eyebrau
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- Jan 6, 2013
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I'm doing a small experiment. I made 3 gallons of a relatively low ABV mead (around 7% if memory serves) that I fermented dry. I plan on splitting it into three different 1 gallon batches, and I'm infusing each one with a different tea (or "tea" as the case may be), in an effort to find the right amount to dose them for the flavor before brewing a larger batch of any of them. For these three, I'm doing Earl Grey, chamomile, and the light green spruce needles that I collected from a tree. In all three cases I put a set amount of water along with the solids in a ziplock bag (air squeezed out) in my refrigerator to "cold brew" for a couple days.
That's my process, but not my question. Due to poor planning and realizations during the process of making these tea infusions, I have three different levels of sanitation. In the spruce bag, I simply put tap water in the bag with the spruce needles and squeezed out the air. For the chamomile, I realized there might be some sanitation issues. So I flipped the bag inside out, dipped it thoroughly into Star San, flipped it back right side out without touching the inside, added the tea bags, and then put in bottled purified water. For the Earl Grey, I took it one small step further - same Star San in the bag trick and bottled water, but was using loose leaf tea in a hop bag, so I soaked the hop bag in Star San as well prior to putting the tea leaves into it.
So, for the spruce, I plan to pour the liquid contents (minus needles) into a sauce pan and bring to 160F for 5 minutes to kill any bacteria from the bag, water, and/or spruce needles, then I'll add to the mead. My question is, do you think, firstly, that this will be sufficient or even necessary, and secondly, should I repeat this process for either the chamomile (with the unsanitized tea bags) and/or the more paranoid approached Earl Grey?
Not looking for feedback on the tea/flavoring process for my mead, as I said, it's an experiment in how this will work. For example, I'm not boiling the liquids because I don't want excessive tannins or bitterness in any of them, and don't want to lose potentially volatile and/or fragile aromatics and flavors. Just want feedback on the sanitation aspect, if you please wouldn't mind.
Thank you in advance!
That's my process, but not my question. Due to poor planning and realizations during the process of making these tea infusions, I have three different levels of sanitation. In the spruce bag, I simply put tap water in the bag with the spruce needles and squeezed out the air. For the chamomile, I realized there might be some sanitation issues. So I flipped the bag inside out, dipped it thoroughly into Star San, flipped it back right side out without touching the inside, added the tea bags, and then put in bottled purified water. For the Earl Grey, I took it one small step further - same Star San in the bag trick and bottled water, but was using loose leaf tea in a hop bag, so I soaked the hop bag in Star San as well prior to putting the tea leaves into it.
So, for the spruce, I plan to pour the liquid contents (minus needles) into a sauce pan and bring to 160F for 5 minutes to kill any bacteria from the bag, water, and/or spruce needles, then I'll add to the mead. My question is, do you think, firstly, that this will be sufficient or even necessary, and secondly, should I repeat this process for either the chamomile (with the unsanitized tea bags) and/or the more paranoid approached Earl Grey?
Not looking for feedback on the tea/flavoring process for my mead, as I said, it's an experiment in how this will work. For example, I'm not boiling the liquids because I don't want excessive tannins or bitterness in any of them, and don't want to lose potentially volatile and/or fragile aromatics and flavors. Just want feedback on the sanitation aspect, if you please wouldn't mind.
Thank you in advance!
