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

Best Brew Day Ever!

What is the one dream that every homebrewer has...or maybe it's just me:  Working or owning their own brewery.  Well...I have not made it that far yet, but I did have the opportunity to brew on a larger...err make that much larger scale this past week.  Let me explain.

Here in St. Louis, we have a huge beer festival every year called the Heritage Fest which celebrates the rich brewing history that is and was St. Louis.  This festival features countless local and surrounding area breweries.

In December, a local brewing club holds an annual contest rightfully titled the Happy Holiday Homebrew Contest.  I just so happen to enter a few of my creations and just so happen to place first in the IPA category and second in best of show with the same beer.  As a result, my recipe is featured at the Heritage Fest...but not only will one brewery brew it...but instead many will brew it.

Every year the festival event organizers try to have a theme ale.  This year they wanted multiple breweries to brew the same beer but each feature a different hop.  To make a longer story short, they chose my AIPA recipe as this recipe.

I was able to assist the brewday of Schlafly's version which will feature galaxy hops.  I was surprisingly responsible for much of its production, of course being instructed on what switches and what water valves to turn and when....and there were alot.

It was a blast!

I never have this much fun cleaning my mash tun!

Arrogance IS Brett Tasting and Blog Update

It has been over six weeks since bottling Arrogance IS Brett.  I have been "sampling" a bottle a week for the past few weeks and have finally noticed the brett character showing itself more.  It has started taking on the characteristics of the Rayon Vert more as it ages and I assume will continue to do so for quite some time.  It has a very nice pineapple aroma to it along the same line as with GI Matilda.  I do however regret dryhopping.  I think the dryhops cover up much of the brett character and will omit this step during my second attempt at the recipe.
I am still in the process of updating and moving into my families new house so brewing has come to a stand still but will resume in full force shortly.
 It most recent news, I had my American Brown take first place in the Garage Brewers Society Champion of the Pint last month and my first place in category/second place best of show IPA will be featured as the festival ale at St. Louis' Heritage Festival.  A handfull of the local breweries around town will brew the grain bill and then single hop it to educate the crowd on the different characteristics of the various hop varietals.

Stay Tuned!

Bottling Day

Four weeks after brewing the "arrogance is brett" ale, I have decided to go ahead and bottle.  I first took a gravity reading after only 2 weeks and then again another 2 weeks later.  Both times it was 1.012, with a starting gravity of 1.067.  This gives an apparent attenuation of ~81%.  After reviewing some interviews and articles by Vinnie of Russian River Brewing and Chad Yakobson of Crooked Stave, I have decided I should be safe.  I am looking forward to trying this fresh and aged to see how the brett changes the ale over time when used as the sole primary yeast.  I am concerned thought that they might become overcarbonated.  When weighting the priming sugar, I used a slightly less amount (.25 oz. less) then I normally would use for standard ales given the fear that the brett would continue to drop in gravity and cause explosions.  However, I forgot that this batch was slightly smaller than my usual batches, so now my fear of bottle bombs is back.  To help with any possible explosions, I lined my boxes with trash bags.  My fingers are crossed.

The yeast was saved and is currently under refrigeration until I have time to wash it for later use.  I already have the next "arrogance is brett" planned and hopefully will brew it shortly.  Hopefully within a couple weeks I will have the first tasting of this ale to share.  

This project started out as an attempt at cloning Stone Brewing's Arrogant Bastard and using brett, but it has evolved into something entirely different and has really helped open my eyes to 100% brett fermentations.  I believe most "beer geeks" or "nerds" out there usually associate brett'd beers with being funky/barnyardy/horse blankety/so on & so on, but this only occurs with specific strains of brett and under certain conditions.  I can say this because I use to be one of those "geeks", but now having done an all brett beer, I know otherwise.  What I am looking for in this beer is for the fruity characteristics of the Brett B to shine through as the beer is young and fresh and then as it ages, "funk" to start developing.  Again, my fingers are crossed.

Blood Sausage & Stout

Food pairing is not just for wine anymore!  The wide array of beer styles commercially available now allows for some interesting food pairings.  One of my favorite websites for food and beer pairings is New Brew Thursday.  Since I enjoy it, I figured it could become a regular feature on the blog.  So...the inaugural food and beer pairing today will be Blood Sausage and my Imperial Stout.

First, a little about the stout:

This is one that was recently entered into a local competition (the same one where my IPA won second place in best of show).  This recipe was still fairly young when entered.  It was brewed in June and then bulk aged until late October at which point it was bottled.  It was entered into competition in late December and received a 36.  Not the best I would have hoped for, but still high scoring and a beer of this stature requires long aging periods to fully develop.  It now has more age in the bottle and is coming together quit nicely.  Being that it was my first "big" beer, I did not know how the efficiency would react with such a large grain bill, now I know to expect poor efficiency.

Delicious!

