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  • Matcha Powder

    Has anybody used Matcha Green Tea Powder in beer?

    I've been wanted to do a tea beer for a while now, and I have a little time opening up in December where I can do a lager, and so I thought I would combine the two and make a Matcha Helles. I'm a little concerned after testing Matcha (the cheap stuff that's 90% maltodextrin) in our Cream Ale. It is a green, sludgy mess, unsurprisingly maybe, but I didn't realize that 0.15oz of tea in a pint of beer would muddy it up to that degree. The flavor was great, if maybe a little too mild.

    I have a couple of pints of beer with that ratio of Matcha in my cooler to see if it will settle out in a few days, and if it doesn't, if maybe some gelatin might help. I've done some research, and Baxter Brewing Company makes a beer called Ceremony with green tea and Macha, and it is golden like any IPA you've ever seen. So, there's hope. I haven't contacted them yet, as I've had no success in the past contacting other breweries directly, so I was hoping somebody on these boards might have some insight.

    A lot of (mostly homebrew) sources say that 1oz of tea per gallon of beer is pretty standard. Not sure how different that would be with Matcha. Getting my hands on the pure stuff will make a big difference, but the local grocery store I was at today didn't have any, so I'm dealing with the cut stuff for now. Thoughts on rates?

    Also, I am worried that the astringency of the tea - mild as it should be being dry-hopped, as opposed to being added to the boil - might make the beer come across as too dry. The maltodextrin in this powder makes it seem alright. I'm considering adding some lactose to the beer itself if I'm going to use the pure tea, just to make sure that it isn't astringent. I'd never add it to a Helles normally, but as much as a Helles is thoroughly attenuated, it should have some grain sweetness that I fear might get eaten up by the tea. Thoughts?

    Finally, should I have any sanitation fears with adding Matcha powder directly to the finished beer? The brewer from Baxter, in an article about the beer, says that they add it directly to the fermenter. I assume it should be pretty clean.

  • #2
    Well I've done it! "Ceremony Green Tea Lager" will be hitting my draft lines in about a week.

    The beer turned out great. I spoke with the guys at Baxter, and they were a ton of help. In the end, I used 2 kilos of pure kitchen grade Matcha from Matcha Source for the 6bbl of beer. The Recipe for the Helles was very simple, just Pilsener malt and a little CaraPils, and a few Saaz additions. I fermented with HellBock from WYeast (probably my favorite lager yeast right now). Fermentation took about 2 weeks, and then I lagered it for 4 weeks at 34F. Then I boiled up four gallons of water, whisked in the Matcha, and added it to the fermenter at lagering temp, and gave it a little CO2 to mix. It sat for 48 hours before I added gelatin (18oz of 100 bloom in a gallon of water). I gave it a little CO2 to mix. I let it sit just short of a week to settle out. That's all it took. While the beer has a very slight green cast to it, it is quite clear all on its own.

    Not nearly all the fuss and muss that I thought I was going to have!

    And the beer is great. When it is first out of the tap and still very cold the tea is very understated, but as it warms up a little, it really comes into its own. I'm very excited to see how it goes over with my customers.

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