Blood orange substitute

So I bought 6.6 lbs of wheat malt and 2 ounces of Mt. Hood to make the blood orange heifeweizen from the DFH Extreme Brewing book for a summer beer. I foolishly assumed they would be in season and already bought the supplies. So does anyone have any ideas on what else I could add to make the beer not so boring, Ive never made a heifeweizen so I'm not really sure what would go well with it.

Thanks

Blood oranges have a different flavor, but mainly I think they are more tart than 'regular' oranges. If I were trying to mimic the flavor, I might go with orange juice, a little pomegranate juice, and maybe a dash of granadine(? maybe). I'd say experiment until you get a similar flavor, then mix it up and make the recipe. I think most will advise to brew a plain hefe first though, where's the fun in that though?

it doesnt necessarily have to match the taste. Its more that i finally convinced a friend of mine to try homebrewing with me, and while I'm not a huge fan of weisses at all, she is and wanted to do something different, so really any fun ingredient to add to a heifiweizen would be fine

adding oranges to a hefeweizen will NOT make a good flavor. if you want an orange flavor, add a slice when you drink it.

sorry, but as landhoney predicted, i wouldn't condone anyone doing this, especially on their first hefeweizen and even more so if you're doing it to try and get a friend into brewing.

if you absolutely have to do it, tho, be sure to use the peel only...don't use any whole fruit.

I think the recipe calls for heating the juice of the blood orange with some of the peel??? Correct??? I don't have that book, but have read reference to the recipe in other places.

And yes, I can see the future.

BTW DeathBrewer, Sam Calagione(sp?) thinks oranges have a place in a hefe fermentation. Or did you just mean the actual whole fruit?

i personally don't think fruit belongs in beer at all. orange peel and coriander in a wit maybe...that's still pushing it for me

but really...it's just that in order to make a good fruit weizen you first have to make a great weizen. how can you do that when this is your first wheat?

i'm just concerned you might be disappointed with the end product.

and i actually missed that this was from a book, thought you were just winging it. my position still stands but sorry anyway

DeathBrewer said:

...it's just that in order to make a good fruit weizen you first have to make a great weizen. how can you do that when this is your first wheat?

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True dat!!!!

i planned to make the same recipe for a mother's day bbq. i'm generally a no-fruit-in-beer guy, but i figured this would be a nice brew for the variety of family members we were having over.

no blood oranges available, so i used (as you can see in my sig) tangelos. i used the meat of two and the zest of four. fermentation took forever, and was not even near complete enough to bottle in time for last weekend's holiday. i just bottled this past monday night, and the sample tasted, well, interesting. my wife loved it. i'll pop a bottle this coming weekend and let you know.

sellout49 said:

So I bought 6.6 lbs of wheat malt and 2 ounces of Mt. Hood to make the blood orange heifeweizen from the DFH Extreme Brewing book for a summer beer. I foolishly assumed they would be in season and already bought the supplies. So does anyone have any ideas on what else I could add to make the beer not so boring, Ive never made a heifeweizen so I'm not really sure what would go well with it.

Thanks

Click to expand...

DeathBrewer said:

i personally don't think fruit belongs in beer at all. orange peel and coriander in a wit maybe...that's still pushing it for me

but really...it's just that in order to make a good fruit weizen you first have to make a great weizen. how can you do that when this is your first wheat?

i'm just concerned you might be disappointed with the end product.

and i actually missed that this was from a book, thought you were just winging it. my position still stands but sorry anyway

Click to expand...

Dude, you're a no-fruit-Nazi too? It's rare that I make one, but when I have, it's been great. How do you feel about spices? Are you just adhering to the reinhetsgebot, or what? Next time you're thinking "fruit has no place in beer" go find yourself a Hanssen's Kreik and then we'll see if you're still singing same tune

sellout49 said:

I foolishly assumed they would be in season and already bought the supplies.

Click to expand...

You sure there out of season? I was at the grocery store last weekend and they were selling blood oranges. Do you have a organic market or one of those high end markets (Whole Foods) that you can check out?

Evan! said:

Dude, you're a no-fruit-Nazi too? It's rare that I make one, but when I have, it's been great. How do you feel about spices? Are you just adhering to the reinhetsgebot, or what? Next time you're thinking "fruit has no place in beer" go find yourself a Hanssen's Kreik and then we'll see if you're still singing same tune

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not a big fan of kriek, actually. i'm totally a malt nazi. why use fruit when you can get such wonderful flavors from the yeast?

haven't used much spices...made a few wits but that's it. i recently made a chocolate ale *gasp* for a dessert party this weekend, so i did use chocolate in my beer. i refuse to add vanilla, tho.

but seriously, i didn't post to be an ass. i just love hefeweizens and really think a fruit beer should only be made after the weizen has been perfected, otherwise you're just asking for trouble.

but i think i've hijacked this thread enough with my EACism.

I think the fruit would be better in an American wheat instead of a hefe.

very true.

btw...
hefe means yeast
weisse means white
weizen means wheat

the correct term would be "german hefeweizen" or "weisse-bier"

god, i need to stay outta here.

A local MT brewery has a Mandarin Hefe that is amazing. Oranges do belong in Hefe. Thought about making a peaches n' cream ale...

"When ya go diging up the past... All ya get is dirty."

I think I'll go watch that movie.

Yeah ive got a friend with an apricot tree and they're just about ready. You shouldnt buy fruit from the store try to get it fresh from someones tree. Im all about fruit in beer so i say go for it and btw a local Micro brewery made an Imperial Blood Orange Wheat for their one year celebration the brewery is called Hangar 24 in redlands ca. IT was strong but good. also they make an Orange Wheat thats very popular. If your gonna do this i suggest using an american wheat ale yeast instead of a german hefe yeast. I live right down the road from a bunch of cherry orchards so im about ready to some test batches this weekend. btw dont limit your options to wheat beers, fruit goes good in browns, stouts, porters, blonds even saisons. whatever you do have fun.

If I didn't have access to Blood Oranges, I would look for a sweet orange, like a Cara, and throw a small amount of raspberries in. well at least to me that's what a ripe blood orange taste like.

I'll say it one more time

"When ya go digging up the past... All ya get is dirty."










(This is a one year old thread)