Pale Ale infused with Mandarin Oranges.

I was thinking of doing a pale or an IPA infused with Mandarin Oranges. I was eating them and thinking the slightly bitter rich citrus would be awesome in a pale or an IPA. Anyone ever attempted this? Where would I start. I'd like to formulate a All-Grain pale ale. Perhaps using english malts?

zip100473 said:

I was thinking of doing a pale or an IPA infused with Mandarin Oranges. I was eating them and thinking the slightly bitter rich citrus would be awesome in a pale or an IPA. Anyone ever attempted this? Where would I start. I'd like to formulate a All-Grain pale ale. Perhaps using english malts?

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Yeah, engish malts would work. then maybe puree the oranges and add them to the seconday or after a few days of fermentation. Keep the grain bill simple so the oranges will shine. You could also try mixing american and NZ hops to get a mandarin orange flavor. When mixed I think nelson sauvin and cascade give a nice mandarin flavor

King of Cascade said:

Yeah, engish malts would work. then maybe puree the oranges and add them to the seconday or after a few days of fermentation. Keep the grain bill simple so the oranges will shine. You could also try mixing american and NZ hops to get a mandarin orange flavor. When mixed I think nelson sauvin and cascade give a nice mandarin flavor

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9lbs of Marris Otter and maybe a half to a pound of simpsons med crystal to impart a little sweetness and orangeish color.

1 oz of cascade leaf to bitter then a half of NS and Cascade @ 15, 5, and end?

Irish moss @ 15.

Thoughts?

My other unknown is where is a good place to start as how much mandarin to add? 32 oz? 64? Please advise...

I brewed this...
http://hopville.com/recipe/802192/e...-english-pale-ale-recipes/sunset-mandarin-ale

zip100473 said:

I brewed this...
http://hopville.com/recipe/802192/extra-special-strong-bitter-english-pale-ale-recipes/sunset-mandarin-ale

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How did it taste after a few weeks?
Sounds great.... As I eat a mandarin

Im only a week and two days in for conditioning. I think it's a fantastic beer. Great citrus backbone. The citra dryhop is amazing! Great orange color. I really dig it.

Took 3rd place in fruit beer category!

Any thoughts on how to do this as an extract?

If you are puree'ing the oranges or zesting them, do not include the white pith in your brew. One of my only truly bad beers was an Orange Pale Ale that had way too much white pith when zesting. It tasted bitter and not a good hop bitter...just weird, unpleasant bitter.

Zip... how did you prepare the mandarins when adding to primary?

cwdrake said:

Any thoughts on how to do this as an extract?

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I would use 1lb of simpsons medium as specialty. Gold syrup or DME. There is a ppg formula but I don't have that in front of me....

cwdrake said:

Zip... how did you prepare the mandarins when adding to primary?

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All I did was use a half gallon of water... Add mandarins. Heated to 160. Mashed a little. Held there @ 160 for 20min. Chilled in ice. Covered. Added directly to primary. Fermented for 2 weeks...

With the peels on or off?

cwdrake said:

With the peels on or off?

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I didn't have access to fresh so I went canned...

Cool. Sounds good. Every time I smell oranges I think about how great it would be to get that in a beer.

cwdrake said:

Cool. Sounds good. Every time I smell oranges I think about how great it would be to get that in a beer.

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Use half the juice from one can too... Next time I may add a can to the secondary... Looks like brains when fermenting.

I use orange in all my IPAs...my very first recipe is almost done and will be posted here. I add chopped orange at 20 then zest at 5. Puree in a secondary would really drive the flavor home but i want it more as a compliment to the beer.

And don't worry about the pith...I add the whole skin every time and have never encountered this fantom bitterness...coming on my 6th straight batch with chopped orange as well. Especially since you are adding such a sweet orange to it.

zip100473 said:

All I did was use a half gallon of water... Add mandarins. Heated to 160. Mashed a little. Held there @ 160 for 20min. Chilled in ice. Covered. Added directly to primary. Fermented for 2 weeks...

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Zip...this may be a stupid question but when you say you "Mashed a little" the mandarins, does that mean you crushed them a little? And did you only add the oranges to the fermentor or the liquid also?

Thanks

davidr7283 said:

Zip...this may be a stupid question but when you say you "Mashed a little" the mandarins, does that mean you crushed them a little? And did you only add the oranges to the fermentor or the liquid also?

Thanks

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Not a stupid question... I used everything. And yes I took a stainless spoon and mashed it... I didnt crush the hell out of it. Just enough to break them open.

Plan sounds great.

I have an orange pale ale kegged right now that I'm in love with. My wife buys those small "cutie" oranges (hybrid between sweet orange and chinese mandarin). I took the zest from three of these (and squeezed another) and plopped right into the boil with about 7 minutes from the end. Pretty good orange flavor and blends very well with the all Cascade hop schedule and fresh Cascades dry hopped from my hop plant up north. I used Bells yeast.

I need to add a little more cascade dry hop and I think I have a brew that will repeated once or twice annually. I might even "dry zest" a little next time also.

solbes said:

I might even "dry zest" a little next time also.

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I do this, its a fantastic subtle addition to the beer

how many all the mandarins did you use?

Kszyh, this is a two year thread. You still might get a reply, but if you don't, search the recipe section or start a new thread. Welcome!

Just find some mandarin bavaria hops from Germany. Made a dark saison and dry hopped it to hell with those hops. I couldn't believe how much orange aroma and flavor they gave the beer.

http://hop-head-farms.myshopify.com/products/mandarina-bavaria-germany-2013



Edit...holy crap, this is an old thread.