Tea Craft Inspiration: Angry Chair’s Tee Time
INGREDIENTS
The elements of this beer include:
BERLINER WEISSE: the sourness affirms the zesty lemon side of the Arnold Palmer flavor, while the wheaty side works well with the tea.
BLACK TEA: A black tea in an Arnold Palmer style needs some natural sweetness, some briskness, and plenty of tea aroma to balance out the tartness of the lemon and bright sour notes. Not all black teas are the same. Your regular teabag teas will fall short in this department.
LEMON ZEST: The zest of the lemon peel is a good choice as it provides the aromatics of lemons and less of the citric acid of the lemon juice. Poorer quality dried lemon peel may include more of the white pith under the peel, adding an undesired bitterness. Another option is to use lemon myrtle, which is a natural plant that contains even more lemon aromatic compounds than lemon peel without the bitter pith or citric acid of lemons.
WORTH NOTING
Tee Time is on track to become one of the higher rated tea beers on Untapp’d. It is already rated higher than spiked Arnold Palmer offerings.
DOs & DON’Ts OF USING TEAS AND BOTANICALS
DO: use about 1-2 lb tea per BBL. Start with 1 lb per BBL, and taste as you go. If not strong enough, add the 2nd lb per BBL.
DON’T: use the tea in the boil. This will overcook the leaves and create an overly bitter and astringent mess. Use tea leaves as you would dry hop or as you do with other adjuncts. Tea is high in antioxidants as are hops used for dry hopping.
DON’T: steep the tea leaves in water and then try to use the tea liquor in your process. It will be either over-steeped and bitter, or too weak to notice in the final product.
DO: let the tea steep longer than you think it should. The effects of serving a chilled, carbonated final pour will dull the tea taste and aroma.