orange IPA

Thinking about brewing a double ipa with a slight orange flavor. I've heard not to use juice. I'm wondering if i can use straight orange oil instead of zesting a bunch of fruit? Anyone have a answer?
Thanks

Oil might work, but have you considered just going for the orange flavor via hop selection?

I had an APA this past weekend that used citra hops (my first exposure to that hop variety) and it was REALLY orange tasting to me.

My $0.02.

Throw some orange peels into the boil for the last 5 or so minutes? I did this for my wheat beer. It's still conditioning, but I definitely smelled the orange when bottling. Had a small sample of the uncarbed beer, and it had plenty of orange flavor.

I would use the zest and not peels. Do that and maybe some Summit hops at flame out. I did a wheat IPA and used 2 oz of summit at flame out and I have a huge tangerine nose in this beer.

I zested 3 oranges into my belgian white primary for about the last week, the fermentor smelled like oranges when I opened it but I'm surprised how little came through in the beer.

gtpro said:

I zested 3 oranges into my belgian white primary for about the last week, the fermentor smelled like oranges when I opened it but I'm surprised how little came through in the beer.

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I used dried orange peel, and put it into my boil. Perhaps the boiling helps extract the flavor from the peel better than just putting it in your fermenter?

gtpro said:

I zested 3 oranges into my belgian white primary for about the last week, the fermentor smelled like oranges when I opened it but I'm surprised how little came through in the beer.

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The overall flavor picture comes from the combo of aroma and taste. I think a combo of zest and citra hops would do nicely to round out the orangyness.

febbrewro said:

I used dried orange peel, and put it into my boil. Perhaps the boiling helps extract the flavor from the peel better than just putting it in your fermenter?

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I know that when you're cooking you do not want any of the white rind of the peel as it adds a very bitter (unpleasant) taste to the dish. I would zest about a cup or two into a 5 gallon batch, although you can really put as much as you would like. Try it, and let us know.

You also don't want to boil or cook very long with the zest in there when cooking, as those oils are quite volatile. Throw them in at flameout and let them steep with the lid on in a whirlpool step if you want more contact time.

Brew-boy said:

I would use the zest and not peels. Do that and maybe some Summit hops at flame out. I did a wheat IPA and used 2 oz of summit at flame out and I have a huge tangerine nose in this beer.

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Yea I would agree,, My last batch I used only 1 oz of summit split between boil and aroma, and was amazed at how much citrus there is