Pickle Beer

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.046 FG = 1.010
IBU = 5 SRM = 4 ABV = 4.7%

Ingredients
4.75 lbs. (2.2 kg) 2-row pale malt
4.75 lbs. (2.2 kg) white wheat malt
2 large cucumbers (chopped)
¼ cup (120 mL) pickle brine
3.75 AAU Sterling hops (10 min.)(0.5 oz./14 g at 7.5% alpha acids)
4 Swanson probiotic capsules
SafAle US-05 yeast (or similar clean fermenting yeast strain)
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step
Mash at 148 °F (64 °C) for 60 minutes, then raise mash temperature up to 170 °F (77 °C) and hold for 15 minutes. Sparge with enough water to collect 5 gallons (19 L) in a Corny keg. Once cool enough, pitch the Lactobacillus and purge the keg with carbon dioxide. Hold temperature in the 90s °F (mid 30s °C) for 3 days. Boil wort 15 minutes, adding the hops with 10 minutes remaining. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) with ale yeast. After fermentation is complete add chopped cucumbers. After 5 days, add the pickle brine. Transfer to keg and carbonate to 2.5 v/v or bottle and prime.

Extract only option:
Replace the grains with 5 lbs. (2.3 kg) wheat dried malt extract. Begin by heating 5 gallons of water to 170 °F (77 °C) then stir in the extract. Hold at this temperature for 15 minutes. You are then ready to chill, transfer to the Corny keg, and pitch the Lactobacillus. Follow all-grain recipe for remaining instructions.

If you are on the hunt for a beer that is nice and refreshing on a hot day, I’ve got a recipe for you! We had tons of cucumbers growing in the garden and we were making a lot of pickles. I stumbled on a recipe for salt pickles: https://spicetrekkers.com/recipes/salt-pickles. Since there was no vinegar involved I decided to use that to salt a Gose.

The Gose was just 50% Pilsner malt and 50% white wheat. I then kettle-soured the wort with some Swanson’s probiotic capsules in a keg in a hot shed (August heat) for 3 days. I fermented with SafAle US-05 and when that finished I cut up two cucumbers from the garden and added them to the 5 gallons (19 L) in the fermenter. Finally I added about ¼ cup (120 mL) of the pickle brine. This summer I will be doing it again but will add more brine and also some fresh dill to really make it much more pickle-like.