Wicked Tea (beta) (Twisted Tea clone)

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Adolphus79

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OK...

For those that were part of the dicussion a couple months ago about a Twisted Tea clone, I've got one for you...

I've started a test batch, I'll let you know how it goes...

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MX001 - Wicked Tea (beta 0.1) (Twisted Tea clone)

1 gallon brewed iced tea (Sun Tea)
1 pound of corn sugar
1 lemon
1/2 packet Montrechet

I wanted to make sun tea for the base, but here in Northern Maine, we've kinda lost our sun for the last few weeks, so I just boiled a gallon of water and brewed a gallon of tea using the plain Lipton iced tea (yellow box, iirc).

I was originally gonna only use 1/2 pound of dextrose, but my hydrometer reading showed a potential of only like 5%, so I bumped the sugar up another 1/2 pound, and had a OG of 1.048, a healthy 6.5%'ish... :drunk:

Let the boiled water/tea/sugar cool to 80, and throw the half packet of Montrechet in.

I'm thinking I'll rack it in a month, and squeeze a half or maybe a whole lemon into the secondary, figure a couple weeks or a month in the secondary and it'll be good.

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NOTES: After starting this first test batch, I've realized that it really isn't a Twisted Tea clone, since TT is pretty much flavored beer. Henceforth, the label reads "Wicked Tea, Iced Tea Wine". I'm thinking about doing 6 packs of 375ml wine bottles instead of 12 oz. beer bottles, an extra 0.7 oz., and an extra point above TT. :drunk:

This is also only the first batch, gimme a couple batches to get it perfected, and feel free to start a beta 0.2 yourself and tell me what you changed and why. I figure I'll give it the same rule as my 'experimental cooking', gimme 3 tries, and the 4th batch will be perfect... ;)
 
Awesome thats pretty close to what i was thinking. I just wasn't sure about the yeast. So thanks 4 the ideas
 
I started MX001 on 08-23-07. About 12 hours later, I started seeing some very light krausen. As of 08-27-07, there is a very thick (1/2 inch?) krausen, bubbles every 3 or 4 seconds, and the only aroma I have so far is a very faint 'southern sweet tea' smell. She's working away, and not giving out any real fermentation smell. I figure next update will be after a week, I'll do a SG reading then too.

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NOTES: If anyone knows of a yeast that could shorten this process from a month to a week or two, let me know. I was looking at some lager yeasts, but do not know beer brewing at all, would something like that do the trick, or maybe some of that turbo yeast for distillin'... :drunk:

:mug:
 
Very interesting! I'd love to hear how this turns out!

For a yeast, I would suggest going with any ale yeast. Nottingham would probably work out good - just keep it around 70F or so. Ale yeasts are less attenuative than the Montrachet or other wine and champagne yeasts and will leave the tea a little sweeter - which can be a good thing, IMO. Nottingham will get you somewhere around 6% ABV with a pound of corn sugar.

Ale yeasts ferment quickly, especially at warmer temps (though don't go over 70F), but there is still a lot of sugar in there for them to work through. They do produce a lot of krausen, so that is something to be mindful of.

A few concerns for me though - I think it would be a good idea to get a strong-flavored tea and understeep it a little bit - like an Assam or an Irish breakfast tea (which is mostly Assam anyway). When you oversteep tea (which can be anywhere from 3-5 minutes depending on variety), tannins are released which results in that bitter 'bite'. Understeeping will give you a nice mellow and smooth flavor.

Also, I wonder how 'fresh' the tea would taste after fermentation is complete.

Are you planning on carbing it? This is a very interesting experiment! I wonder how the alcohol will come out since you are only using corn sugar.

Keep us informed!
 
I was looking at some of the ale & lager yeasts in the NB catalog. You say the ale yeasts ferment quickly, are we talking a week instead of a month with the montrechet? Residual sweetness would be nice, as I want something that still kinda tastes like sweet tea in the end.

no, I do not plan on carbing it...

I thought about understeeping also, as when the MX001 batch was first started, it was quite dark in color, but it has already started lightening the slightest bit. This batch was 1 gallon of water, and 3 of the 'family size' Lipton iced tea bags (Lipton's recipe for 1 gallon of sun tea). I was thinking about maybe only using 2 next time, depending on how strong the flavor is when this is done.
 
