tbskinner

Recipes 

So I have been wanting to make a beer with black loose leaf tea in it. I'm wondering if anyone here has tried something like this? I'm looking for a slight tea flavor, dark and thick as possible.

I have 4lbs of BRS, 1lb extra dark belgian candi, 1lb malto, 1lb lactose.

I'm wondering what types of hops and yeast I should use. I am looking for a Floral smell and a spicy tea flavor. Would perle (germany) hops work? Also if so what works well with that combo?

Thanks for any help.
T

tbskinner

Recipes 

I was thinking...

Cascade - 60 min
Perle (German) - 30mins
Perle (German) - 15mins
Black Tea - 15mins

Any thoughts? I'm thinking the Tea will make it a little more bitter so I should not put as much bittering hops in. Anyone have any ideas. Is this going to be a good hop combo for what I'm looking for?

T

Johnnyhitch1

Recipes 

Prob first time posting in this forum but ill take a stab at it.

"tea leaves" are very void of most styles you will try because its just like malt. You dont boil your tea do you? You steep it and let the flavors extract. This is because most of the volatile oils will be boiled off and your left with highly bittered tannic beer.

If i were you i would add it in the whirlpool/flameout and let it steep for 15-20min before chilling

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luke_d

Recipes 

I agree with Johnny! Throw some tea bags in after the boil, when your wort reaches about 180 or so. Let it stay at that temperature for like 10-15 minutes, tasting it as you go so you don't get too much flavor or bitterness.

For hops, I think Willamette would work well, as an aroma hop, maybe to dry hop with? I don't know, that's just the first hop that came to mind.

roymullins

Recipes 

5-6 minutes for a good cup of tea- 10-15 would cause a bitter drink in a cup- no reason why that would be the same in a wort... I'd pull 'em after 6 minutes

spaced

Recipes 

A couple of options, steep at flameout. Brew up some tea and add to primary once cooled. Or add to secondary.

I read about a green tea pale ale. I think that would be great. Have you tried Russian caravan tea?

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luke_d

Recipes 

Right, 5 or 6 minutes would be way better than 10-15.

I wonder if you'd get a clearer tea taste if you added it post fermentation? Or added some tea bags to secondary then racked onto them? Just some ideas.

tbskinner

Recipes 

So I was thinking something like this:

(60 mins) 4 lbs 8.0 oz - Brown Rice Syrup
(60 mins) 1 lbs - Candi Sugar, Extra Dark Aromatic
(60 mins) 1 lbs - Milk Sugar (Lactose)
(60 mins) 1.00 oz - Cascade [3.20 %]
(30 mins) 1.00 oz - Liberty [3.40 %]
(15 mins) 1.00 oz - Perle [7.80 %]
(10 mins) 2.42 g - Yeast Nutrient
(5 mins) 1.00 lb - Malto-Dextrine

Already brewed black china tea at cool down not sure how much...
SafAle S-04

Any thoughts or suggestions? Anyone know how I can get a general color calculation for the tea? I was trying to see if there was brewed coffee in BeerSmith and just use that but I couldn't find it.