Fruit and Spice Beer Blood Orange Belgian Wit

The HBS I bought my extract from didn't have any wheat DME, so I subbed 6 lbs of Muntons Wheat LME and 12oz Muntons Light LME(Just for body and to up the abv slightly)

I dumped the fruit and peels directly into the fermenter without a bag and it wasn't that big of a deal, even in a carboy. I had sliced the oranges pretty small, so that helped.

I tasted it last weekend and it was still pretty under-carbed(only in bottle for a week) I'll pop another to test tomorrow and post a picture

ajpoen,

Awesome....would love to see a pic!

What would be the best substitution for blood oranges? I have called several local grocers and can't seem to find them in stock. One store suggested cara cara oranges, and then in this thread someone used orange blossom oranges. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

darm0v said:

What would be the best substitution for blood oranges?

Click to expand...

I'd like to know the answer to that also.

RugenBrau said:

I'd like to know the answer to that also.

Click to expand...

I think I'm going to use Cara Cara. I've called every grocery store around and they said they only had blood oranges in February. I also asked several people at the LHBS and they had no suggestions. They said that the blood orange was unique and it sounded like it was up to me to experiment.

BrewTarget says my IBUs for this are going to be 23.7. That's outside the range for witbiers. Does anyone think that will be too bitter? Otherwise the recipe is balanced with 6 lbs of Muntons Plain Wheat DME, 3 lbs boiled, 3 lbs late addition, my US Goldings hops are 5.9% AA, and the Saaz (US) hops are 7.6% AA. All combined that gives me OG of 1.053, FG of 1.014, ABV of 5.1, IBU 23.7, Color 4.4, and IBU/GU of 0.45. That's for a partial boil extract equipment setup. This is going to be fun.

Honestly I don't know what to use as a substitute? Part of the coolness factor with this recipe is that for most people in the US Blood Oranges are only available just one or two times a year. You could do a search online about oranges and see the difference in taste profiles and see what you think you'd like?

Cheers

I can not wait to try this recipe. I've read all the posts and took the notes. I will post pics and comments when I brew this later in the week!

Thank you for the recipe!

Thanks for the recipe! I just brewed a 5-gallon batch of this last night - it's my first 5-gal brew and my first time using a plastic bucket to ferment. My others have only been 1-gal and 2-gal in glass jugs, so I'm very excited to see how this turns out!

jtaguy & mward43,

I'm sure you both will love it. I just had some this past weekend thats been on tap for a few months. Awesome tasting beer. Report back your tasting notes. Would love to hear your thoughts on it.

Cheers

Blood Orange Wit

2.5 gallons water
1/2 gallon water for zest and fruit

Boil
6 pounds Briess DME Wheat (60 minutes)
1/2 ounce (15g) East Kent Goldings hop pellets (60 minutes)
5 average sized blood oranges (In another pot)
1/2 ounce (15g) Saaz hop pellets (20 minutes)
1/2 ounce (15g) East Kent Goldings hop pellets (10 minutes)
1 oz Crushed Coriander (5 minutes)

In carboy
Cool water to the 5-gallon (19L) mark

Fermentation
Yeast: Wyeast 1214, 3942 or 3944; or White Labs WLP400 or WLP550

Bottling
3.6 ounces CreamyX or other priming source.

STARTING GRAVITY: 1.052
FINAL GRAVITY: 1.011
FINAL TARGET ABV: 5.4%

PROCESS
1. Heat 3.5 gallons of water in the brewpot. As the water begins to boil, remove it from heat. Add the light wheat malt extract. Stir to prevent clumping and scorching on the bottom of the pot. Return the pot to heat.

2. Allow the wort to come up to a boil. Add the first East Kent Golding hop pellets and stir. Start timing the 1-hour boil at the point that you make this hop addition.

3. Zest and save all the oranges. Once the oranges are zested remove the fruit from the rind. The fruit and zest may be placed in a straining bag for easy removal after fermentation. Heat fruit and peels in 1/2 gallon (2L) of water to 160 degrees F (71C) and then turn off heat. Let it steep as it cools.

