Tea Spices

[pmolou]

ok so recently at work a new range of tea's have come out and have lots of differant herbs n spices in them (i've herd of people using chamomile)and so i thought which of these would go well in my belgian i've tried searching the net for results but hard to find so thought i'd ask u lot haha

i'll just name some of the spices in the tea's and if anyone's tried them and had good results or could give an indication as to which one's would be nice

#1- rooibos, rose petals
#2- raspberry pieces, apple pieces, orange peel, rosehips, hibiscus, lemon grass, vitamin c,
#2- apple pieces, orange peel, rosehips, hibiscus, cornflower blossums, clove, cinnamon, anise, pepper and natural flavour
#4- chai tea

some of these give obvious flavours eg. raspberry pices, but some spices like rooibos and hibiscus sound interesting
i realise that these are very anti-oxidant etc. was wondering if this is good in beer (does it have a negative/positive effect on yeast?)


OK so a pretty big question but if anyone has any idea about tea's in beers and so on any help would be much appreciated


My recipe so far is

1.5kg wheat malt extract
1.5kg light liquid malt extract
200g medium crystal
400grams dark candi
300grams light invert sugar

nelson sauvin 12g @60 mins
goldings 15g @10 mins
IBU 20

belgian abbey II 1762

and obviously a light addition of teas not sure how many tea bags to use but maybe 3?

any suggestions, advice??? going for a spicy red belgian (most of the tea's give a red colour)

 

[brettprevans]

#1 & #3. 1 bag of #1 to give some colour (in primary) and 2-3xbags of #3 after primary fermentation.


EDIT: PS out of inetest whats the brand of teas? Id be inetesreted in using them. Im thinking
#1 - red ales.
#2 - ciders and alc lemonade
#3 - belgians, maybe a few ******* lagers or pale ales
#4 - porters or dark ales.

 

[pmolou]

tea tonic

ps. what kind of flavour do u think my brew will give with the tea's just a hint of spice. havent actually brewed a belgian other than a saison and dark strong so not sure what to expect. sorta going for a flavour inbetween not overly spicy and strong but more beer with spicy notes

 

[mika]

Someone out there made a hibiscus Saison. Appears on one of the beer rating websites.

 

[Steve]

I have a cup of Chai Tea usually every night as a nightcap . If I was to add it to a beer it would have to be a wheat with the spicy T58 dry yeast.
Cheers
Steve

P.S. Chai tea is Indian in origin (using Indian spices) hence the reason the poms (who used to rule India) call a cup of tea a cup of cha. Its a very old brew.

 

[newguy]

A couple of years ago I added 10 bags of chai tea to 19l of weizen. It turned out really nice. I brewed an uber-strong pot of tea and added that to my keg, then racked the weizen on to it. I'll definitely try it again. Just be careful if you add chai tea at bottling because some varieties can have sugar added to them; I had some bottle grenades.

The best fruit meads I've ever had were made in the same way. 10 or 12 bags of herbal tea added to ordinary mead. A friend made these meads, not me.

 

[Asher]

Had good results with Green Tea. Do a search for Ashers "GT Rice lager"

Re Orange - Bergamot is tasty its what they flavour Earl Grey with

I use tea in beer at a strength of 1/2 what I'd normally drink it at straight up. So a few more than 3 bags - find a local tea maker and buy in bulk. the flavours are generally much fresher that way also.

# 1 - Rooibos would be worth a go.
# 3 - I like the sound of this blend for a belgian too

I don't know anything about Hibiscus Sabdariffa Flowers or how to use them in a tasty Wit or Saison h34r:
.....Neither should Mika <_<

Asher

 

[brettprevans]

I recon the tea added after primary fermentation willk give a little complexity to the brew. you may not get huge flavour overtones, but you dont nessecarily want that (at least I dont). Im a big fan of complexity in beers and not just 1 huge overpowering flavour. I think the #3 will just add to the complexity of the belgian yeast and aroma.

 

[pmolou]

I recon the tea added after primary fermentation willk give a little complexity to the brew. you may not get huge flavour overtones, but you dont nessecarily want that (at least I dont). Im a big fan of complexity in beers and not just 1 huge overpowering flavour. I think the #3 will just add to the complexity of the belgian yeast and aroma.

thats exactly what i want, dont exactly want to have a tea tasting beer just a beer with a little something in the background
which sorta makes ur mates go hmmn thats a nice beer but whats that weird taste haha