Brew water "tea"?

[angelgrievous]

Hey all, just wondering if anyone has turned their brew water, as in the entire reserve, into a tea and if it made a difference? For example, if I was planning on brewing an IPA and wanted a slight, say, cucumber taste and I took my entire brew water reserve (6.5 gallons or so) and put sliced cucumbers in it for a week or so if this would have any effect on the finished product at all, being taste or otherwise. Of course amount would factor so let's say 5lbs.



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[angelgrievous]

Nothing? Hmm okay.


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[monsteroyd]

Don't know never done it. The problem usually with this kind of thing is what will survive the fermentation? Does cucumber taste remain the same through fermentation? Have you tried it yet? It might work, but my guess is that not enough cucumber flavor will make it.

Monty

 

[redkj]

Not quite the same, but similar in a lot of ways: I remembered seeing this video a while back:

 

[fuelish]

The problem usually with this kind of thing is what will survive the fermentation? Does cucumber taste remain the same through fermentation? .... It might work, but my guess is that not enough cucumber flavor will make it.

Agreed ... you'd be better off, flavor-wise, by racking onto it in a secondary, although I can't see the flavor of cucumber coming anywhere near being tastable in any flavorful beer, even in the secondary. To be honest, cucumber is probably the least flavorful thing you could pick to try...short of water, but you need the water to make the beer Fermentation can and will strip flavors from added ingredients.... I'd pick something that will stand out a bit and do it in secondary, or at least in primary after the major vigorous ferment is over.
Although, who knows??? Give it a try, let us know how it goes

 

[redkj]

How about a hop tea for all of the water? I've heard that boiling hops in only water will result in hop flavor but little to no bitterness. It might be a way to bring an interesting new dimension to APAs or IPAs.

And I agree with fuelish on cucumber in particular, but fermentation may do more changing than stripping of flavors, depending on what they are.