4. 20 minutes before the end of the boil, add the Saaz hop pellets.

5. 10 minutes before the end of the boil, add the second East Kent Golding hop pellets and stir for 1 minute.

6. At the 60-minute mark, turn off the heat source. Chill the wort in a cold water bath to a temperature of 70F-75F (21C - 24C).

8. Transfer the wort into a carboy or a plastic fermenter. Pour blood orange peels and fruit into the wort.

9. Top up the carboy to a 5-gallon (19L) mark with cool water. Aerate for 1 minute

10. Pitch the yeast

11. In about 12 days, your beer should be ready to package.[/QUOTE]

Just bottled my naval orange version of this two days ago...smelled amazing! Apparently blood oranges were off the shelves in March in the Bay Area but when I was there two days they had more. Oh well, the navals smelled fine. Thanks again for this recipe and post thread, been a great read.

SarcasticHorse,

Can't wait to hear your tasting results.

Cheers!!!

Going to bottle the brew tomorrow. Will post a pic of the color and some notes.

This recipe sounds great. Has anybody tried a full boil on this?

I never did find Blood oranges, however I used Cara Cara instead. It came out awesome. The orange flavor is not overwhelming but definitely noticeable. This is a beer I will continue to brew, and when I do fine those blood oranges I will buy as many as I can and freeze them for when not in season. I posted a picture of the real thing and the home brew. The home brew is the one on the left and just a little darker. I'd expect the color to be more red with the Blood oranges. Thanks again for the recipe!

Here's my bad boy after almost 3 weeks of bottling (did a good 48 hour fridge sit). Forgive the iPhone photo quality.

The orange flavor is not 100% but overall its pretty good. I will definitely try a better version of this once blood oranges are back on the market.

Tasted my first this batch last week after it had been in bottles for about 2.5 weeks, and boy was it good! I went with navel oranges instead of blood oranges (my local grocery store didn't have them in stock at the time) and the flavor was still great, but I'll have to give this recipe another shot using blood oranges just to see the difference. I had this fermenting in a room that averaged about 74 degF and that didn't seem to have any negative effect, so I strongly recommend this recipe to anyone who's dealing with warmer climates. Below is a photo of the first glass poured.

So glad you guys are enjoying the recipe. I have yet to make it with anything other then the Blood Oranges, with all your great results I'm tempted to try it with a different variety.

Cheers

After 6 weeks in the bottle, it cleared up a lot. When I cracked one open at 3 weeks you could not see through at all. At the 5 week mark it looked much clearer and tasted even better. Inspired by this recipe, i plan on making my own and will share it with you all soon. Once I know it turns out great that is!

Thanks again James for the inspiration! Salute!!!

Hey have any of you guys added light candi syrup to orange witbier recipes to give it more beef?

Anyone brewed this one again?? Blood Oranges are in season again.
Cheers and let me know how it turns out??

I've got an all grain similar recipe with lots of blood oranges brewing right now that will be kegged in a few weeks cant wait!

I've done this recipe a few times now. I can not find blood oranges, so I always use other types. I tweaked the recipe a bit and add tangerines, Clementines, extra hops and Irish moss just to clear it out a little bit. Comes out great every time. I'm on a mission to find the ever so elusive Blood Orange!

I just brewed a blood orange Hefe. I always have good luck finding blood oranges at little mom and pop grocery stores and ethnic grocery stores as well. My local ethnic grocer has a constant supply of blood oranges from dec through the end of feb.

Finally found blood oranges, looks like I'll be making this soon. I just bottled a batch with navel oranges. I infused the bottling sugar with fresh ginger, did this last time and it gave it a nice taste.

This is a very interesting thread. Wits and bitters are my 2 fav beers. In fact, I have one of each in the pipeline.

This whole orange thing is so up in the air. Dried bitter, dried sweet, fresh and varied types. All claim to add a slight bit of orange flavor. However, if you read they Hoegaarden website the state something quite interesting. Their claim is that the orange additions offer very little in the way of orange flavor. They claim the orange zest adds the bitterness. According to them, its the special coriander (brewing type) that gives their beer the orange flavor and not the oranges.

