Coriander = Ginger??

[jaydubber]

Hello brewers,

Last month I entered a home brewing competition and got some interesting feedback on a Grapefruit Gose. It was a pretty standard gose recipe, with 50% pils, 50% wheat, 1/2 tsp coriander and 1/2 tsp sea salt in a 5g batch. I kettle soured with Goodbelly to about 3.5ph, whirlpooled and dry hopped with Cascade and Amarillo, and added the flesh of 3 large grapefruits at the end of primary. The scores came back at 34, 36, and 39, so it did ok with the judges, but all three of them commented on an aroma and flavor of ginger, and not really in a positive light. Some snippets of feedback:

"Aroma is ginger. Flavor is ginger fading into citrus."
"Ginger and grapefruit on the nose."
"Strong ginger flavor at start that's a bit strong."
"Lots of ginger in the finish."
"Nice, dry, crisp. Just tone down the ginger."

So, without a lick of ginger in the recipe I was sort of puzzled by the comments. Perhaps the combination of ingredients made the coriander morph into ginger? Or maybe one of the judges on the panel mentioned ginger when he meant coriander and the other judges just jumped on the bandwagon? Any ideas?

-Joel

 

[Talgrath]

Well, what does it smell/taste like to you? Do you detect the same thing? Ginger and coriander are slightly similar in that they are both spicy and sweet, add in that you put it in a sour with grapefruit and perhaps you gain unexpected flavors.

 

[Teromous]

I have used a lot of coriander and one thing I have noticed is that the aroma and flavor can change a lot depending on where you source the seeds from. Some have given me more of a vanilla aroma, some have given me more of a lemon aroma, etc. When I find one that has an awesome aroma or flavor I make sure to note it. My favorite seeds were from Brewmaster's Warehouse (when they were still around). I contacted them and they said it was microcarpum. I have not had any that tasted or smelled like ginger but I would be very interested in finding out where you bought it from.

 

[jaydubber]

Good question. The competition was also a festival with ~2000 attendees that floated the whole 5 gallon keg in just over an hour, so I didn't get to spend a lot of time with the finished beer (it was a new recipe). I should've held back a bottle to sample while reading the judges notes. From remembrance though, I identified most with the coriander and grapefruit, but having known those were in the recipe I was certainly biased in my sensory perception.

 

[NatureOfTheYeast]

My guess was the lemony tartness from the lactic and the citrus from the grapefruit gave them the impression of ginger. To me, ginger is like spicy peppery lemons and I can see how that combo of flavors would do that.

Or maybe one of the judges on the panel mentioned ginger when he meant coriander and the other judges just jumped on the bandwagon?

Yeah, that's probably what happened. Sometimes on a panel judges will be searching for a flavor that they can't identify and someone will throw something out there and they'll all just kind of go with it. I'm betting they were tasting something that they saw as out of style and also might have been flaw-hunting and needed a scapegoat.

But hey, if it tastes good, don't change it. That recipe sounds awesome too, not surprised that the keg kicked so quickly.

 

[jaydubber]

Teromous: I got the seeds at a local independent grocery store. They're packaged in a little 2oz clear packet with a generic store label, so I'd guess the store is just repackaging from bulk. Good point on different characteristics of seed varieties, I might stop by and see if they can give me any more info.

Nature: I brewed it again this past weekend, didn't change a thing, including the seeds. It was in a Specialty:Fruit Beer category, so the style guide should've been pretty lenient to ginger... or maybe they wanted it in the Spice Beer category! Hah, I guess I'll see how I like it in a few weeks.