Hard Iced Tea

[18thstatebrew]

I did the original posted recipe yesterday. Instead of using Arizona tea I used sweet leaf. It says organic and that no preservatives are added. I haven't had any yeast activity yet, but hopefully soon.

Quick question. Has anyone ever tried tried dry hopping their hard tea??

 

[UpNAdam47]

I'll be making this tonight, sounds good

 

[Countryboy73]

I always keep ice tea in the fridge. I'm gonna make this, sounds good.

 

[sneeron]

SWMBO likes twisted tea. I tried making it with light DME and split 5 different gallon batches. I used green tea, black tea and instant ice tea crystals. I also did a tea reduction for both green tea and black tea before adding. Nothing turned out right. I have not tried in some time but found this thread and might try a gallon test batch. I have found through resurch that twisted is made by making a base beer unhopped the pumping through charcoal filters until you have a clear " zima" if you will. Then they flavor and sweeten. The fitter process eliminates the yeast and the add preservatives at packaging. After learning all this I hadn't thought of doing it again until this thread made me rethink the recipe.

 

[Rigger103]

I'm headed to the store but I'm buying Swiss Premium Ice Tea Lemon aid Cooler to use as my base and I'm jumping right in to a 5 gallon batch. Sounds like one gallon is a waste of time.

 

[Rigger103]

Ok this is what I did.....5 gals of sugar sweetened Swiss Premium Lemon tea cooler, One can of frozen lemon aid. 4 lbs of cane sugar, yeast and yeast nutrient. Wine yeast. It started fermenting slow but today its cooking along. SG was 1,080 to start.

 

[kingogames]

I haven't seen this anywhere else online, but I tried this today since it is snowing outside. I have been making Kombucha for a while now, and I wanted to make it into a hard tea. Here's what I did for a 1 gal batch:

1 gal for my homemade Kombucha (aged about 7-10 days)- I think, can't remember exactly when I started this batch, I use a continuous brew system, so it's hard to tell.

3.5 oz. grated ginger- grated with a microplane

I boiled the Kombucha and ginger (well, simmered) for 15 min to kill any wild yeast, bacteria or other nasties in it. I would like some feedback as to whether this was necessary. I just didn't want to F- with the alcohol fermentation.

After boiling, I added 2 cups dark brown sugar & let cool in the primary until suitable for pitching yeast. While cooling, I put yeast (Nottingham) in 1/2 cu. warm water with 1/2 tsp. of yeast nutrient in a seperate container to "bloom."

Once cool, I added in the yeast mixture to the kombucha, ginger, sugar "wort."

I loaned my hydrometer to my dad, so I didn't get the OG, but based on other recipes for different stuff, this should come out somwhere in the 7% ABV range. (Comments/Feedback)

Stirred to combine/further hydrate/airate. Put lid on & airlock.

Here's the plan...

Will let it ferment 14 days, then I'll check it. If no activity, will rack to a carboy. I'm going to try it, and if not sweet enough, will want to add some sweetner to the secondary (reccommendations, tips please, this is my first time doing anything like this)

I'm thinking 30 days in the secondary, with airlock.

Then bottle with priming sugar. If cloudy, I will clear with gelatin. How long should I let it sit in the bottle? I'm thinking 2 weeks min.

Like I said, this is my first time doing anything like this, so please comment on anything and everything. This forum has been an invaluable help to me. Note: I have (am) celiac, so I am looking for a unique beer replacement, and I love Kombucha, so I thought this would be a cool experiment. What do you think?

 

[Mobius570]

After reading this thread, I was inspired to try something similar, but I may have went over board.

1/2 gallon water and added DME, boiled for 15 min
Added 1/2 Gal of Arizona Sweet Tea tot he primary and poured the wort onto it
Pitched Nottingham yeast that I had washed the other day

Planning on adding the other half of the Arizona Sweet Tea after a few weeks to back sweeten. Then I will let that sit in the secondary for two weeks or so. We will see what happens. It didn't taste too bad so far, kind of like a malty sweet tea.

 

[Countryboy73]

I've been eyeing this for a while now. I finally got it brewing last weekend, it's only a 2.5 gallon batch. I'm using a mr beer keg.

I used
32 Lipton tea bags
4 cups sugar
I packet lalvin k1-v1116 yeast

I'm now sitting here waiting impatiently for it. I haven't desided yet whether to carb it or not.

 

[Countryboy73]

When I started this brew I wasn't able to get a starting gravity. I finally got a hydrometer and the reading is .998. Should I let it go a little longer? I tasted it and theres not much tea taste. When I back sweeten it I'm going to top it off with more tea. What's the best sweetener to use to back sweeten the tea?

 

[dawnpd]

Quick question I followed the recipe from twistedrancher and tried it and tested it couple weeks ago was really strong reading about 0.998 and 15% but no ice tea taste so back sweetened it and split in two with more tea bags and sugar ... So it's been sitting for a couple more weeks and test it again today and sitting at about 10-11% and same sg but only tastes kinda lemoney
So my question is can I add some reg ice tea when I bottle to taste or do I have to add to carboy in case yeast starts Back up ? I'm really trying for the twisted tea flavour any tips appreciated as this is only second recipe I tried myself without the store bought boxes thank you

 

[Txbigfoot]

Ok, this is my second ever batch of anything.
My question is at what temperature do I store this while it ferments?
Its starting to get hot here in Texas so I need to be able to adjsut accordingly. Thank you.

