Fermented
malt tea, hard iced tea or iced tea twist is basically the same as gruit
ale,
a type of ale
that was popular for centuries before hops were introduced into ale
making it beer.
To
make your own fermented
(malted) iced tea:
Make
a pot of tea by putting tea or loose leaf tea of your choice,
either regular, decaf or herbal, into a ceramic pot, pour boiling water
over it and then cover and let sit until cool, or overnight.
When
the tea is cool, strain it through a sieve (if necessary to remove tea
leaves) and then pour
it into a glass container. For every quart of tea add:
1/3 cup of malt
extract*
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of yeast
starter**
Cover with an airlock and
set in a warm place. 
When signs of fermentation appear (tiny bubbles), let it ferment 3
days*** and then transfer to
plastic soda pop bottles****
Screw
cap on tight. 
Tea has become a fizzy drink when bottle becomes firm to the
touch and cannot be squeezed. Put
it in the
refrigerator to cool and drink within a few days.
This
bottle can still be squeezed and is not ready to drink yet. 
Notes
*
Until
you are ready to use the entire jar of malt
extract
at one brewing, you will probably prefer working with malt extract that
has been mixed half-and-half with hot water so it is easier to pour out
of the jar.You can then either subtract the amount of water from the
rest of the recipe, or ignore it, as a splash or so of water one way or
the other does not have a major effect on brewing ale or hard tea.
**
Any
kind of yeast or yeast starter will do, including bread yeast, airborne (wild)
yeast
or any kind of ale or wine yeast. However, bread yeast is the least
desirable. If that's all you have, you can use it to get started but
then try to get some other ale yeast. If you save some of your
fermented tea from each batch and use it as a yeast starter for
subsequent batches, in time the nature of the yeast will change and if
you were happy with it, you could continue to use it, but you will
probably prefer a hard tea made with either ale yeast or airborne yeast.
***
How long it ferments will determine how hard it is, and how sweet. It
can be fermented for up to 7 days. If fermentation continues past the
point where it is no longer fizzy, add 1 tablespoon of sugar syrup or
honey to each quart before bottleing. See Adjusting
Alcohol.
**** It's okay to brew in glass, but I
carbonate
everything
in plastic soda pop bottles. The advantages to this
are that plastic doesn't risk accidentally exploding, sending long
pieces of sharp, pointy glass into your flesh, and it's easier to
check on carbonation by squeezing a plastic bottle. A traditional
method, before glass or screw-on tops were invented, was to add some
raisins to the brewing liquid and to measure carbonation by when they
floated to the top. If you intend to
bottle in glass, pack them in sand to reduce the risk of explosion.
Airlocks
are
anything that will keep
out bugs but let gas escape. When I first started
making wine, I used store-bought airlocks. When those broke, I found I
could use plain plastic sheet secured with a sturdy rubber band. You
can also use cloth, especially if you are hoping for a wild yeast
fermentation. I also discovered it worked just as well to close the
plastic soda pop screw-on top and then loosen it every once in a while
to let out the gas buildup, or to screw it on just a tiny bit loose.
Use whichever of these methods appeals
to you.
How Long Will It Take Until First Sign of
Fermentation?
3-4
days is
the average, but there are so many variables, that is meaningless in
practice. Yeast are living things and can take as long as they want to
take, especially at the beginning when they are first learning how to
eat the food you're giving them. I've made brews that didn't start
fermenting for weeks and I'd given up on them and thought it was a dud
only to walk by one day and see a strong fermentation with an inch of
foam on top that grew there overnight.
Variations
Lacto-fermented malt
beverage -- Substitute kefir whey for yeast starter
Vanilla Cream Tea
-- Add 1/4 teaspoon vanilla per cup of tea
Sun tea --
put teabags or loose tea in glass jar, add water, cover and leave in
sun until steeped. Strain tea leaves from liquid and proceed with
recipe.
Weaker or stronger -- See adjusting
alcohol to learn how to adjust by amount of sugar and fermentation
time, making near beer to strong ale.
Raw Green Tea
-- Use green tea and raw or sprouted
grain for tea and grain material, respectively.
Raspberry hard iced
tea -- Add 1 teaspoon of raspberry syrup per pint when pouring
into plastic bottles
Lemon Hard Iced Tea
-- Add a squeeze of lemon juice plus extra teaspoon of sugar
Light --
Eliminate grain material and substitute a pinch of stevia for
tablespoon of sugar when brewing but add 1/2
teaspoon of sugar per cup when bottling.
Sacred
and Herbal Healing Beers by Stephen
Harr Buhner
Wild
Fermentation by Sandor Katz.
Truly
Cultured Rejuvenating
Taste, Health and Community With Naturally Fermented Foods
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