Twisted Tea Hard Iced Tea (can) Recipe
Recipe information
Make Twisted Tea Hard Iced Tea (can) in just 336h . Twisted Tea Brewing Company Flavored Malt Beverage 5% ABV
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Ingredients
Fermentation (malt base)
Tea & flavor
Packaging & finishing
Fermentation (malt base)
1. Sanitation
Sanitize fermenter, spoon, airlock, bottling supplies and 12 cans/bottles thoroughly with the food-grade sanitizer following the product instructions. Proper sanitation is critical — everything that touches the beer after the boil must be sanitized.
2. Prepare wort
Bring 3.5 L of the water to a gentle boil in a large pot. Remove from heat and stir in the 700 g dry malt extract and 150 g cane sugar until fully dissolved. Return to a gentle boil for 5 minutes to sanitize and dissolve. Watch for boil-overs. Turn off heat and cool quickly (ice bath or immersion chiller) to ~20–24°C.
3. Top up and transfer
Pour the cooled wort into the sanitized primary fermenter. Add additional cool water to reach a total volume of approximately 4.5 L of wort (final fermenter volume). Check temperature — it should be 20–24°C before pitching yeast.
4. Pitch yeast & nutrient
Stir in 1 tsp yeast nutrient into the cooled wort. Sprinkle or rehydrate and pitch the 5 g yeast into the wort. Seal with sanitized airlock and place fermenter in a stable 18–22°C location.
5. Primary fermentation
Allow fermentation to proceed for 5–8 days. Active fermentation should start within 24–48 hours. Optional: take a hydrometer reading at day 3 and again on day 7. Target original gravity is approximately 1.045; final gravity target near 1.010 to achieve ~5% ABV (actual values depend on ingredients and efficiency). Once activity has slowed and gravity is stable for two days, proceed to flavoring/secondary.
Tea & flavor
6. Brew concentrated tea
While primary fermentation is finishing, make a strong tea concentrate: steep 12 black tea bags in 1 L of just-off-boil water for 8–10 minutes to extract a robust flavor (long steep time for concentrated, slightly bitter tea used in RTDs). Remove tea bags and cool to room temperature. Keep the concentrate refrigerated until ready.
7. Blend tea & flavorings
When primary fermentation is complete (gravity stable 24–48 hours), gently rack (transfer) the fermented malt base to a sanitized secondary vessel, leaving the heavy trub behind. Add the cooled tea concentrate, 80 ml fresh lemon juice, 5 g citric acid (if using), and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Stir gently to combine. Taste a small sample; if sweetness is desired, dissolve up to 20 g sugar or simple syrup into a small amount of the beverage and add gradually to reach desired sweetness — remember sweetness will drop slightly as flavors meld.
8. Secondary conditioning
Allow the blended beverage to condition for 3–5 days in the secondary at 12–16°C so the tea melds with the malt base and any yeast sediment settles. Monitor clarity and flavor; adjust lemon, citric acid, or sweetness as needed (use measured small additions).
Packaging & finishing
9. Prepare priming sugar
Dissolve 18 g priming sugar (corn sugar/dextrose) in 50 ml boiling water; cool to room temperature. This amount is calculated to yield a moderate carbonation for 4.5 L (aiming for 2.2–2.6 volumes CO2).
10. Mix priming sugar and package
Gently rack the conditioned beverage into a sanitized bottling bucket, leaving behind sediment. Add the cooled priming sugar solution to the bottling bucket and stir gently to distribute evenly. Fill sanitized 12 x 355 ml cans/bottles, leaving appropriate headspace, and seal with sanitized lids or crown caps.
11. Carbonation and cold conditioning
Allow bottles/cans to sit at room temperature (18–22°C) for 5–7 days to naturally carbonate. After carbonation, refrigerate for at least 24–48 hours before serving to let flavors settle and chill. For clearer product, cold-condition (lager) at ~2–4°C for 48–72 hours, then serve chilled.
12. Optional pasteurization (commercial step — optional at home)
If you plan to store cans long-term and want to stabilize alcohol and carbonation, some producers pasteurize. For home batches, refrigeration and consuming within a few weeks is recommended. Do not attempt commercial pasteurization without proper equipment and knowledge.
13. Serve
Chill to 3–6°C and serve cold. Garnish with a lemon wedge if desired.
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