Cucumber Saison...Good Idea?

Not too long ago, I had the idea of incorporating cucumbers into a recipe.  Having never tried any other commercial examples (which few exist), I had little to go off of in the terms of what to expect or even how to go about adding the cucumber flavor and aroma.  I've done many recipes with fruit additions in the past, but never anything like this.

I decided on a rye saison as the base for the cucumbers:

6.00 lb  Pale Malt
2.00 lb  Rye Malt
1.00 lb  Munich Malt Belma .5oz. at 60 min Belma .5 oz. at 15 min Belma 1 oz. at flame out I did an overnight mash for this recipe, something I am growing to like.  I mashed in at 154 degrees and let mash for 6 hours overnight.  The temperature does drop, but never below the "food safety zone", so I'm not too concerned with any unwanted "bugs" getting in.  I used 3711 for the yeast and fermented in low 70's.  My starting gravity was 1.047 with a volume of 5.75 gallons.  My finishing gravity was 1.000.  It was around the 3 week mark that I added the cucumbers.  I peeled, seeded, and chopped the cucumbers.  I used 2.6 pounds after all the skin and seeds were removed.  I added these to a secondary and racked the saison.  I did reserve a six pack of the base beer before the addition of cucumbers and added some brettanomyces B to them for fun.  I use a sterile, one time use, dropper to add the brett.  I usually just put 8 or so drops into the bottles of a yeast slurry. I left the cucumbers for only three days, (mistake?)

The cucumbers getting drunk.

After taking a sample, I realized that what I was smelling reminded me of old cucumbers.  The smell was INTENSE and a little off putting.  The flavor was not, however.  It did taste like a very strong cucumber water.  I feel that maybe the 3 days were too long or the amount was too much or the temperature at which I let the cucumbers dry-cuq was to high.  I never took in to consideration that when my wife makes cucumber water, it is always refrigerated during the "infusion" step.  Something so simple that I overlooked could have introduced a much "fresher" of a aroma.

I'm always against dumping homebrew, so I bottle conditioned the 5 gallon batch.  I used two different brettanomyces strains for some of the bottles and also did a combination of the two as well.  I added brettanomyces B and L to a six pack each as well as a blend of both to a six pack.  The remaining amount was bottled without any brettanomyces.

Adding the brettanomyces

I have yet to open any of the four different brettanyomyces bottle conditioned bottles (W/O cucumber Brett B, W/cucumber Brett B, L, and Blend).  I have been enjoying the normal version.  It is still strong, almost old (I hate to say, but probably best) rotten cucumber aroma but still with a fresher flavor to it.  I learned alot from this recipe about using cucumbers, although I'll probably skip ever trying to put them in a beer again.

And...I'm Back

I have taken a long hiatus from blog work/posting, but will try to keep up on it regularly from now on.  No hiatus from brewing though, I've been fairly busy in that area and have a lot to catch up on.

I decided near the end of 2012 that my "brewyears resolution" would be to brew more farmhouse style ales. My two favorite styles to drink are very forward American hopped ales and farmhouse "rustic" style ales.  I've spent the majority of my 5+ years of homebrewing focusing on the former, yet never attempting the latter.  However, I will not stop brewing hoppy ales, just maybe not as much (I've already brewed one so far this year).

My First Attempt at a Saison

For my first attempt at a saison I used 9# 2-row and 2# rye.  I mashed true to style around 149 for 60 minutes.  I had some left over sorachi ace hops and never having, but always hearing good reviews, I decided to go along the route of Brooklyn Brewing and use all sorachi ace.  I also dry hopped it with 1 oz. US Saaz to get a bit of spicy/earthiness.  For spices, I used .5 oz crushed coriander, .5oz lavender, and 1.5 oz. rose hips.  The spices seem to blend/mix well, but the lavender seems to be a little overpowering.  The spices, in general, could be cut slightly back since they do take a prominent stance in the aroma and flavor.  The sorachi ace also lends a prominent lemon note to the nose and flavor.  These critiques are coming from only 5 days of being in the keg.  I used 3711 for my first saison.  I read numerous reviews of the varying saison yeasts and decided 3711 would work best for my low fermentation temperature.  I fermented it at my standard temperature for my ales at around 62-68 degrees.

After 2 weeks it was at 1.004 with a starting OG of 1.055.  It remained there for another week before it was kegged.

Coriander, Lavender, and Rose Hips 

Along with the "normal" version of the spiced saison, I also bottled a 6 pack worth and then added 9 drops from a sterile pipette of WLP670 that I took straight from a starter for another saison in the works.  I would have used a straight brett culture, but did not have any readily available.  The WLP670 is a mix of a saison strain and brett strain.  Figured it was worth a shot and so far no explosions.  I will probably wait at least a month before I crack one open.

Bottling Conditioning With WLP670

I will post a formal review of this spiced saison, including the one above.  I have many other things to write about:

• 100% Brett L Oatmeal Stout
• Galaxy/Citra Pale Ale
• Table Saison 
• 100% Belma saison with WLP670
• Some Various 1 year+ sours, some of which are to be bottled shortly