Radishes...I know it may sound strange but....

[MatthewS]

... I am thinking ... no I am definitely going to try and make a radish beer(red and/or daikon). My idea as an experiment is to make a tea first and add it to finished beer to see what happens. I was thinking about my Rye Pilsner or Rye Hop.... both fairly pale and easy drinking beers. The other idea to add it to either the mash or kettle. I wonder if the bitterness/spiciness from the radishes will come through....

So.. folks. any suggestions? and please don't say..."Please DONT DO IT!" because I already got that from my owner. But he knows that when i have an idea, I stick to it... The reason this beer will be made is for the beeradvocate.com Extreme Beer Fest in Feb.

Thanks
Matthew
Offshore Ale
MV

[tsewong73]

A buddy of mine did a homebrewed beer with radishes and it turned out pretty good. Deep red color and there wasn't an overpowering radish flavor to it. Rather pleasant. If I recall correctly, he pureed the radishes with some sugar and added them to the fermenter. At any rate, give it a whirl - shake the tree and see what falls out.

Tsewong

[Michael Murphy]

when I was brewing in Rome i had a drawing of a hop on one of my lables and everyone asked me if it was an artichoke, so it gave me the idea, I made a beer with artichokes in the mash, just for S#*#s and giggles, it wasnt mind blowing but it was ok and I got to say artichokes are in there!
I say go for it

[Sir Brewsalot]

Do radishes have fermentable sugars in them, or will they just make the beer red (on the outside and white on the inside).

[Beer Guy]

radish

I believe you may need to watch quantities as I recall that raddish is high in a naturally occouring plant toxin Glulcosinolates .

Glulcosinolates are found in Rape (canola), mustard, radish, cabbage, peanut, soybean, onion.
Side affects are
Goiter; impaired metabolism; reduced iodine uptake; decreased protein digestion.

I am not well versed in this area and I think you would need to a hell of alot to cause issue, and I am not sure if the Glulcosinolates are broken down by heat or alcohol. However if anyone out there has a background in toxology please respond.

Cheers Richard.

[jason.koehler]

Don't use daikon!

Fermented daikon has an odor that is unfortunately similar to a very faint smell of rotting meat, not exactly something I'd like to smell in my pint before I take my first drink...if you're going to use daikon, I'd suggest your tea idea, and not adding it as a part of the fermenting process. Also, grated daikon after a few days starts to take on this same smell, even kept in the fridge in sealed containers, it can be unpleasant and overpowering...you open the fridge and ask yourself "what died in there!?!"

I know this because I am around daikon on an almost daily basis. In fact, just last night I ate some daikon fermented with sake yeast Great taste, but horrible smell! (think Vietnamese fish sauce...smells like old sweat, tastes great in curries and soups)

I considered radishes for a spicy beer once before, but I suspect that hops would overpower the radish, though I imagine they would add some nice color. The spicy notes might help with overall mouthfeel though...

Of course with everyhing, this is my personal opinion, and I could be wrong!

[GarySped]

Radish seed beer

Recipes from the past show that radish seeds were used in beer (I think I even made one once - I'd have to dig out my old notes) and I think I mentioned it in my Zymurgy article many years ago but I am unaware (until I read the postings above) of the use of whole radishes.

Gary.

[tsewong73]

Boy, was I wrong. I contacted that friend of mine who did the radish beer. He said, "beets, you fool, beets!" So, he used beets - not radishes. Sorry. Hell, why not try beets?

[liammckenna]

I second the glucosinolate comment.

These compounds are complexed with sugars so will probably be freed during fermentation.

Have no idea if they are toxic to yeast or not. With radishes as the source, I also think you would have to use a heck of a lot to pose any human risk.

I would suggest juicing some radishes and playing with juice and finished beer on the benchtop to find some sort of acceptable balance point before proceeding to production batching.

When hydorlyzed, glucosinolates release isothiocyanates which are largely responsible for the aroma from mustards and horseradish.

Funky sulfur potential.

Pax.

Liam

[RobZamites]

Beets? YUCK!

[MatthewS]

Thanks for the input...

I think...

therefore I will...

I am going to try the tea idea with both juiced radishes and some seed as well

Come to Boston for EBF to try this beer if you are so inclined..
regardless I will post on how it turns out.

Matthew
Offshore Ale

[jason.koehler]

Beets? YUCK!

Beets can't be all that bad...after all, it's beet sugar that goes into so many Belgian ales...

[tsewong73]

Right on, Jason. I was thinking the same thing Rob was - yuck. But when I tried it, it didn't have any beety taste. In fact, no vegetable flavor at all. Tasted just like beer. Of course, my pee was beet red for a few days, but that might've been something else.

[beertje46]

Tasted just like beer. Of course, my pee was beet red for a few days, but that might've been something else.

DOH! Better get that checked out...

[GarySped]

Radish seeds - my error it was carrot seeds.

I just dug out my article from Zymurgy (Special issue 1993). It was carrot seeds not radish but the following might work for the radishes though maybe not the "apricot" flavor. The use of carrot seeds made an ale that "tastes like an apricot-ale" (go figure). To every gallon of ale (This would be UK gallons) add one and a half ounces of wild carrot seed (bruised a little) and hang in a linen bag for about three weeks. This is the gist of it. [I would use regular carrot seeds though but flavor might be different]. Sorry about the confusion over carrot and radish seeds. I forgot what I wrote 13 years ago.

Try the recipe with radish seeds and see what happens. A little experiment for you. I'd be happy to try carrot or radish seed beer.

Gary