mcwilcr

Recipes 

Its the pith that will make it bitter not the zest. Just be sure to stop before you get into it.

IrishBrewer74

Recipes 

+1 to this.... Go buy a lemon zester. They are only a couple of bucks and are designed to only shave off the zest. Otherwise as you are shaving/grating off the colored part of the peel, stop just short of getting to the white spongy part.

Calichusetts

Recipes 

I've actually used chopped orange peel (fresh) with the pith and have not seen much in an increase in bitterness...same with grapefruit. But everyone's palette is different

Oh yeah, and a microplane zester for the win, use what the pros use:
http://www.amazon.com/Microplane-40020-Classic-Zester-Grater/dp/B00004S7V8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331893942&sr=8-1


Good luck...and experiement with different types of oranges too...I am trying tangelos, tangerines, and naval oranges tonight

Skipper74

Recipes 

I just made a wit using clementine zest two weeks ago. The hydro sample I took the other day tasted great, perfect amount of flavor with the zest of five clementines. Keep in mind, though, that clementines are much smaller than regular oranges or even tangerines. I also used a microplane grater, which really only pulls off the very top layer of zest. At least here in the Northeast, the supermarkets are filled with clementines right now.

Calichusetts

Recipes 

Citrus is in season! Instead of having to pick through yesterday at the store, I could basically grab at random and get a ripe, unbruised orange.

aldousbee

Recipes 

I used fresh orange peel in my recent brew, it was awesome! I used 4 oranges for a 5 gallon batch. However I made a mistake of accidentally including the white parts or the pith - It had this metallic bitterness but still delicious and drinkable.