I brewed a wit last night, and everything went pretty well. During the mash I zested a couple of oranges and weighed it up. My small Stainless cup wouldn't hold all of the zest loosely, so I packed it down just a bit and managed to fit it all in. Then I sat it on the counter while I crushed the coriander and waited for the end of the boil.
When the timer went off I dumped the orange zest and coriander into the kettle and went to rig up the CFC. Then I turned off the flame and started prechilling the chiller while I brought the kettle into the house and started draining the hops bag with the orange zest in it.
As I pulled out the hops bag and dumped it's contents, I found an INTACT glob of orange zest the size and shape of the stainless cup I used. I tried breaking it up and adding back into the kettle, but it was pretty firm. I managed to break it into some smaller pieces and let it steep for a minute or two, but I wonder how much orange flavor and aroma I'm going to get now.
I'll remind myself not to pack the zest at all, and to prepare it just before the boil is over too. And I wonder if I should try dry hopping this batch with more zest when the fermentation is complete...
When the timer went off I dumped the orange zest and coriander into the kettle and went to rig up the CFC. Then I turned off the flame and started prechilling the chiller while I brought the kettle into the house and started draining the hops bag with the orange zest in it.
As I pulled out the hops bag and dumped it's contents, I found an INTACT glob of orange zest the size and shape of the stainless cup I used. I tried breaking it up and adding back into the kettle, but it was pretty firm. I managed to break it into some smaller pieces and let it steep for a minute or two, but I wonder how much orange flavor and aroma I'm going to get now.
I'll remind myself not to pack the zest at all, and to prepare it just before the boil is over too. And I wonder if I should try dry hopping this batch with more zest when the fermentation is complete...