Oriental Amber

It's 10:30a.m. on Sunday morning and this has been our morning agenda:

• Brew coffee, drink coffee.
• Eat breakfast.
• Sanitize beer equipment.
• Wash dishes.
• Clean kitchen.
• Begin brewing process.
• Scan photos.
• Listen to NPR.
• Brew.
• Clean kitchen.
• Wash floors.

It has been a busy morning. We woke up this morning on the creative side of the bed. (Beer translation: Instead of following a recipe book or using a kit, we decided to make our own experimental amber ale.)

We have loads of tea and have enjoyed adding it to our brews. (Past batches have included: hibiscus green tea wheat, sangria tea ale & white tea steam). Today we decided to go with an oriental tea straight from the non-homelands of Germany (Rotbuschtee Orientalische).

Without further ado here is the recipe. (Please note: This is an experimental amber, and while we are confident it will turn out delicious, we aren't making any promises :)).

1 lb. crystal medium

6.6 lb. amber malt extract

.5 ga. Rotbuschtee Orientalische tea (steep apart from wort until very strong & add with boiling hops)

1 lb. honey (add with finishing hops)

1 oz. amarillo hops (boiling)

1 oz. cascade hops (finishing)

1056 American ale liquid yeast (Wyeast)

OG: 1.052

Do let us know if you have any questions. We'll be sure to post our review of the final product in the months to come.

30 Days of Creativity - Day 22: Relax, have a homebrew

We are just enjoying one of our latest beer creations. Our "White Tea Steam" beer recipe is based on the "The sun has left us on time" steam beer from "The new complete joy of Home brewing". The change we made was adding 1 gallon of steeped white tea (that looks anything but white) and 1 1/2 lbs. of honey, just to offset the bitterness of the tea.

So here is the recipe:

- 2 oz. White Tea Garden Aria from Teavana boiled in 1 Gallon of water.

- 1 1/2 Lbs. Honey

- 7 1/2 Lbs. Light Malt Extract

- 1/2 Lb. Crystal Malt

- 1 Oz. Northern Brewers Hops (added while boiling)

- 1/2 Oz. Cascade Hops (Finishing)

- Lager Yeast

The beer came out really good, it is a good summer beer, similar in taste to an Steam, but with a rather fruity aftertaste. It's also got a very fruity aroma.

We are thinking of brewing a Heffeweizen as soon as we have time. First we need to bottle our Dunkelweizen. For the Heffy we are thinking of using tea, and maybe some fruit... stay tuned ;)