That being said, I will probably try the adding of boiled orange flesh and zest to see what happens. Most here say the flavor is not very pronounced. Maybe because the orange sweetness from the juice ferments out. I bet all that is left is some citrus oils that add to aroma?

Well, whatever, the fact is Wits have such great balance. Not too hoppy, not too malty or spicy or wheaty. And god help me, they go down like soda pop.

I cant seem to find any "est kent golding" hop pellets, but I can find "uk kent golding" hops.
Is there any difference? what would be a suitable substitute? (quite new at this) thanks

East Kent Golding are the american version of UK Kent Golding imported and now grown by HopUnion I belive. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. You can use either one (read "they are the same')

thanks. when my primary clears, I'll definitely be brewing this. Will it clear more with a little age? (not that I mind the haze too much).

It's a Belgian Witbier, it's supposed to have a haze to it. This style is not a clear beer. In fact you should pour most of the bottle out, leave a little and swirl it around to pick up some of the yeast and finish the pour.

Cheers

Had this fermenting for the last few weeks and will be bottling tonight. Made as per recipe with blood oranges and looks great. Has a lovely orange smell and taste to it with just enough corriander to not overpower it. OG was 1051 with an FG of 1007 so an ABV of about 5.8%.

Will post again after it's had a few weeks in the bottle.

Marl out.

Can't wait to hear your tasting notes!!

For those of us who brew in carboys how would you suggest handling the oranges when you put the wort into the primary? I don't relish the thought of shoving a grain bag in there and then trying to fish it out in a week and a half.

I would just cut the slices of orange into small pieces and not put it into any bag. Once you rack your beer the small pieces of orange should be easy to remove from the carboy.

I've brewed a few blood orange beers Hefeweizen's and wits. After heating up the fruit to kill off any bugs I just toss them in. Once I forgot about a batch it had fruit in the primary for 2.75 months!!! Turned out to be one hell of a beer with no ill effects/flavors

This sounded so delicious I had to do it. Especially with spring on its way. I made the following modifications to the recipe to try a little experimentation, can't wait to see how it turns out.

• No blood oranges available so I used minneolas which are fantastically sweet and very easy to peel

• I toasted the coriander prior to adding it to the boil

• I had 3 lb of wheat DME with about .15-.2 lb of amber DME mixed in from a previous brew so I used that. I knew it would up the OG a little and the color so what I did to counter-act was add that as a very late addition just as I was ending the boil. So the 60 minute boil was the 3 Lb of wheat DME and the goldings with the late hop/coriander addition keeping to schedule.

• 60 minute boil started at 5 gallons (1/2 gallon of steeped fruit at the end made a perfect 5 gallons in the fermentor after boil loss)

The color did stay at around what I wanted, I know that with the larger boil and late addition DME there will be a bit more IBUs, but Beersmith estimated about 18-19 which is still in an acceptable range for wits. OG turned out to be 1.056, so not too high. I'm really looking forward to this, the smell coming out of my blow-off is so deliciously fruity right now.

Any updates on your batches. How'd it taste?

Unfortunately, I got busy and left it in the carboy for an extra week and a half. I had plans to bottle last weekend one my gravity readings were steady at 1.009, but something came up. Now the weirdest thing happened, I bottled last night and the gravity read 1.016. That is not a small difference, not sure what could have happened, I'm perplexed.

Anyway, the color is perfect, and the smell is fantastic. So much orange scent. I had a sample, but this was the murkiest beer I ever brewed. There is a lot of yeast flavor so I'm going to have to wait for the bottles to be carbed so I can cold crash this one.

Please fix the original post with the correct gallons in the instructions. I didnt read the correction post until it was too late.

I made a similar brew.IT WAS SUPPOSED to be blue moon, but it tasted a little bitter so I added a can of frozen orange. s juice to the keg after fermentation was done.Man it was purty good.