Brew Type: All Grain	Date: 6/23/2011
Style: Imperial Stout
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Volume: 6.50 gal	Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %	Equipment: Brew Pot (7.5 gal) and Igloo Cooler (10 Gal)
Actual Efficiency: 66.78 %

Ingredients

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
15.00 lb	Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)	Grain	88.24 %
0.50 lb	Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)	Grain	2.94 %
0.50 lb	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)	Grain	2.94 %
0.50 lb	Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)	Grain	2.94 %
0.50 lb	Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)	Grain	2.94 %
1.75 oz	Summit [17.00 %] (60 min)	Hops	73.9 IBU
2.00 oz	Cascade [5.50 %] (0 min)	Hops	-
1.00 items	Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 min)	Misc

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.082 SG (1.075-1.115 SG) Measured Original Gravity: 1.073 SG Estimated Final Gravity: 1.021 SG (1.018-1.030 SG) Measured Final Gravity: 1.014 SG Estimated Color: 38.8 SRM (30.0-40.0 SRM) Color [Color] Bitterness: 73.9 IBU (50.0-90.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 29.8 AAU Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 8.00 % (8.00-12.00 %) Actual Alcohol by Volume: 7.71 % The blood sausage I am pairing with the stout is of Eastern European origins.  It is referred to as kaszanka.  Unfortunately, I do not have any pig or beef blood readily available, so this sausage was purchased already made from Global Foods in Kirkwood, your one-stop-shop for that hard to find food. The dark malt flavor matches perfectly with the rich, creamy, fatty flavor/texture of the blood sausage.  The stout was mashed at a low temperature (151 degrees) so it's not an overly thick/sweet stout.  This works out well with such a fatty/rich food.  I would definitely suggest this pairing!  Any commercial American Stout or Russian Imperial Stout would be a good substitute for my recipe.  I would however avoid any sweeter style stout, like the obvious milk stout versions. ENJOY!

My Best Brown

UPDATE:  Even after many months in the bottle, this recipe just won 1st. place in Garage Brewers Society's Champion of the Pint.  Very Exciting!

It's always a pleasant surprise when you uncover a hidden six pack of a brew you thought was long gone.  Lately, I have been setting back a six pack or two of my brews so they don't disappear too quickly.  Tonight, I uncovered my version of the American brown that I bottled back on December 1st.  The hops on the nose have dropped out slightly, but not on the tongue.  It has also developed, what I perceive to be, a slight sweetness to it.  This was a nice surprise as I had just recently thought of adding 1# of dark brown sugar to it.

Aroma- slight chocolate and biscuit-ness balanced with sweet maltiness tangled up with slight citrus/pine from the dry hops that have dwindled off.
Appearance/Mouthfeel- light dark brown/almost porter-ish with a medium mouthfeel.  Mashed fairly low so this was to be expected and perfect match for this recipe.
Flavor-medium maltiness and bitterness.  No diacetyl or fruit esters, clean with malt,chocolate,hops shining through and slight sweetness.
Overall-excellent stronger American brown ale.  Does have slight alcohol prescense in taste, but none in the nose.  When fresh, it had a very large and pleasurable citrus/pine/resiny nose and flavor.  It is still very enjoyable to drink over 2 months later and absolutely stands up to time.  I will re-brew and the only change so far planned is to add some dark brown sugar at the end of the boil.

I did hit 83% efficiency with this recipe.  That would account for the higher gravity and ultimately, increased alcohol.
Starting gravity was 1.063 and final gravity was 1.010.  I stuck with my usual 4 week primary fermenting schedule on this one.

The moment you've been waiting for...

Brew Type: All Grain
Style: American Brown Ale
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Volume: 6.50 gal	Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %	Equipment: Brew Pot (7.5 gal) and Igloo Cooler (10 Gal)
Actual Efficiency: 83.58 %

Taste Rating (50 possible points): 0.0

Ingredients

Amount	Item	Type	% or IBU
10.00 lb	Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)	Grain	86.21 %
0.60 lb	Chocolate Malt (347.0 SRM)	Grain	5.17 %
0.50 lb	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)	Grain	4.31 %
0.25 lb	Biscuit Malt (22.0 SRM)	Grain	2.16 %
0.25 lb	Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)	Grain	2.16 %
1.00 oz	Citra [12.00 %] (Dry Hop 7 days)	Hops	-
0.50 oz	Magnum [13.10 %] (60 min)	Hops	20.1 IBU
0.50 oz	Simcoe [14.10 %] (Dry Hop 7 days)	Hops	-
0.50 oz	Amarillo Gold [10.30 %] (15 min)	Hops	7.8 IBU
0.25 oz	Simcoe [14.10 %] (15 min)	Hops	5.4 IBU
0.25 oz	Simcoe [14.10 %] (5 min)	Hops	2.2 IBU
0.50 oz	Amarillo Gold [10.30 %] (5 min)	Hops	3.2 IBU
1.00 oz	Simcoe [14.10 %] (0 min)	Hops	-
1.00 oz	Amarillo Gold [10.30 %] (0 min)	Hops	-
0.50 items	Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 min)	Misc
1 Pkgs	Safale American (DCL Yeast #US-05)	Yeast-Ale

Mashed at 152

Beer Profile

Estimated Original Gravity: 1.057 SG (1.045-1.060 SG)	Measured Original Gravity: 1.063 SG
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.015 SG (1.010-1.016 SG)	Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Color: 21.5 SRM (18.0-35.0 SRM)	Color [Color]
Bitterness: 38.6 IBU (20.0-40.0 IBU)	Alpha Acid Units: 15.2 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 5.39 % (4.30-6.20 %)	Actual Alcohol by Volume: 6.92 %
Actual Calories: 280 cal/pint