I have wanted to experiment with using different ingredients in my brewing process. Specifically I have thought about using some kind of fruit which could compliment the citrusy American hops in an IPA. Also I have wanted to make a green tea pale ale because I really like green tea. Has anyone made or tried something similar to what I am thinking of doing? I would really appreciate any feedback or ideas as to what may work well.
I have thought about maybe clemintines in an IPA or grapefruit since many American hops I use have grapefruit notes.
For the green tea pale ale, I would like a slight green tea taste but not something which will taste only like carbonated green tea.
Do people have certain grain bills, hops, or yeast strains they prefer for doing these type of beers? I would guess a yeast strain with a low ester profile might be best.
In my opinion there is a reason why grain, hops, water and yeast are the ingredients of beer. I see your thinking not trying to knock you but there may be a reason why your favorite ipa does not have fruit in it. I don’t see green tea contributing anything positive to a beer, maybe orange zest in an ipa would be ok. With things like this you just have to experiment, take notes and find out what works for you.
I’ve brewed with Yerba Mate a few times. I’ve tried “dry hopping” with it in secondary, adding it directly to the boil kettle, and mashing with it. Dry hopping provided the most tea flavor. Boil kettle addition left a very grassy flavor, not very good in my opinion. When I mashed with the tea the flavor was very subtle, but the caffeine effect was the strongest. I thought mashing produced the all round best beer.
I know Stone Brewing did a collaboration and made a green tea ipa, perhaps I could find the recipe somewhere…
However, I will have to likely just experiment and see what happens. My plan is to either make small batches of about 2 gallons or split a batch of a 5 gallon beer and experiment by adding to the secondary.
Last year I brewed a smoked porter that was too subtle in the smoke department, not enough rauch malt and it was a bit long in the tooth. On bottling day I made a stong! cup of smoked tea, Lapsong something and added it to the bottling bucket with the priming solution. It was okay, but next time I’ll make sure to use more rauch malt and that it’s fresh.
