Wood-aged Orange Pale Ale

Hey guys, I know this sounds a little weird, but I'm coming up with this recipe and could use a little bit of help. I want to wood-flavor (via chips) a pale ale that has definite orange flavor (via Orange zest and possibly the meat of the oranges themselves). I know the go-to wood is usually oak, but I would like to try something else if possible. Maybe something brighter that won't impart such dark toasty characteristics to this beer.

This is the recipe so far:

5-Gal. batch

Grain Bill:
7lb Breiss Golden Light LME
1lb Crystal 10L

Hops: All cascade 1oz added at 60mins, 15mins, 10mins, 5 mins and 2oz to dry hop.

I don't really know hops very well, but I'm hoping that the cascade will add the citrus and floral notes I'm hoping for.

Yeast:
White labs California Ale yeast WLP001

Other:
1oz Grated Orange Zest
2-3 oranges
.5 oz of oak (or other wood) chips

I'm entirely sure where I should be adding the oranges. I was planning on adding the zest 5-10mins before the end of the boil and maybe doing the meat in the primary (after heating it up in water and stuff to sanitize it). I really want some orange flavor to power through add to contrast with the wood (which might just end up being oak) to provide a lot of complexity and hopefully make this beer taste good! I'm still new at this and this is probably a little crazy for a noob, but I'm not here to make beer that I could just buy at bevmo.

Thanks a lot for any help or suggestions!
Smizz

have you tried plugging the above info into a recipe creator/calculator? i like www.hopville.com but there are many others out there. they are useful for estimating what your OG will be, which in turn tells you how heavy a beer you are brewing. depending how heavy your recipe is, the taste of oranges night not shine through very much. most fruit beers tend to be on the lighter side so the malt and other flavors don't overpower the fruit.

i suspect that you're running heavy on hops. you might not be able to taste much orange through all that cascade i would consider dropping either the 15 or the 10 min addition. again, a recipe calculator would help here with the IBUs.

i would definitely read up on fruit additions. i don't have my "complete joy of homebrewing" with me at the moment, but i seem to remember papazian writing something to the effect that you don't want to fully boil fruit since that does something undesirable to the pectins. not sure if you were already aware of that.

Actually I had plugged it into hopville already, and thats why I added so much cascade. I had originally planned less, but it was telling me that If I didn't add more to the boil it wouldn't have enough IBUs. I might get rid of the dry hopping ones though, cause I feel like that might send the hop a little over board and drown out the orange. Also gonna get rid of the 5min addition.

As far as the orange goes I had read stuff on that, like how you should put it in water that is 170 F for a few mins. I'm not really sure if I should put it in the primary or the secondary though. and whether I should boil the zest or put it in with the orange itself.

Thanks a lot for you input though! I'll take it easy on the hops

Smizz

I do not think you have enough malt for all the hops. I love Cascades but they are more floral to me and not as much citrus. You could maybe switch one of your cascade additions for Centennial or Amarillo gold. That might give you a little more citrus. Definitely add some more malt extract or maybe some maltier specilty grains. Maybe Vienna or Munich.
I do not know about adding the actual fruit but usually I add the peel or zest with 10 minutes left in the boil.
As for the wood, I have never done it but I have wondered what citrus wood would do.
Good luck!

I actually did put it on Hopville, heres the link:
http://hopville.com/recipe/1111141/american-pale-ale-recipes/oaked-orange-pale-ale.

I changed it up a little, especially the hops. Thanks a lot for the advice on that! I really don't know much about hops yet, but I read up on it and amarillo and centennial really sound like they'll be more what I'm aiming for in flavor. I'm not sure if its right yet, but I definitely like it more.

I had read up on how to use the actual fruit itself, and how i should bring it up to 170F in water for about 10 mins, but I'm not sure whether to add it to the primary or the secondary. The zest I'm gonna add the last 10 mins of the boil I think.

The wood I'm still stuck on. I think I'm going to use oak chips. Probably french medium toasted maybe. Or I might just find what I can get and go with it .

Thanks a lot for you help guys. I'm hoping this beer will be good.

Cheers!
Smizz

Sorry for double posting, it wouldn't post at all and then they all suddenly came up. very annoying

Smizz

Be sure to let us know how it turns out. You may want to check out a book called Extreme Brewing by Sam Calagione. He is the owner of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and he does alot of intersting stuff with fruit and spices. You may find it to your liking. Good luck!

Yeah I actually have that book, and I love it! I've essentially decided that I son't really want to make beer that I can buy on a shelf easily, so that book was totally my style.

I have the 60 minute IPA in primary right now. I want to try his blood orange hefe this summer. I have tried my hand at cloning some commercial brews that I like and I rarely am successful in getting close but I usually wind up with a very god beer. I'll look forward to seeing how this recipe comes out!