So I think I will be visiting the tea shop near the completion of fermentation. My plan is to cold steep the tea in the sake for a couple of days and dose the keg with as much as necessary to get the character I want. I am thinking oolong tea instead of green tea. If I sample it and it is undesirable then I don’t have to use it…
Just got the grains and changed the recipe slightly.
75.9% Schill pilsner
20.3% flaked rice (decided to go the lazy route)
3.8% carahell
1.049
3.5 SRM
Kind of conflicted on hop amounts. I need keep the IBUs low but want some noticeable hop flavor. It should be very light bodied with light malt flavor so I could probably overpower it easily.
7 g Magnum 60 min
28 g Sterling 5 min
~20 IBU
Already outlined my plan for the sake and tea. I will add by taste to keg. Going for a very subtle character. Thanks for all of the help!
At least some of the varieties are available through specialty retailers. I found a couple on Amazon but predictably they are incredibly expensive.
Sushi rice would be another good option though. I’ve had beer with sushi rice and the rice flavor really comes through.
I have a bag of sushi rice at home but decided to pass because I just assumed any difference in flavor would be negligible and I am lazy. If I didn’t have everything milled and mixed together, I would probably go that direction…
Update for anyone interested
Beer has reached an FG of 1.009. The hydrometer sample had a fruity lemon hop character from the sterling hops and as expected a very clean malt character.
Today I added 4 oz of green dragon oolong tea to 16 oz sake and placed in the fridge. I plan to keg within the next couple of days and add the the sake/tea infusion at packaging. I will try to remember to update once beer is carbed.
Not sure how but this beer works.
It needs additional time in the fridge to clarify and lager but right now I am very pleased with the character and it seems to have turned out better than I could have expected. The sake is just perceptible and adds a very nice complexity. I am not sure if the tea is recognizable however I think it is likely contributing to some bitterness and possibly some flavor. When I tasted the sake-tea infusion before adding to the keg, it was quite strong and the tea was completely overpowering the sake.
Normally when I brew something strange it doesn’t turn out too well so I very happy with this pleasant surprise.
Here she is. Very happy about how this turned out. The sake and the tea both come through a lot more than I expected but not too much by any means. The tea adds a nice herbal, fruity character that is accented by the sake which is also contributing to a creamy sort of mouthfeel like what you would expect from flaked oats. I am glad that I chose this particular tea because I could have really messed it up with what I was originally going to choose. Not sure how often I will brew this but I could definitely see doing it from time to time.
That’s a great looking beer!
Looks good. I did a rice lager some years back. No sake or tea, but it was tasty.
Props on the saw. Is it a sliding compound mitre saw? That’s one of the things I want. My bro has one. He’ll never lend me anything.
This is a cool idea. A very good local brewery, Element, makes what they call a sake IPA. It doesn’t have sake in it but it made with rice and has a sake character about it.
I once took a picture of a glass of mead on my table saw. We should start a shop safety picture site or maybe ites like calendars with girls and cars.
That saw is just a hinged chop saw. My dad has a sliding one which is why I probably ‘inherited’ this one…
Ha! Yeah for some reason I can never get good pics of my beers. The lighting is always weird. This one showcased the clarity so I went with it.
I noticed the Pagosa Springs logo before the saw. Stopped for one at that brewery while driving through CO, and it was hard to keep it at one. Very good beers there.
I haven’t been there in a couple of years. I would like to revisit their beers but I don’t think they distribute outside of SW Colorado.
Shop safety. Beer and saws.
Wanted to thank goschman and others for the info. I finally brewed my Sapporo like lager and the info on this post was helpful. I used real sushi rice because we had it on hand.
Approximate grain bill
58% Pils
39% sushi rice
3% Carahelles
Hallertau hops
The sample tastes great and is pretty clear. Cant wait until its carbed!
Thanks again.
Really cool! How did you end up using the rice? Cook and then into the mash?
My rice lager keg should just about be kicked. I enjoyed it but ultimately came to the conclusion that the sake-tea character was a bit too much.
I like how this has become a rice beer and tools themed thread.
Seems like a logical pairing 
That’s funny. Didnt even realize it. I guess the harbor freight catalog was the closest thing at the time…
Cooked and added to mash with the cooking water. I did similar to what stpug had suggested, except I broke up the rice with a immersion blender before i cooked it. I also wasnt paying attention and some of the rice burned and stuck to the bottom of the pot while I was cooking it. I probably lost some gravity points on that but at least it didnt have a burnt taste to it. A sake/tea character still sounds good. Would you make it again with less characters. If I do one again, I’ll probably will try a rice like basmati to see if the flavor comes through.