soap to me, like dawn liquid soap. I can pick out even trace amounts in any dish. But I love fuggles hops, they define English beers. And you masala chai just it's the same without coriander.
