Hello everyone!
I noticed packed away an old experiment of mine from long ago. It is a cucumber mead made with bread yeast and a little mint. I had the worst experience with it and when I taste tested it while still cloudy I gaged something serious. The original thread detailing it can be seen here:
cool cucumber mead
So I have had this sitting away and I even pickled some extra cucumber in the mead. I figured I would take a shot and give some notes on the progression after just shy of 2.5 years. Here it goes...
I am trying to remember what it was like years ago and best I can remember was super alcohol hot and all the worst parts of cucumber in just a terrible drink.
Now I am pretty surprised. No gagging! A lot more mead character is shining through. The cucumber is there but it is not refreshing like fresh cucumber water but just earthy and plantlike in character. The alcohol hot has smoothed out a lot. The mouthfeel is actually quite pleasant. From a texture point of view I give it a 10. I think a good dose of acid blend or a healthy amount of lime added would make this really enjoyable but I think cucumber by itself is just not meant to be fermented. It really needs a lot of help to get good I think. So I can drink this in a small glass now or as a mixer so it goes to show that time really can fix just about any mead.
I noticed packed away an old experiment of mine from long ago. It is a cucumber mead made with bread yeast and a little mint. I had the worst experience with it and when I taste tested it while still cloudy I gaged something serious. The original thread detailing it can be seen here:
cool cucumber mead
So I have had this sitting away and I even pickled some extra cucumber in the mead. I figured I would take a shot and give some notes on the progression after just shy of 2.5 years. Here it goes...
I am trying to remember what it was like years ago and best I can remember was super alcohol hot and all the worst parts of cucumber in just a terrible drink.
Now I am pretty surprised. No gagging! A lot more mead character is shining through. The cucumber is there but it is not refreshing like fresh cucumber water but just earthy and plantlike in character. The alcohol hot has smoothed out a lot. The mouthfeel is actually quite pleasant. From a texture point of view I give it a 10. I think a good dose of acid blend or a healthy amount of lime added would make this really enjoyable but I think cucumber by itself is just not meant to be fermented. It really needs a lot of help to get good I think. So I can drink this in a small glass now or as a mixer so it goes to show that time really can fix just about any mead.