You could try Coopers Yeast. Look in the cider area under my yeast test going on right now.

The Coopers yeast took off like a shot and is almost completely clear at 2 weeks. I used the whole pack on 1 gallon but the lees look very compact on the bottom. I still have some bubbles so I didn't check the gravity this weekend. Will try next weekend if the Ren festival doesn't get in the way!
 
Adolphus79 said:
I thought about understeeping also, as when the MX001 batch was first started, it was quite dark in color, but it has already started lightening the slightest bit. This batch was 1 gallon of water, and 3 of the 'family size' Lipton iced tea bags (Lipton's recipe for 1 gallon of sun tea). I was thinking about maybe only using 2 next time, depending on how strong the flavor is when this is done.

I'd stick with the 3 bags. You'll get plenty of flavor; I think 2 would leave it a bit watery and wouldn't balance well with the alcohol/lemon. Bring your water to just below boiling, toss in the 3 bags, and pull out promptly at 3 minutes. That should reduce the amount of tannins released.

Coopers would work well, too. It would definitly ferment faster, but I couldn't say how fast.
 
mgayer said:
You could try Coopers Yeast. Look in the cider area under my yeast test going on right now.

The Coopers yeast took off like a shot and is almost completely clear at 2 weeks. I used the whole pack on 1 gallon but the lees look very compact on the bottom. I still have some bubbles so I didn't check the gravity this weekend. Will try next weekend if the Ren festival doesn't get in the way!

I'm already watching that thread closely, as one of my future tests will be a quick and dirty cider.

Arr, we have no faire around here, drink a pint of grog for me... :tank:

Danny013 said:
I'd stick with the 3 bags. You'll get plenty of flavor; I think 2 would leave it a bit watery and wouldn't balance well with the alcohol/lemon. Bring your water to just below boiling, toss in the 3 bags, and pull out promptly at 3 minutes. That should reduce the amount of tannins released.

Coopers would work well, too. It would definitly ferment faster, but I couldn't say how fast.

I steeped them a little longer this time, trying to get all the flavor I could. I figured I would need a good strong tea flavor to make it through fermentation. I steeped for 5-6 minutes.
 
I planned on starting a another trial myself this week. It sounds to me that your really on the right track. I think ill try the coopers yeast. If i use it will it ferment violently. Will it be ok in a 1 gal jug or should I do the primary in a bucket.
 
dutchboy62 said:
I planned on starting a another trial myself this week. It sounds to me that your really on the right track. I think ill try the coopers yeast. If i use it will it ferment violently. Will it be ok in a 1 gal jug or should I do the primary in a bucket.

Coopers wasn't violent but it was fast starting. It didn't have the massive head of foam like the knottingham. I started the 3/4 gallon to be safe and then topped off in 7 days. No issues with the airlock blowing off or foaming over. Last night the Coopers yeast carboy was very clear! I can clearly see the face of my watch through the jug. So we are into 2 weeks and it appears like it is just getting rid of the suspended CO2 right now.
 
Where can I get Cooper's? I looking in the NB catalog just now, but couldn't find any. I think I'll try that for beta 0.2, and see how it tastes.

P.S. MX001 has slowed down a little. The krausen has subsided a little, and the airlock has slowed a little. The smell is a little stronger though, and it's a very distinct sweet tea aroma now.
 
Adolphus79 said:
Where can I get Cooper's? I looking in the NB catalog just now, but couldn't find any. I think I'll try that for beta 0.2, and see how it tastes.

P.S. MX001 has slowed down a little. The krausen has subsided a little, and the airlock has slowed a little. The smell is a little stronger though, and it's a very distinct sweet tea aroma now.

www.bacchus-barleycorn.com Sorry I know this is a bit far away but you can order it here. I shop here as it is in the Kansas City area and they are very helpful. Used bottles for 6.50 a case!!
 
Started mine today at 2 just got home from work and it is bubbling away. I used the coopers yeast. But other than that i followed your recipe.
 
great... let me know how it comes out. If the cooper's does finish off in 2 weeks, and the finished product still tastes like sweet tea, I'll have to start using that. I'd say with the cooper's, rack after 2 weeks, squeeze the lemon in, and let it sit in the secondary for another week or 2.

