Summer Cucumber Brew

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shauntraxler

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I'm going to try my hand at a cucumber brew for the summer. I've read every cuke thread on HBT and elsewhere over the net and I've decided to go with this:

5 Gallons

3.3lb Briess Wheat LME
1lb Light DME
8oz Honey
1oz Cascade @ 60mins

I'll probably just use Notty yeast because that's what I have on hand. Primary ferment for about a week and then rack onto ~5 pounds of peeled, and chopped cukes (with a Campden tab) for about 2 weeks.

The goal is obviously a crisp, light, summer ale drinkable for hours.

Beersmith says: 3.44%, 19IBU.

Anyone think I should add anything? Steeping grains?
 
I make a blonde that goes great with wings. as a matter of fact, thats what I am doing for dinner tonight. mmmmmm wangs
 
My wife HATES cucumber. If I even thought about brewing this, I'd be out on my ass. (I loves me some cukes, personally)
 
I love this idea, just curious what's the purpose of the campden tab? I might try this out myself
 
I love this idea, just curious what's the purpose of the campden tab? I might try this out myself

Well, I've never used Campden, but the little bit of reading I did led me to believe it somewhat sanitizes the cukes so I don't have to make an infusion or boil them. I could DEFINITELY be wrong. lol.
 
yeah I was thinking that but im thinking that the campden might have negative effects on the yeast? the only other times i've heard of it being used is to stop yeast from working in wine or cider when someone wants to add extra sweetness
 
Right. That makes sense.

If I waited until fermentation was 100% complete in the primary, then added campden in the secondary with the cukes, would I have any yeasties left for bottle carbing? Hmmmm...
 
see that's what i'm worrying about too... I already got excited and just ordered the stuff to make this one off midwest supplies except for the campden. I'm feeling like, just with lots of other stuff the alcohol and low ph in the beer by the time its ready for secondary should get rid of any nasty stuff anyway
 
also, i did my recipe a little differently if you're interested its

6lbs pilsen lme
8oz clover honey
8oz carapils
1 oz saaz at 60
1 oz saaz at 5
yeast is white labs 001
also plan on using about 5 pounds of cucumbers in secondary
should be around 18 ibu and 5% abv
 
Very nice. :)

I was just thinking of including cara-pils. I have a pound of it here, so hey, what the hell? I may just go with that, too.

I am also going to use about a .5oz of crushed coriander at the 10 minute mark...

I ate some seeds a bit ago, and I think that subtle fruity flavor along with the freshness of the cukes could make one hell of a summer beer.

Still, I am worried about sanitization of the cucumber. I imagine it would be fine just rinsing and dumping, but I don't want to take the chance. I also don't want to add a fifth of vodka to the secondary either.

Any other sani-lutions?
 
Before you brew this, I just want to ask if you've tasted a cucumber beer before.

I tasted one at a brew fest, and if it had been a little later in the day, I would have barfed up a belly full of beer right on the spot.
 
Before you brew this, I just want to ask if you've tasted a cucumber beer before.

I tasted one at a brew fest, and if it had been a little later in the day, I would have barfed up a belly full of beer right on the spot.

Really? I mean, I'm not going for a cucumber beer, per se, rather a light beer with cucumber tones. lol.

How cucumbery was that beer? And do you like cucumber OUT of beer?
 
like the man said, im going for more cucumber in the background then in the front, to add some sort of complexity to the refreshing quality that this recipe would have anyway. and hey, if it tastes bad i learned what not to do next time
 
Very nice. :)

I was just thinking of including cara-pils. I have a pound of it here, so hey, what the hell? I may just go with that, too.

I am also going to use about a .5oz of crushed coriander at the 10 minute mark...

I ate some seeds a bit ago, and I think that subtle fruity flavor along with the freshness of the cukes could make one hell of a summer beer.

Still, I am worried about sanitization of the cucumber. I imagine it would be fine just rinsing and dumping, but I don't want to take the chance. I also don't want to add a fifth of vodka to the secondary either.

Any other sani-lutions?

I'v made wine with fresh fruit and using campden tablets but I believe you done the campden the day before you pitched the yeast also the directions said you could freeze the fruit to kill the natural yeasts and things. You might try chunking up your cukes and freezing them for a few days while the wart was in primary.
 
