Cool cucumber mead

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I second this.

Time heals all wounds. Give it a few months. If its still a little crazy, give it a few years. If it still isn't good, it would make an excellent kitchen countertop cleaner!!
 
Ahh it's ok my universe has been shattered a lot nothing to apologize about it :D, me being a lesser wise brewer than the others I do agree with them about the aging for the taste part I have learned lots from these brewers.
 
wiki : "The noun vegetable means an edible plant or part of a plant".

It's not a thing in it's own right, it's not something plants produce and it is different in the case of every plant. It just says that it is a plant and it is edible.
 
I don't understand? Do you mean like a turnip plant the greens are a veggie but the turnip it self is not?
 
Back to the topic!!!!! lol I planned on waiting to post anything but maybe this will re-direct the thread. When I sampled the mead I did introduce some oxygen and I bet that is what kicked up a little fermentation. That died back down today and now I can see real signs of the mead starting to clear. Is this going fast or is it just me? I have a JAOM and a Bochet that are 3 times as old as this Cucumber mead and they are both fermenting strong and haven't started to clear at all. Is a fast fermentation an indicator of anything & can there be off flavors for a fast vs slow fermentation? Just food for thought.
 
Maybe it did what if you gave it a little shake every now and then to introduce oxygen back into the brew?
 
Here is my weekly update. I checked it out again today and snapped a pic. I said it fermented a little more and when I checked the gravity reading today it was sitting at 0.991. So it is looking to be at 14.96% ABV. I must say the sour smell has died down a good bit. I can definitely smell the alcohol hot smell you get from young brews but there was a bit of a sour "after smell". Just enough to not give me the confidence to try this again lol. It is clearing a lot, I think in another two weeks I can rack off the sediment & place in secondary ingredients. Now the latest pic makes it look kind of amber but is has an almost lemony/radioactive kind of look in person. Enjoy!

These pics are ordered from pre-honey, Day 0, Day 2, Day 6 & Day 13.

Cucumber Mead pre honey.JPG

Cucumber Mead X After honey day 0.JPG

Cucumber Mead X After honey day 2.JPG

Cucumber Mead X After honey day 6.JPG

Cucumber Mead X After honey day 13.JPG
 
Ooh it has cleared up a lot, it looks much better than the previous pukey yellow damn it's abv lvl is high and you saids already dried pretty much at 2 weeks my my they grow up so fast lolol any thanks for the update :D

Cheers vahallasbrew2
 
Ok so the mead is 24 days old now and I went ahead and racked off of the lees since it was not doing any good anymore and I am hoping that some of the sour smell starts to fade away if there is less matter in the mead. Funny thing now is that I can notice little white things floating on the top. Anyone think this is just the oil from the mint? When I made mint extract with vodka a while back I did notice the oil floating but thought it was a bit more opaque rather than this white. I could be wrong. Well now for the best part of this thread. The comparison pics! :rockin: + One close up of the floaty bits.


Day 2
Cucumber Mead X After honey day 2.JPG

Day 6
Cucumber Mead X After honey day 6.JPG

Day 13
Cucumber Mead X After honey day 13.JPG

Day 24
Cucumber Mead X After honey day 24.JPG

Floaty bits
Cucumber Mead X After honey day 24X.JPG
 
Is the colour actually changing that much, or is it just the flash?

It does seem really fast!
 
Yes the color changed is about accurate. I originally did not decide to add any nutrients because cucumbers are pretty healthy and if you look up their amino levels, mineral levels and vitamin levels they are pretty decent. That may have just built up some healthy yeast. Or there is something else at work and that is causing the sour smell/taste.
 
I would think cucumbers wouldn't stay white like that after 3 weeks, it looks like mold colonies are starting in it but it could be oils or the cucumbers like you all said I'm not to sure well thanks for the update :D
 
When I dumped the lees and cucumber matter from the primary the cucumber was white. You may be absolutely right on the cucumber bits. If they all sink to the bottom in the next few weeks then we should know.
 
so maybe a faster racking if the cucumbers didnt last? Or off setting with added nutrient with cucumber water? (still looking if this can be purchased).

What about fruit with the cucumber? Like a melon? More nutrients less sour?
 
Hmm maybe, are you looking for cucumber water? I don't think it's sold cause I've never seem it ever, and I loooovvvvveeeee cucumbers I'd would seek out cucumber water but I've never found any
 
valhalla, you might already know this as an aside, but SWMBO learned from Martha Stewart that if you add slices of cucumber to a pitcher of water and let it sit in the fridge, you have a nice cucumbery summer beverage... may be easier that actively seeking it out to buy it?

I love cucumber too, up to and including cucumber sandwiches. Really looking forward to getting OPs take on the finished product.
 
hehe. I dont know if they still make it, but for a while Pepsi was making a cucumber 7up that sold in Japan. I would have bought it if it was here... Actually, I know we have some Japanese and Americans-in-Japan transplant brewers here, can anyone confirm?
 
