Sanitise loose leaf tea?

[stz]

Hello HBT.
Would you sanitise tea? I want to dry hop with it. Brewer I know says he doesn't, but it seems to 'restart some fermentation' which is concerning. Last time I used tea I poured a little boiling water (300ml?) over it (80g?) and then added the lot quite quickly as a compromise. I haven't had any issue. I'd rather not sanitise the tea as I believe I'm compromising on the flavour.

 

[65C]

I'm still gauging the sanitation side of brewing (I've been making bread for years and have a good grip on sour dough yeast hardiness)

frankly, I find it hard to believe dropping some tea in to an n% alcohol secondary will have much risk

however, it may be you'll get more tea flavour from using actual tea that has been brewed than dropping leaves in dry - you need boiling water to extract the taste with tea - so maybe making a 200ml brew of super strong tea is way to go anyway - just pour it in to secondary cool

 

[eyebrau]

however, it may be you'll get more tea flavour from using actual tea that has been brewed than dropping leaves in dry - you need boiling water to extract the taste with tea - so maybe making a 200ml brew of super strong tea is way to go anyway - just pour it in to secondary cool

I second this. I will be making an Earl Grey mead in the very near future, and this is my plan. Small amount of boiling water poured over a whole lot of loose tea to make a strong tea "concentrate" type of deal, and then adding the strained tea (once cooled) into secondary. Since you're using boiled water, sanitation issues are negated.

 

[madscientist451]

You need to keep in mind what you are trying to achieve. If you want tea flavor in your beer, why do you want to add the tea leaves to secondary?
My 2 cents: When the beer is done, brew up some tea and do some blending trials. You can then dial in the amount of tea flavor you are looking for.