I'v made wine with fresh fruit and using campden tablets but I believe you done the campden the day before you pitched the yeast also the directions said you could freeze the fruit to kill the natural yeasts and things. You might try chunking up your cukes and freezing them for a few days while the wart was in primary.

Hmmmm. I wonder though, sometimes when you freeze things they lose some of their flavor characteristics. I suppose if it was only frozen for a day or so it should remain pretty intact, though. I may have to try this.
 
i'm just gonna be ballsy and throw it right in, and you can freeze it and if i get an infection i owe you a beer for being smarter :mug:
 
i'm just gonna be ballsy and throw it right in, and you can freeze it and if i get an infection i owe you a beer for being smarter :mug:

Just read a bit ago that freezing doesn't necessarily kill bacteria, it just causes them to go dormant... Maybe long enough to give an alcohol a head start on killing it before it goes to work on your brew? lol..

I think I'm just going to toss it in as well.. Maybe run some 100 proof liquor over it or something for a few minutes... lol.. Who knows?!
 
If you have borage available, my homebrewer's garden book suggests using that for a cucumber-like flavor. not sure how much offhand, I'll have to check back tomorrow
 
Cucumber ale sounds awesome, I love cucumber water, cucumber lager would be good too. Wonder if you could put a thin slice or two in the bottle. Are you going to leave the rind on or shave it off? Definitely let us know how it turns out.

I've been using campden tablets for a while now but only to get rid of chloramine in my water so I use a small amount. I didn't even realize you could use it to halt fermentation until I found this thread and then read the wikipedia article. Carbing in the bottle could definitely turn into an issue if you halt fermentation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campden_tablets
 
Where could one get Borage if I don't have time to mail order? I've got access to basic supermarkets like Publix, Wal-Mart, etc.. A lot of hispanic specialty stores.. Haha.. Any ideas?

Oh, and I plan to peel the cukes and coarsely chop em.
 
Subscribed. Let us know how it turns out, this sounds interesting. I may want to do this to enter in a home brew comp or something.
 
also, anyone think it would be a good idea to put cucumber in a saison? i just put one in the primary and never tried the style before, but it seems like it could be good.
 
do you guys think peeling the cucumbers is needed?

Needed? No. I've heard of decent results both ways. I wouldn't worry.

also, anyone think it would be a good idea to put cucumber in a saison? i just put one in the primary and never tried the style before, but it seems like it could be good.

You'll never know unless you try. Start small for subtle flavor and gauge from there. Worst case scenario you'll end up with a delicious, cucumber-less saison. :)
 
I make cucumber water all the time. I would put a tiny amount of pepper in there as well, when I do this withe cucumber water it makes it more crisp.

Good idea though I am going to attempt this to with some seeds of paradise I have lying around!
 
yeah my saison has a bunch of grains of paradise in it already so i figured it might go well together, but i might just leave it alone
 
For anyone interested, I racked this beast to the secondary today. I've posted a picture in the picture forum HERE.

The hydro sample was fantabulous. :)
 
Oh, and I decided against 5lbs of cukes. I used 3lbs of unpeeled, unseeded cucumbers. I, then, seeded and peeled them so the actually weight is unknown.
 
yeah let me know, i'm still unsure about brewing up something new or throwing it in with the saison
 
yeah let me know, i'm still unsure about brewing up something new or throwing it in with the saison

for sure dude...it's going to be a couple of weeks (10 days minimum) before I pull it from the 2nd-ary.

But I'll let you know... (my secondary has a spigot, so I may steal some samples...)
 
This sounds really good for a hot summer cookout. This is definitely my next beer. I can't wait to hear how it turns out being carbed
 
This sounds really good for a hot summer cookout. This is definitely my next beer. I can't wait to hear how it turns out being carbed

Awesome! This is definitely my best beer to date. I would be very excited to hear how yours turns out!

Also, let me know if you make any changes to that recipe, I'd be interested to see what you come up with.

Cheers!
 
This beer sounds great. After you've had a chance to carb and taste "proper" definatly post in the recipe section.

I'm curious to know if you detect any honey flavor, and if no, do you think more light DME or sugar would suffice? Do you think having honey flavor in there would be a detriment?
I have used honey a couple times, and only detected any actual honey flavor once, so I'm curious as to your reaction.
 
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