Cucumber Blonde

[Blackmuse]

Okay,
So adapted this from a recipe that some folks were raving about on Homebrewtalk a while back. The first batch I made last year had orange peel in it. I pulled it out of this one as I didn't want too many competing flavors. At first I didn't think it would be a big hit as most of my family thought it was soapy tasting. (coriander seed I'm now assuming) - Anyway, months later at a gathering I pulled what was left out (I had been mostly drinking it through the summer) and shared with those present. Huge hit! Brother still thought soapy.

Anyway, I recently brewed it again but with some tweaks. Here's the recipe:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/r ... ber-blonde

Let me know what you all think. I think it tastes great but I might tone down the coriander a bit next time. Maybe .75 oz instead of 1.
Here's a pic of what it looks like after 2 weeks in the bottle.

 

[LarryBrewer]

Never even thought of cucumber in beer. I bet it is refreshing.

Coriander should not give a soapy taste, more of an orange peppery spice. I recently used 0.5oz in a 5 gallon batch, and it was still very noticeable. Maybe go with less or eliminate.

Soapy taste could be a sign of infection or yeast stress. I've also had a soapy taste from a young (green) Kolsch (using Kolsch yeast) that had not aged enough, it cleared up after about 3 months.

 

[Blackmuse]

Not everyone felt that it tasted soapy. Most people loved it but a part of my family thought it tasted soapy - they did taste it when it was very young and at first I thought maybe that was it. I didn't taste the soap. I did recently read, when creating a cilantro lime beer, that some people have a certain gene that causes cilantro to taste like soap... Coriander is the seed of a cilantro plant so I thought maybe that was it.

http://www.nature.com/news/soapy-taste- ... ts-1.11398

This site uses coriander in the British sense - meaning Cilantro.

I couldn't imagine it being my bottles as I was wicked paranoid about that stuff then (it was my 3rd or 4th brew) and I over sanitized everything - if that's possible. Plus, it was only my brother, mother and sister who felt it tasted of soap. Maybe it was just a "young" thing as everyone else had it much later.

I would agree that the coriander is pretty prevalent in this beer - though the cucumber is too. I think I'll take your advice and drop it to .5 oz next time and even less after that if the balance still isn't where I'd like it.

I have a lot of people looking forward to this beer this summer - the cucumbers make it a very crisp summer drink.

 

[LarryBrewer]

Thank you for catching that very subtle discrepancy. I just updated my own recipes to read 'coriander seeds' instead of plain 'coriander' to avoid confusion in the future. I have never brewed with cilantro, always coriander seeds.