The brewing of Loose Leaf, our Earl Grey IPA

by Katie Smith March 12, 2021

Loose Leaf is our new Earl Grey IPA. Brewed with cold Yorkshire days in mind, this one's definitely your cup of tea. Put the pot on the stove and cosy up in the kitchen for a cup of Earl Grey, it's time for a tea.

Infused with Earl Grey loose leaf tea expertly blended by Antonia & Panesar, who we have worked with time and time again to brew some amazing coffee beers. Brewing a beer with tea is something we've had in the back of our minds for a while and knew an IPA was the only way to go so we could pull out all of the delicious flavours. We worked with Antonia & Panesar and selected this classic tea for its perfect blend and its distinctive and delicious flavours.

When brewing Loose Leaf, we wanted to pack as much Citra hop into the beer as possible. To do this we used Cryo hops as well as BBC type pellets. Cryo Hops are some of the most innovative and in-demand hops on the market. To produce Cryo Hops, whole-leaf hops are separated into concentrated lupulin (the good stuff) and bract to preserve the essential oils and resins. They then go through a cryogenic process at an extremely low temperature. Resulting in a hop pellet that doubles hop potency by 40-50% from traditional pellets. This process creates a hop pellet that is perfect for brewing IPA's and enhancing the hops juicy, resinous and fruity characteristics. And for us means we get same amount of lupulin added to the beer with roughly half of the physical, vegetal matter, a god send for the brewers when they're carrying up the hop bags.

To add the tea, we brewed up 15 kilos of Earl Grey Tea in 75 L of water at 80c, then let it infuse for 20 mins. We then added the resulting liquid and the huge tea bag into the wort, so that the tea could be absorbed into the wort throughout fermentation. The smell from fermentation and maturation was fantastic.

The Earl Grey tea works beautifully with the Citra hops to provide a wonderful bouquet of flavours and aromas. Expect floral hop flavours, together with notes of citrusy bergamot for a refreshing finish.

It's time for tea, but probably not one for your granny.