I keep hearing about putting tea into the cider for the tannins, or at least, that's what I think I keep hearing. What's the deal? How does one go about it? My wife *loves* iced tea so making cider, which she likes, with tea seems like the sure way to earning extra credit...
Talk to me about tea...
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frankusb
Active Member
I break the bag and boil a liter of water with two or three bag-fulls (spoonfulls if you use loose leaf like a weirdo). Should be black tea, earl grey or something strong.
Once the tea is super black and strong I throw it in with the apple juice before pitching. Of course it needs to be cool enough to pitch. To be honest though your wife will probably not taste the tea distinctly.
Once the tea is super black and strong I throw it in with the apple juice before pitching. Of course it needs to be cool enough to pitch. To be honest though your wife will probably not taste the tea distinctly.
WinterWarrior
Well-Known Member
Why not make a batch of hard tea for your wife? It's one of the easiest brews on the planet. I usually have a batch in rotation and make both "sweet tea" and "unsweetened" versions.
Cost is right too -- each batch prices out to around $12-$13 for a 5 gallon batch.
Seems like you'd end up with 5 gallons worth of extra credit that way!
Holler if you'd like my recipe and I'll post it.
RachmaelBenApplebaum
Well-Known Member
Why not make a batch of hard tea for your wife? It's one of the easiest brews on the planet. I usually have a batch in rotation and make both "sweet tea" and "unsweetened" versions.
Cost is right too -- each batch prices out to around $12-$13 for a 5 gallon batch.
Seems like you'd end up with 5 gallons worth of extra credit that way!
Holler if you'd like my recipe and I'll post it.
Intrigued, PM me?
G_Force_5
Well-Known Member
I would love your tea recipe
WinterWarrior
Well-Known Member
Here's the tea recipe I was talking about.
The first tea recipe I used was Drunken Emu's Mississippi River Water ... I adapted it a bit to suit myself. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f79/drunken-emus-mississippi-river-water-hard-tea-293019/
Many recipes call for lemon and/or citrus of some kind. I don't like lemon in my tea and that's the only reason it's not in my recipe below.
The next tea I make, I think I will add some peaches -- and see if that works.
Hell-Bent Hard Tea
6 Gallon Batch
75 tea bags of your choice (I use Wal-Mart brand)
25 tea bags at bottling
1-1/2 to 2 cups of sugar per gallon
Sugar for Backsweetening
Yeast Nutrient per label
Yeast Energizer per label
1-1/2 tsp. Potassium Bicarbonate
2 pkgs. Montrachet
Potassium Sorbate per label
Potassium Metabisulfide per label
6 gallons spring water (or whatever you normally use)
1/2 gallon spring water for tea on bottling day
Brew Day:
Bring 1st 75 tea bags to boil in approx. 1/2 gallon water. Boil for 5 minutes and then turn off the heat leaving the pot on the burner. Allow to steep for 1-2 hours or overnight. You want really strong tea. Depending on how much notice I give myself on starting a batch, I'll let the tea sit over night.
Add 1-1/2 gallons water to large pot over medium heat and gradually add sugar until dissolved -- stir often. Do not boil.
Remove tea bags, throw them away, add steeped liquid to primary bucket. Add sugar water to bucket. Top up to 6 gallon mark.
Add nutrient, energizer, bicarbonate.
Take gravity reading.
Pitch yeast directly -- I've never rehydrated.
You should see activity fairly fast. Depending on the temperature in my house I've had activity in under an hour but usually within 12 hours.
Normally finished in 2-4 weeks. There's no need for secondary, but you can transfer if it makes you feel better. You may ask, "How do I know when it's finished?" Well, I normally wait for the batch to hit a gravity of around 1.000.
Bottling Day:
Add 25 tea bags to approx 1/2 gallon of water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes and then turn off the heat. Allow to steep while you are transferring tea to bottling bucket.
Transfer tea to bottling bucket. Once new tea bag solution has cooled, remove tea bags and discard then pour tea into bottling bucket.
Add P. Sorbate & P. Metabisulfide per label for stability & to stop yeast from reactivating if you want to backsweeten.
Backsweeten to taste.
I like "Southern" Sweet Tea, so I normally bottle 1-2 bottles of the Unsweetened Brew for the hubby and then backsweeten the heck out of the rest of it for myself.
I call it Hell-Bent Hard Tea because all of our friends said I'd never be able to make a decent tasting alcoholic "iced" tea and I was Hell-Bent on doing just that!!
The first tea recipe I used was Drunken Emu's Mississippi River Water ... I adapted it a bit to suit myself. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f79/drunken-emus-mississippi-river-water-hard-tea-293019/
Many recipes call for lemon and/or citrus of some kind. I don't like lemon in my tea and that's the only reason it's not in my recipe below.
The next tea I make, I think I will add some peaches -- and see if that works.
Hell-Bent Hard Tea
6 Gallon Batch
75 tea bags of your choice (I use Wal-Mart brand)
25 tea bags at bottling
1-1/2 to 2 cups of sugar per gallon
Sugar for Backsweetening
Yeast Nutrient per label
Yeast Energizer per label
1-1/2 tsp. Potassium Bicarbonate
2 pkgs. Montrachet
Potassium Sorbate per label
Potassium Metabisulfide per label
6 gallons spring water (or whatever you normally use)
1/2 gallon spring water for tea on bottling day
Brew Day:
Bring 1st 75 tea bags to boil in approx. 1/2 gallon water. Boil for 5 minutes and then turn off the heat leaving the pot on the burner. Allow to steep for 1-2 hours or overnight. You want really strong tea. Depending on how much notice I give myself on starting a batch, I'll let the tea sit over night.
Add 1-1/2 gallons water to large pot over medium heat and gradually add sugar until dissolved -- stir often. Do not boil.
Remove tea bags, throw them away, add steeped liquid to primary bucket. Add sugar water to bucket. Top up to 6 gallon mark.
Add nutrient, energizer, bicarbonate.
Take gravity reading.
Pitch yeast directly -- I've never rehydrated.
You should see activity fairly fast. Depending on the temperature in my house I've had activity in under an hour but usually within 12 hours.
Normally finished in 2-4 weeks. There's no need for secondary, but you can transfer if it makes you feel better. You may ask, "How do I know when it's finished?" Well, I normally wait for the batch to hit a gravity of around 1.000.
Bottling Day:
Add 25 tea bags to approx 1/2 gallon of water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes and then turn off the heat. Allow to steep while you are transferring tea to bottling bucket.
Transfer tea to bottling bucket. Once new tea bag solution has cooled, remove tea bags and discard then pour tea into bottling bucket.
Add P. Sorbate & P. Metabisulfide per label for stability & to stop yeast from reactivating if you want to backsweeten.
Backsweeten to taste.
I like "Southern" Sweet Tea, so I normally bottle 1-2 bottles of the Unsweetened Brew for the hubby and then backsweeten the heck out of the rest of it for myself.
I call it Hell-Bent Hard Tea because all of our friends said I'd never be able to make a decent tasting alcoholic "iced" tea and I was Hell-Bent on doing just that!!
