Anybody Used Tea Leaves?

[BWRIGHT]

It's been 2 yrs since the last post in this thread and I'm interested again. Sadly, I lost my notes for like the first 20 brews I made so this is from memory. I've brewed countless beers since then and I want to get back to nailing this recipe down. I moved on to AG shortly after my last post on this thread so it will have to be a different approach. My original recipe was better than I gave it credit for. The tea flavor came through after some time although the lemon did not. All in all, it turned out pretty good. So, 2 yrs. later, I really want to nail this down. I could use some advice, hoping that someone has played around with this idea a little. First, I'm wondering what style of beer would lend itself to the tea flavor the best. My goal is to have a low ABV, mild flavor profile, with a "distinct" tea flavor. I was thinking maybe a mild, an ESB, or just something very tame so that the tea flavor can shine.

The Plan: I think maybe some good tea leaves in the mash is a possibilty. If not, then just tea leaves at flameout worked pretty good last time. I just need to use more. If I can't pinpoint a solid way to mash the tea leaves then my plan is to add the leaves at flameout AND make a small amount of concentrated tea and add that to the secondary. The hop profile will have to be subtle so that the tea can come through. Tea leaves are delicious but they just cant compete with hop bittterness, flavor, etc. To me, iced tea is delicious and I think it would be very compatable with a mild tasting lawnmower beer. If anyone has any suggestions, let me have it. Like I said, it's been 2 yrs but I WILL make this work. I could really use some help though.

ALSO: Although IPA is not my favorite style, and I don't want THIS beer to be an IPA, I think that a tea flavored IPA might be very good with a tea flavor. It would just take the right hop schedule.........

 

[jasontwing]

I know this is a super old thread but I was wondering how the tea beer turned out?

I am planning a Green Tea IPA. First time brewing with tea. Whole leaf at flameout + secondary addition (after being steeped) seems to make sense.

 

[the_bird]

You may want to PM brewtroll; he's pretty much nailed (with a lot of trial and error) a tea-infused ESB. He's brewed it a couple of different ways, I know; at flameout (for a short period) and dry-"teaing" after fermentation. It's an extremely good beer beer. The ESB is a nice base-beer, too; it's got enough of a backbone to balance out the little bit of astringency, and the tea flavor doesn't get lost in the hops.

 

[jasontwing]

Thanks! I PMd brewtroll but looks like he has not had any activity since 2012.

I did brew my beer a few days ago. Standard IPA recipe. For the tea, I added 4oz Sencha whole leaf and 2oz Mencha (approx) powder after flameout at 180 degrees for 2-3 minutes. Good tea aroma at that point! I re-brewed the same tea in a pot of water to get super dense tea liquid which I may add in the secondary.

 

[the_bird]

Oh, he's around; I just saw him a couple weeks ago, and I know he's been on the forum.

EDIT: I must have his handle off a little bit, it looks like there's a "brewtroll" who I don't know that's someone else. Hmm... what the hell is his handle?

 

[BWRIGHT]

Made this again but went with a low IBU American wheat as the base. Basically doubled down on the tea and the lemon and added a lot of lemon zest to secodary. Much better. Been on quite a mead kick lately and have an "Arnold Palmer" mead in the works. We will see.

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[FatDragon]

Made this again but went with a low IBU American wheat as the base. Basically doubled down on the tea and the lemon and added a lot of lemon zest to secodary. Much better. Been on quite a mead kick lately and have an "Arnold Palmer" mead in the works. We will see.

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What's your current process for adding the tea flavor? I'd like to add tea either to one of my wedding beers, an APA (brewed and bubbling, so it would have to be secondary) and an American Wheat (Brewing in 2-3 weeks). My previous attempt, Pu-er Pale Ale, had no noticeable tea flavor, but your experience helps increase my confidence that it can be done.

 

[BWRIGHT]

I think it depends on what kind of tea you use. I'm used to drinking plain old iced tea and that's the flavor profile I was looking for. Green tea, earl grey, or anything else, I couldn't speak on. The lipton tea bags have a very subtle flavor. To get it to come through I threw a bunch of tea bags in at flameout (3/4 of a box if I recall). With the remaining 1/4 of the box I made about a quart of "sun tea." Let them steep in a powerade bottle for a couple of days out in the sun. I added that to my secondary. I'm assuming your wheat has lower IBU's than the pale ale so I would go with the wheat. I just don't think the subtleness of the tea can in any way compete with the bitterness of almost any hop. I threw most of my hop's in the last 15 minutes and at flameout.

 

[MrBinsky]

I work at a tea shop and let me just give my 2 cents for anybody who is interested:

1.) Absolutely do not add the tea during the boil. It will be incredibly bitter. You will get little to no tea flavor. Just nasty harsh bitterness.

2.) Unless it is an herb, such as chamomile, do not steep it for longer than 4 or 5 minutes at most.

3.) Different teas will require different temperatures and steeping times. If you do a black tea, I'd recommend 3-4 minutes at 200-180 degrees. Green tea, 2-3 minutes at about 180 degrees. I wouldn't really recommend using green tea as it wouldn't have much of a flavor. I'd say stick to black tea.

4.) Don't use tea bags. The tea in tea bags is literally dust. If you want good tea flavor you need whole leaf loose leaf tea.

5.) I would recommend between 1-4oz of looseleaf tea. 1oz in a 5 gallon batch should give you a nice light accent, while 4oz will be a very bold predominant tea flavor. I'd say shoot somewhere in the middle.

Finally, I would definitely recommend using some lemon zest. If you are going for a lot of tea flavor, then don't be shy with the zest. Use a lot. It will go very nicely with the tea and will give you a nice Arnold Palmery taste.

 

[BWRIGHT]

Finally, someone who knows about tea. Sounds like wait a few minutes after flameout and throw it in...

 

[MrBinsky]

Finally, someone who knows about tea. Sounds like wait a few minutes after flameout and throw it in...

Ya that's definitely the way I'd do it. Probably err on the side of too much rather than too little, as I'm not sure how much of the flavor the yeast will eat up. But definitely don't go longer to try to get more flavor. That will add bitterness. Use more tea leaves for more flavor.

I'd recommend using Darjeeling black tea. That would probably give you the flavor you are looking for. Maybe stay away from strong teas like English breakfast and definitely don't so anything like Irish breakfast. I think adding lemon zest would really work well with this, but another thing to consider is adding an herb called lemongrass.

If I were to do it, I'd put 3 oz of Darjeeling black tea in a few disposable paper tea bags and maybe 1-1.5 oz or so of lemongrass/lemon zest. I'd steep it for 3:50-4:00 minutes at around 200 degrees. Don't go any longer than that. The temperature is a little flexible, but 200 would probably be best. Don't dip below 180 because the black tea leaves won't open up fully to release all of their flavor. Plus, you want it to he hot enough to kill any bacteria.


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