 

[T_Baggins]

I ferment my apples at 72-75F

 

[smartin73]

I made the OP recipe (arizona sweet tea). I fermented about 6 weeks (maybe longer), it ended up at 7.5%. However, there isn't a whole lot of tea flavor left. I need to back sweeten and it def needs more tea flavor, I'm ok with loosing ABV points. I'm thinking about either making a concentrate from scratch or getting another gallon of sweet tea and reducing it on the stove (to make a concentrate). Thoughts on which sounds like a better idea?

 

[Countryboy73]

I'm making another batch. The 1st 2 gallons came out good and I had to make a 6 gallon batch. It's been 3 weeks now it seams like it's taking longer than I was expecting. The starting gravity was 1.062 and has been at 1.042 for a week now. The bubbles in the airlock slowed down to like 2-3 bubbles a minute. Yesterday I desided to add another packet of lalvin k1-v1116 yeast and 1 tsp of enegizer and 1 tbsp of nutrient. Now it bubbles every 1-2 seconds.

 

[smartin73]

I just re-brewed this for a friend today, he really like it the last time. Last time it ended up at 7.5%, back sweetened and added tea (because it lost all of it's tea flavor), it went down to 4.5% which isn't bad, but we want it a higher.

5 Gallon of Arizona Southern Style Real Brewed Sweet Tea
1 cups of corn sugar
10 cups (5 pounds) of cane sugar
6 lemons
zest from 3 lemons
1 packet Cote de Blanc yeast

I took 1/2 gallon of tea, heated it, and dissolved all of the sugar, then added all of the spent lemons and boiled it for a few minutes for extra lemon flavor. i ended up with 5.5 gallons with the sugar additions.

The OG was 1.086, if it gets close to last time it should end up under 1.0 (.996 last time). If my math is correct, that should yield approx 11.2% abv. After fermentation I plan on back sweetening and add more tea - up to 2 gallons - it should drop down to 8%, exactly where we want it.

 

[Countryboy73]

I checked the sg today and it's 1.000 and still going strong. This stuff took off like a rocket. I'm thinking about putting it in a secondary ferminter. It's really light in color and it really cloudy and has a strong sour dough type smell.



About how long will it take for it to clear up.

 

[Countryboy73]

I'm finaly bottling my first 6g batch. It has a sour dough smell. Is that normal or not?

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

I'm finaly bottling my first 6g batch. It has a sour dough smell. Is that normal or not?

"sourdough" is not a good sign.
If your trying to describe the bready thickness of cooked sourdough then that should be fine but if you getting any sort of lacto sourness then it might be infected.

Never brewed this either so it may be comepletley normal!

 

[grhsgomer]

have you tried any of the other arizona teas yet?

 

[Countryboy73]

"sourdough" is not a good sign.
If your trying to describe the bready thickness of cooked sourdough then that should be fine but if you getting any sort of lacto sourness then it might be infected.

Never brewed this either so it may be comepletley normal!

Yeah it like the cooked sour bough. I've already drank 3 ltrs of it. It's a little weak on tea taste but has a little kick to it.

The first time I brewed it it was 2 1/2 gallons. It tasted awesome. I think the second pack of yeast I put in this batch has something to do with the smell.

 

[wildlife1]

Good morning bignick
Followed your recipe for hard ice tea my starting sg. was 1.070 looking forward to trying it .
Have 2 batches of hard cider brewing,traditional mead, apple pie mead,hard ice tea.
fixing to make mapfelwein,some sort of a holiday mead,and cinnamon red hot hard cider

 

[T_Baggins]

Here's a new idea... I don't particularly care for tea unless it has a little lemon and a LOT of sugar. On the other hand, I just happen to have 5 gals of SKEETER PEE ready for stabilization/sweetening. I poured a bit of unsweetened pee in a glass and added what I thought would be the right amount of sugar for tea the way I like it. I'm not sold on Skeeter Pee either now. The ol lady likes it. What I plan to do is save the skeeter pee for our annual canoe trip and get some iced tea blend tea and sun it, then chill and sweeten to taste. i think that should have a good kick without losing the tea flavor and hopefully enough of the lemon will poke through as well.

 

[georgeinky]

what about fermenting a gallon of sugar water then on secondary add tea ?

 

[BrewinginMN]

I'm wondering if anyone has thought to back sweeten using a diet tea mix? Like Liptons Diet Peach or Raspberry? Or perhaps Crystal Light Tea Mix.

 

[Smanna]

Okay so who of this thread actually used the lemon zest of any lemons they added. I am getting my first one gallon on the go tomorrow and was planning on just using citric acid. However, if adding lemon zest enhances the flavor positively I would consider it. Curious as to if it makes it bitter?

Let me know if you've ever tried adding zest!

I will post my recipe tomorrow after completion

 

[globell]

Need to try this!

 

[organics_n_such]

Try pasteureiZing a cantelope to add when making melon iceD tea.

 

[Anzide]

i don't know if anybody is still interested in this, but the way I make this is I brew a gallon of sugar wash (or Kilju) and add about 3 cups sugar. I keep an eye on it, and when the wash's sweetness has gotten down to where I want it I make a pot of tea on the stove with 12-15 bags of tea. Then I add it to the wash just like you would making regular ice tea. Tastes almost exactly like regular ice tea.

 

[Seamonkey84]

I’m waiting on my order of Lapsang Souchong (smoked black tea) to make a batch myself, as a mead. I am kinda torn between fermenting the tea or just adding it to secondary like you described.