Does anybody have a recipe for a hard tea?


-J


Tags: brewing hard iced tea


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Hmmm....

I don't have any recipe like that, nor could I find anything reliable on the internet.

If I were going to try making my own recipe, I'd probably make regular ole ice tea, and add sugar for an OG around 1.05 and lemon to taste. I'd probably use a lager yeast, and ferment cold (or Nottingham Ale yeast, and ferment cold). Once fermentation finished, I'd stabilize with potassium sorbate, and add sugar to taste.

Or, if you want something with a little malt in it, you could add a bit of light DME to help get your OG up.

This would be a non-sparkling drink, yes?

You've piqued my curiosity. If you end up making a Hard Tea, keep me posted!

Cheers
Dave

Alternately, and far eaiser, you could just brew some tea, and add vodka to it.

Oh man,
I've actually tried that. It tasted like ... well ... tea with vodka. Nothing to write home about. I'd stick with Dave's first idea.

You guys are a weird bunch indeed!!
I would think maybe you could add some tea to a beer maybe?

Are you thinking of mead? That is what vikings used to drink.

Nah, he's thinking of Twisted Tea, I think.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twisted_Tea

Cheers
Dave

I'd think you'ld just brew up a straight batch of malt without hops and after the fermentation just siphon it into a bucket with tea and let it steep, then bottle. I know thats probably not how its supposed to be made, but it would probably taste yummy.

dont you have to boil the water with the tea bags in it to kill off off bacteria?


-J

It's probably recomended, but I was thinking it could be done similar to the way I've made ice or sun tea. The little alcohol from the malt might be enough to inhibit bacterial growth, but I wouldn't coun't too much on it. You could add the tea bags right after the initial boil and let them steep before fermenting, but be careful, because boiling can kill the flavor of the tea. Sometimes in the summer we'll make tea by adding some tea bags to some water with a little sugar in it and steep it in the fridge for a few days without any bacterial flavors showing up, so I'm just assuming it might work with some week, light malt that's been fermented. keep in mind Ive never made hard tee before

GuitarLord5000 wrote:Alternately, and far eaiser, you could just brew some tea, and add vodka to it.

Tea with Vodka is a mixed drink called an Ice Pick, it is not hard tea. The term hard symobolizes the turning stage or to be fermented.

[quote="Jshakour"]Does anybody have a recipe for a hard tea?

My best sugestion would be to try making a honey brew and add some tea to it before you put it in your carboy.

honey brews are as old as they get just mix honey water and yeast, then make some tea. Make sure when you make the tea you don't boil it turn the heat off before it boils and then just let it steep for a while. Add all your ingrediants together and I prefer the quick cool method of adding purchased ice to the mixture. (purchased ice is filtered clean and fast). Mix some yeast up in a solution of lightly sugared warm water and let it grow. Then put it in your carboy and let it burp itself. I wouldn't do a 2nd ferment, I would let it go for 3 to 7 days and then once the bubles stop just be ready to put it in either a sterile gallon jug or several mason jars. I wouldn't try holding this product very long either because its very similar to mead. As we all know mead should be made and served immediately, to keep from spoilage and killing anyone. Hope this helps, I didn't put any measurments in because to be hones I don't measure when I brew anymore. I just create, I find that making everything by sight and not measurements makes it more interesting because to be honest you will never get the egsact same taste more than once and to me thats the magic of home brewing.

tepfy38

tepfy38 wrote:As we all know mead should be made and served immediately, to keep from spoilage and killing anyone.
tepfy38

^^?? Actually Meade should be aged for between three and 25 years. Honey, the high Alcohol and Hops (if used as a bittering agent) are all preservatives, so it never goes off. Simple meade recipes I've seen call for tea instead if hops, and I suppose you could just add a lot more. I have tried to ferment really strong tea and suger by itself before (when I was 14) the results were undrinkable, though I did use baking yeast. Another time I added it to port wine to try and make that drinkable (when I was 13) the results were also undrinkable.

I would rather just drink Long Island Ice Tea. That recipe is found just about anywhere on the internet.

I added a bunch of green tea to a pale-ale recipe once. I ended up with green ale. No tea taste at all. It just didn't come through. I think you'd need just a really strong tea with some fermentable added to come out any good at all.