I've already decided that I'll try cooper's next. I found some from Homebrew Heaven (who I've ordered through before)... http://www.homebrewheaven.com

NOTES:
MX001 has become slow and steady, still a good layer of krausen, but airlock activity is about 1 buble every 10 seconds. Quite a strong odor coming off of it now, but still a sweet tea aroma. It's also started lightening in color over the last couple days.
 
It isnt much of a krausen more of just a layer of bubbles about an inch thick
 
My krausen has now subsided to a very light layer, almost like the head you get on a glass of soda. The aroma is still a very clean sweet tea smell. I'm not going to top it off, I started with exactly 1 gallon of tea, and am trying to keep the recipe straight. I had no problem with the krausen even reaching into the neck of my gallon jug. It was about an inch thick at first (24-48 hours), but is now barely anything. How is the Cooper's doing? (aroma, color, krausen, etc.)
 
It smells like sweet tea. The color is like that of apple cider. The krausen is about a half inch thick and is really just a layer of bubbles nothing major. I started with 3 qts. of water so i didnt have to worry about a blow off tube. But will prob top of soon as i dont believe it will be a problem.
 
Adolphus how are things going on your end of this expirement. I am very interested. I topped off today ill rack next week and take a gtravity reading.
 
It's going pretty well. The krausen is all but gone, but there is still airlock activity, about 1 bubble every 10 seconds. Still a faint sweet tea aroma coming off the airlock also. The color is a little lighter now also, kind of a light pumpkin color to it.

I think I've still got about a week & a half before I'll rack, started on 8-23, 4 weeks is 9-20, then I'll take a gravity reading and rack on top of some lemon juice.
 
any update adolphus mine is looking good and is clearing nicely theres very little airlock activity soi might rack this weekend
 
Nothing yet... airlock activity has slowed, about a bubble every 30 seconds, no noticable clearing yet, but still a week til my 4 weeks is up. Aroma is still sweet tea, but very slight now... I'll see what the next week brings as far as clearing goes, but I think I'll still rack it over onto half a lemon's juice.

It sounds like Cooper's is the way to go, so long as it tastes right, have you tasted it yet?
 
just racked the gravity is down to 1.00 and is clearing nicely and the taste is umm.. not good it is very weak tasting with hardly any taste at all i mean like nothing im gonna let itfinish and back sweeten and ageand pray it tastes like something. Do you think i could just make some more tea and add it if not bring on amy mew ideas for batch 2
 
Hmm... I dunno, that's why I purposely over-steeped mine a little. I'll have to let mine finish (end of this week hopefully) before I could even try to fix it any. I was also thinking the other day that for a sweet tea, we should be using cane sugar instead of corn sugar. I'll let you know when I rack if my flavor is missing also... oh well, that's why it's a test batch... ;)
 
Well, I racked it this evening, and tasted it...

I am quite disappointed. :( The ABV came out about 5.5%, and it had almost no aroma at all. We tasted it, and it had almost no flavor. First taste was quite tart, but no flavor followed. A very, VERY, bland tea taste, with a hint of plastic. Adding lemon juice didn't help any, except to add some lemon to the plastic bouquet.

Since airlock activity was down to 1 bubble every minute and a half, I'm not gonna let it ferment any further. I bottled, and put it into the fridge to see if chilling and/or aging will help any.

I need to figure out how to get more of the tea flavor to make it through fermentation. Maybe a different yeast, or a stronger tea base. Also need to get the ABV up a little higher. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, I'll be trying beta 0.2 here in the next couple months.
 
soundslike the same thing i got. Im gonna try again soon. I think im gonna try another expirement. I think im gonna do 2 batches one with a triple amount of tea and the other adding more tea in the secondary.
 
I thought about it over a bottle of Apfelwein last night and came to almost the same conclusion. Double the sugar, then cut it with a second gallon of tea after fermentation. I'll probably try it again in a month or two, as I have some other experiments I want to get out of the way first though. Too many experiments, not enough gallon jugs & airlocks...

