Earl grey stout?

I'm thinking of brewing what amounts to an Earl Grey Stout. I think I can use roasted barley to approximate the tannins in the black tea, and perhaps Maris Otter as a base. Super light hop bill, maybe like 1oz fuggles first wort, .5oz ekg at 15 minutes and .5oz flameout

I'm trying to find fresh or dried bergamot zest to add to the secondary, but so far I can only find essential oil, which I can only assume will kill the head something fierce. Any idea where I can find bergamot?

What specialty malts can I use to try and get more creamy, fragrant tea flavors? I'm really aiming for the beer equivalent of a nice, milky, slightly sweet cup of earl grey.

This actually sounds really good. I'm thinking that your best bet is to be able to taste test the flavoring. I know this isn't really what your looking for, but maybe try a sweet stout with a moderate amount of lactose (maybe 8-12 oz., maybe a little more if you like a decent amount of sugar in your tea). Then, at bottling or racking to a secondary, blend with a really strong pot of tea, maybe 10-15 bags into like 1/2 gallon. Taste it as you blend, and you may want more than that to get the real tea flavor. Maybe add a pound of flaked oats to your mash for a little creamy mouthfeel.

IMO, I think Twinings has nice flavor, as well as some of the less-marketed English brands, but Bigelow has a little bigger Bergamot.

hmmm....interesting idea. i'd like to know how that turns out...

i'd do without the sweetness, myself. i don't sweeten my tea, tho.

i think i'll have a cup of earl gray right now

EDIT: I like your hop selection.

What if you just steeped some tea in there to get the bergamot flavor? maybe make a pot of tea and add it at flameout?

If you use bagged tea, do NOT use Stash tea. Their Earl Grey is turrible.

Do you plan to add lactose?

You can order dried Bergamot online from Tenzing Momo. My new favorite store for hard to find herbs, essential oils, tinctures, etc. Prices listed are by the oz.

Wrathbone said:

If you use bagged tea, do NOT use Stash tea. Their Earl Grey is turrible.

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ugh, all STASH tea is horrible.

Brewtopia said:

You can order dried Bergamot online from Tenzing Momo. My new favorite store for hard to find herbs, essential oils, tinctures, etc. Prices listed are by the oz.

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Hot damn that is excellent. Exactly what I was looking for!

I'd rather not actually add tea to the boil, I'd much rather try and do the "tea" flavor with roasted barley and specialty grain. Also, lactose is out since I'm intolerant. I'd rather have something nice and dry, with enough malt to stand up to the bitter / fragrant bergamot. So far I have:

7lb MO
1.5lb flaked oats
1lb crystal 10
.5lb chocolate malt
.5lb roasted barley
1oz black patent

1oz fuggles first wort
1oz ekg continuous addition from 15 minutes to flameout

which gives me 1.050 sg for 5.5 gallons at 75% efficiency (I usually hit 77-80 so probably more like 1.052) and something like 24.5 ibu's

With dried bergamot, I will have to get a couple ounces and experiment. My first thought is to flash steam it to sterilize and rehydrate it a bit, then throw it in the secondary. Luckily I already have a stout almost ready that I can experiment with (especially since i'm not too thrilled with how it came out!)

I'm a little stumped on yeast. I want high attenuation and dry, floral, tea-like notes. I have some washed wyeast 1028 london ale I could use, anyone have suggestions?

Update: I did it.

I ended up brewing a strong porter and aging over earl grey tea leaves in secondary for a month. It picked up a little bit of an infection, probably due to badly sanitized tea leaves, but thankfully not enough to mess with the flavor too badly.

All things told, it's a roasty, heady porter with a nice malt backbone. The aroma of the earl grey tea is immediately apparent, and lifts the flavor profile to something... transcendent. I couldn't possibly have hoped for a better outcome. I urge everyone to try it. I'll post a recipe in a few minutes.

This sounds delicious. Cant wait to see the recipe.

Drinking some Fresh and Easy decaf Chocolate flavored black tea.....good stuff.

MMM. I may have to try something like this soon. thanks for the recipe.

That sounds like a wonderful beer!!!!

By the way have you figured out how to possibly sanitize the tea leaves???

glad it turned out good! i may have to give this a try.

any info yau can give me on this Stout?

how did you introduce the earl greay?

did you brew tea first ? Add to primary or secondary?
leaves in Primary at flameout?
would you have changed anything ?


Thanks
Rick Nelson
Miami