Introducing the Tea Series

aromatic
munich
caramunich
vienna

are my grain suggestions.

we should also do hops that are in the same family and contrast the differences with the newer breeds compared to the ones they were derrived from.

One that I've been wanting to try is the new zealand motueka that is supposed to be citrusy variation of saaz. Its around 12% alpha and they claim it has lemon lime and tropical fruit flavors. I was thinking about useing it instead of saaz next time I brew my hoppy harvest pale ale.

JaymeG wrote:

Don't go overboard on the first time doing this. Save some for the March meeting . (that's when I can attend)

Hahah, don't worry, we'll only be doing a group of 3 for each meeting. Since we'll be alternating between hops and grains, it'll be a little different every time.

Don't go overboard on the first time doing this. Save some for the March meeting . (that's when I can attend)

mike frohlich wrote:

Victory Malt
Biscuit Malt
Special B Malt

Good suggestions Mike. For the one I quoted from you, though, I think Special Roast would probably fit better in your grouping than Special B, since that's a heavy caramel malt. Maybe Special B versus Extra Dark Crystal and one other, like CaraAroma?

I'd like to suggest a comparison of Noble-type hops:

Tettnang
Saaz
Hallertau

Also, we can always do more base malts, such as the premium Euro malts:

Maris Otter
Optic
Pearl
Halcyon
Golden Promise
Castle Pale Malt

Sadly I won't be able to be at that meeting.

Roast Barley
Chocolate Malt
Black Malt

Victory Malt
Biscuit Malt
Special B Malt

Oat Malt
Flaked Oats
Rye Malt

Just to name a few I think would be great.

Pinkies Up! It's Tea Time! No, the good kind of tea. The hopped and malted kinds that help us discover the flavors imparted by individual ingredients.

As some of you may know, at the last meeting we discussed making malt tea's at the February meeting. The feedback on this idea was really awesome. So, we've decided to take it up a notch. Each meeting will have a Grain or Hop tea. We've got 3 french presses to use, so we'll do three of a kind each meeting.

It was suggested that we keep pairings to like ingredients, meaning we wouldn't compare Vienna Malt to Coffee Malt, as the difference is pretty obvious. So, we're looking for suggestions on what 3's you'd like to see compared.

For the February meeting we'll be brewing up grain teas of the most common base malts: 2 row, 6 row, and Pils. The March meeting will have the battle of the "Three C's" hop teas, Cascade, Centennial and Columbus.

We think this is going to be a really great learning experience for everyone. You're even welcome to take tasting notes. If you have 3 ingredients you'd like to see matched up, please post your suggestions here.