Thanks for the help and input dutchboy, let me know if you start another batch before I do... :tank:
 
No problem this is something i have been interested in for a while thats y i started the thread a few months back Luckily i found 38 one gal jugs on craigslist for $5 so i have plenty of room to expirement as soon as i geet to the lhbs ill start again im starting my first batch of apfelwien this weekend i would be interested to here about any future expirements thanks for the help
 
Just a question but have you guys thought above making a concentrate and using it after the fermentation? I hate to say this but lipton makes the concentrate and you could add a bit to bring the flavor up. You could also use a few cups of water and a bunch of tea bags. Make sure it is boilingafter the tea bags are in the water then remove from the heat and cover for about 10 minutes. Remove the bags and squeeze out the liquid. Then simmer just the liquid until it reduces half the amount. This would give a very strong concentration to play with a few ounces at a time.
 
thats what im gonna do next try making a concentrate myself andadding during the the secondary and im gonna try and triple up the amount of tea in the primary in another test
 
boiled 2 cups of water added 4 tea bags(thw amount reccomended 4 1 gal of tea) and used it to top off the rest of the gal i had made already im gonna bottle tomorrow and taste it
 
ididnt wanna give up yet hopefully this will work i just got some more yeast and will prob try again this weekend im gonna use 12 bags instead of 4
 
do you think its ok to bottle so soon after adding the concentrate. the airlock is not bubbling at all but itis a little cloudy since i added the concentrate. I think it might just be a little to much tea in 1 gal of water
 
no i didnt add any sugar but have a feeling its gonna need to be back sweetened
 
just tried it and its ok but def not great or even that good add somesugar but its not enough its gonna need some more im no expert by any means but i think it has a slight cider taste and 1 lemon is not enough im gonna just leave it alone for a couple months
 
I became a member of this site in May of this year, hoping to find someone with a twisted tea recipe. I make homemade concord grape wine every year and I thought it would be fun to experiment with new things.

I posted in May sometime hoping to find someone with a recipe but no luck. I figured I'd move on and try it on my own. Remind you, I'm an amateur homebrewer and I knew very little about it. But I did a lot of research to develop a recipe and came up with multiple experiments.

Snce it has been almost 5 months of experimentation I almost want to give up since I can't come up with any conclusions. So, as you can see I decided to go back to the homebrew forum to see if there was anything available for Twisted Tea Recipes. I came across these threads and read through each of them realizing I encountered similar problems just like you two.

The biggest problem I've encountered is the lack of tea flavor upon completion of the fermentation. To try to resolve this problem I tried 4 types of experiments:

1) increase the quantity of tea bags, before fermentation, and steep just enough before the tea becomes too tannic

2) over steep the tea bags

3) cook up some tea concentrate and apply it to the secondary fermentation

4) switch type of yeast (champagne, wine, ale); I haven't tried lager or cider yeast yet

5) The last batch aged for 2 months, longer than the other experiments, and there was very little tea flavor even after the secondary fermentation

6) changed the kind of sugar

I made sure the temperature was right for the different yeasts and I even tried the secondary fermentation both inside and outside of the refrigerator. I tried fermenting with malt and hops and followed beer recipes very carefully, but I noticed a slight difference in the tea flavor after the primary fermentation. There was a little more tea flavor than normal but it gradually reduced the longer it aged. I even continued to add more tea flavor to it.

I've been trying to research tea to see if there is something in the chemical composition of tea that doesn't work well with alcohol because I know tea is an antioxidant (if that inhibits anything). I have no idea. I wonder if there is some kind of natural preservative for flavor.

So, this is where I stand right now:

Since tea is a non-fermentable there needs to be sugar added to wort or there needs to be a natural fermentable like fruit or even a malt. I wonder if that will make a significant difference in the flavor. I am about to experiment with lager yeast since I heard that it may produce a neutral yeast flavor to help accentuate the tea flavor. I also want to experiment with sorghum, molasses, or rice malt. I am also thinking about adding tea concentrate a little bit at a time during the fermentation.

As I said before I am an amateur homebrewer and if you have any ideas or tips I'd greatly appreciate it. I also hope that my observations can help you as well. I'll update you as I go along.
 
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