Hey since this thread came back up I'll let you know this. I sniffed the mead yesterday and it was still sour but did not make me want to vomit!!!!! More of a spicy undertone but I bet that is all alcohol hot.
 
totally unrelated to mead, well maybe could be used for it, but I am big on juicing and make a cucumber limeade y'all would probably like, 4 cucumbers, 3 limes, a tiny slice of fresh ginger all juiced, mix with water at a 1 part juice to 2 parts water ratio and sweeten with just enough sugar to taste but not overpower the rest of the flavors, personally I like the lime to be the main flavor but it's easily tweaked to bring the cucumber forward, add some ice cubes maybe some fresh mint, great on a super hot day
 
TheBrewingMedic said:
totally unrelated to mead, well maybe could be used for it, but I am big on juicing and make a cucumber limeade y'all would probably like, 4 cucumbers, 3 limes, a tiny slice of fresh ginger all juiced, mix with water at a 1 part juice to 2 parts water ratio and sweeten with just enough sugar to taste but not overpower the rest of the flavors, personally I like the lime to be the main flavor but it's easily tweaked to bring the cucumber forward, add some ice cubes maybe some fresh mint, great on a super hot day
Click to expand...

Now that does sound pretty tasty, I'll have to try it this summer. :mug:
Regards, GF.
 
I am officially hereby Prosting this thread. Between the mead and the cucumber beverage ideas its becoming a favorite.

Glad the mead is de-barfifying btw!
 
TheBrewingMedic said:
totally unrelated to mead, well maybe could be used for it, but I am big on juicing and make a cucumber limeade y'all would probably like, 4 cucumbers, 3 limes, a tiny slice of fresh ginger all juiced, mix with water at a 1 part juice to 2 parts water ratio and sweeten with just enough sugar to taste but not overpower the rest of the flavors, personally I like the lime to be the main flavor but it's easily tweaked to bring the cucumber forward, add some ice cubes maybe some fresh mint, great on a super hot day
Click to expand...

Add a bit of mint next time :)
 
Haha on the cucumber kool-aid

I recently tired this:

4 cucumbers sliced in spears like pickles, juice of one lemon and 1/2 gallon of spring water, left it over night and going to pitch yeast today, thinking 1118 Lalvin.

I cut up a whole Honey dew froze it and put in my honey to cool it off after i heated to about 100 to move easy ( got from a local maker had to strain still ) so hope this works out if so when i rack i will top off with more "cucumber kool-aid" and maybe toss cantaloupe in the secondary with it
 
Interesting you chose cantaloupe rather than honeydew. *Edit* I just reread... DOH! Nevermind.

harveydent said:
Haha on the cucumber kool-aid

I recently tired this:

4 cucumbers sliced in spears like pickles, juice of one lemon and 1/2 gallon of spring water, left it over night and going to pitch yeast today, thinking 1118 Lalvin.

I cut up a whole Honey dew froze it and put in my honey to cool it off after i heated to about 100 to move easy ( got from a local maker had to strain still ) so hope this works out if so when i rack i will top off with more "cucumber kool-aid" and maybe toss cantaloupe in the secondary with it
Click to expand...
 
harveydent said:
Haha on the cucumber kool-aid

I recently tired this:

4 cucumbers sliced in spears like pickles, juice of one lemon and 1/2 gallon of spring water, left it over night and going to pitch yeast today, thinking 1118 Lalvin.
Click to expand...




Great another adventurous soul to try out the cucumber. Any honey in the brew or just cucumber, lemon & spring water? Keep us informed on the progress. I have been planning on a couple more meads and I think I want to do one more experimental 1/2 gal batch of cucumber mead where I make a traditional mead and put the juiced/pulped cucumber in secondary to see if I get better results.

*edit*. I think I was reading the two paragraphs as seperat brews. If not then I think it all sounds great.
 
Yeah the recipe I have follows with the traditional honey mead and added cucumber juices to it then a bit of spear mint or that "cool" taste in the cool cumber brew. If you make a batch, could you keep me on tab I'm writing down how my recipe does :D
I'm super stoked I've got a lot of followers :D thanks everyone for the helping hand and ideas
Vahallasbrew2 HUZZAH to all
 
Just a quick update on my cucumber mead. Good news is the things floating around look to be cucumber bits. Last night I racked onto two small cucumbers and juice from one lime. I can post pics after work if people want. Smelling the mead it almost smells spicy. A lot of sour is gone but untill I know most all that bread yeast is gone I am not confident enough to taste it. When people say that bread yeast does not flocculate well they are not kidding. We will see what happens.
 
Just a hint, I have been using a little gelatin to keep the shmutz down with some success. Might be worth trying...
 
CreamyGoodness said:
Just a hint, I have been using a little gelatin to keep the shmutz down with some success. Might be worth trying...
Click to expand...

Ok then, I looked up how to use geletin and seems pretty strait forward. I will wait till this mead hits over 3 months and if it needs it then I will give that a shot.
 
I'm curious to see how its come out, I would totally taste it if I could I'm gonna start a couple of batches this weekend and this ones gonna be on the list.
 

Similar threads

superpig0
Mead Recipe Concern
Replies
2
Views
511
Dan O
Dan O
D
Should my mead look like this during primary fermentation?
Replies
2
Views
643
david kim
D
J
My Mead Wont Carbonate
Replies
7
Views
482
Deadalus
Deadalus
G
How fast?
Replies
6
Views
392
MightyMosin
MightyMosin
M
My key lime mead from hell.
Replies
3
Views
329
Rish
R
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top