Brewing with Earl Grey Tea or other Black Teas?

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Abdul_Hassan

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Hello,

I recently read a recipe for an Earl Grey IPA. It was on a thread, but about two years back. I wanted to revisit the topic.

Has anyone had any experience brewing with teas? or Earl Grey specifically. I think the bergamot orange flavors would work nicely. I'm not certain. Mainly curious.

Not sure what would be a good match. I have read conflicting statements. Some said that a really hoppy IPA worked nicely. Others have stated the a more balanced Red or Brown ale would work as well.

Looking for advise.

Thanks.

Abdul Hassan
 
I use black tea for tannins in some ciders but I've never personally brewed beer with tea. I know Funkwerks in Ft. Collins does a green tea saison but I always miss it. One of the brewers told me they add 2oz of tea (the leaves, not liquid) for two days before serving. The brewers there are very kind and willing to share info with homebrewers. I did try Breckenridge's Agave Wheat on cask with elderberries and orange tea. It was unique but easily one of the best beers I've ever had.

My guess, based on what Funkwerks shared and how people usually brew with coffee, would be to either add the tea leaves in the secondary for a couple days or cold steep the tea leaves in separate water and then add the brewed tea to your fermentor after primary fermentation until it reaches your desired flavor.
 
I made a green tea peach pilsner for the wife. I just steeped the tea bags in my mash water before I added the grains. I just followed the directions like I was making a huge pot if tea. Then used the tea as my mash water. Came out pretty good to. At least everyone that tried said they liked it. Of course that could be the obligatory oh that's nice. Or they really did like it.
 
Did you add the amount of tea bags like you were making three gallons of tea (or whatever your mash volume was)? That seems like a very potent amount of tea for a beer.
 
So this past Sunday i brewed a batch of beer with some earl grey tea in it. Not sure what to call it. Not sure how it will come out. i will keep y'all posted. I used a Brown ale Recipe added about a half pound of lactose. and Brewed enough Earl Grey Tea for one gallon. and pitched it with a Wyeast British Ale ll.
 
I brewed a green tea honey cream ale and I cold brewed the tea in a French press. I used about 50 grams of loose leaf tea and keep it in the fridge for a day. I added the cold brewed tea to the secondary and some at bottling time. It had a great tea flavor with out the bitter tannins and the flavor lasted with aging. Earl grey sounds like A great tea to try this with earl porter anyone?
 
I made an earl grey tea beer. It was during the summer session at school, so I used lme because I didn't have time for a proper mash. I thought that Earl Grey tea could take the place of hops for bittering. I ended up first wort hopping with a bit of simcoe leaf because I thought the flavors would work well together. I made it a session beer, OG about 40 points FG about 6 points. Almost everyone I shared it with brings it up when we talk about beer. Definitely something I will do again.

I made tea with 1.5 gallons, added to 1.5 gallons of wort to make a 3-gallon batch. I used organic fair-trade earl grey that I scored at the PA Rennaisance Faire. Since the tea didn't need to be boiled, I steeped it and chilled it. When the wort was done boiling, I added the two to speed up the cooling process. The tea half was actually weak. I was nervous about how strong to make the tea. I did about 2/3 the recommended tea bags for 1.5 gallons. It was a very good choice. The final product was nicely balanced. It was Earl Grey, but BEER! Fermented with a yeast blend of wlp500 and Ommegang brett that I use a lot. Watch out for sulphur when fermenting bitter teas...
 
Hey lofty do you have the recipe to the Earl Grey session beer? I would be interested in giving it a shot.

I did a sessionable wheat beer with wyeast 3725 that I infused with about 4oz of a jasmine/hibiscus blend. I made a concentrated steep of the tea and put that in at bottling. It was good but I wish the tea flavor was a little more pronounced.
 
Lofty, did you use the aforementioned Great Northern recipe or something of your own? My friend is a tea AND a beer snob, and I am pondering an earl grey beer...
 
Alright so I found out what I did. No, I didn't follow a recipe, but I did surf the forum about this topic.

I got a 3.3 lb can of light LME and one of those kickers that's what, 1.5 cups worth? It was pale LME. .25oz simcoe leaf was added at 60 minutes. 60 minute boil. ~2.5 gallons pre-boil, 2 gallons post boil wort collected.

Separately I made 1 gallon of 2/3 strength (based on the recommended full strength ratio on the box) earl grey tea. After it was brought to a boil and steeped, I cooled it down on the porch outside. After the wort was boiled, I added the two parts together. bippittyboppittyboo. Fermented at about 68F. It reached terminal gravity in about a week.

Comments: I recall a sulphur taste and smell that worried me at first. It went away, but I have read that bitter teas can do that, so be aware. This may have used only 1 gallon 2/3 strength tea, but believe me, the flavor dominated and it was a nice balance. If I did it again I would cut down the tea bags even more. Eh, maybe I wouldn't. I don't know. Enjoy!

*Edit: I forgot to mention this was a 3 gallon batch
 
Lofty, thanks a bunch! Doing 2.5-3gal batches myself, so that recipe sizing is perfect.

Did you do anything fancy yeast wise?
 
I used a blend of Ommegang Brett from Aphrodite dregs and WLP500 Trappist Ale. To tell the truth, I first tried WLP Dry English Ale (English tea, English yeast right?) but I think I was too impatient and innoculated at too high of a temperature...No activity for a few days. I wanted it to be a dry beer. I think that the bergamot flavor is strong enough to put the yeast in the back seat for the most part. I mean, I used a belgian strain AND brett and it didn't come through. Maybe if it had aged, but it didn't last long enough!
 
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