Blood Orange Hefeweizen

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Any more updates on results on this beer?? Really looking forward to making this and deciding which to make my summer beer this or my apricot blonde??
 
I just brewed my first hefe on sunday. Using 7# LME (bavarian wheat), 1 1/3 oz hellertaur (1 @ 60, 1/3 @ 10) and Wyeast 3068 smack pack. Fermentation has been very strong and was still going this morning.

My question is do you think I can cut the oranges and steep in water (less water than everyone else so I don't water down the brew) and throw into the primary? Or would it be a better idea to secondary this with the fruit. I really didn't want to have to secondary this beer, so I was leaning towards just throwing the stuff into the primary and letting it sit for another 10 days (14 days total).

Let me know what you all think

-Ian
 
I just brewed my first hefe on sunday. Using 7# LME (bavarian wheat), 1 1/3 oz hellertaur (1 @ 60, 1/3 @ 10) and Wyeast 3068 smack pack. Fermentation has been very strong and was still going this morning.

My question is do you think I can cut the oranges and steep in water (less water than everyone else so I don't water down the brew) and throw into the primary? Or would it be a better idea to secondary this with the fruit. I really didn't want to have to secondary this beer, so I was leaning towards just throwing the stuff into the primary and letting it sit for another 10 days (14 days total).

Let me know what you all think

-Ian

I would be inclined to add the fruit to primary, although you could just brew another Hefe and have 10 gallons of beer instead of 5... :D
 
heres what I am going to do.

I will rack the beer out of the fermenter into the bottling bucket. Bottle half. Add the blood orange (maybe 2 blood oranges (zest and meat) steeped in 1/4-1/3 gallon water) with the fruit in a muslin bag. Let that sit for a day, the bottle the rest.
 
Pivot, that's kickass! What percentages of barley and wheat are you using?

I used 5# 2-row and 3# wheat, but I messed up bad. I missed my mash temp by alot and only got 50% efficiency. oh well, its gonna be reallly reallly reallly mild but should still taste good hopefully
 
Someone asked for the all-grain version...Beersmith converts it as follows:

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 5.88 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00

Ingredients

5.09 lb Pale Malt (3.0 SRM) Grain 61.46 %
3.19 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 38.54 %
0.50 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 10.1 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.30 %] (20 min) Hops 3.2 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.50 %] (10 min) Hops 2.0 IBU
4.00 items Blood Orange (Secondary 10.0 days) Misc
1 Pkgs Weihenstephan Weizen (Wyeast Labs #3068) Yeast-Wheat


Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.56 %
Bitterness: 15.3 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 4.1 SRM

The all grain is saying to put the oranges in the secondary? The original recipe said to boil the oranges and put in primary, right? Just wondering which is the better option.
 
The all grain is saying to put the oranges in the secondary? The original recipe said to boil the oranges and put in primary, right? Just wondering which is the better option.

I personally wouldn't secondary this beer. I just found blood oranges today, so I'm brewing this bad boy this evening. Hefeweizen's taste better young, as it is a wheat beer. 10 days in the primary for me... I'm going to try to squeeze the oranges in a muslin bag into my carboy with a blow off tube. I'm adding everything to the primary! Should make for a very active fermentation!!!! Fruit beers always are active, and possibly dangerous in a glass carboy!!!
 
I used 5# 2-row and 3# wheat, but I messed up bad. I missed my mash temp by alot and only got 50% efficiency. oh well, its gonna be reallly reallly reallly mild but should still taste good hopefully

Meh, what can ya do right? It'll make for an excellent session beer.
 
I made this today. Put the oranges and zest in the primary.

I used White Labs 300. SG was 1.048
 
I made this today. Put the oranges and zest in the primary.

I used White Labs 300. SG was 1.048

let us know how it turns out, I was going to use the other hefe yeast. I had a bad batch on a hefe about 2 months ago an I narrowed it to the yeast. May have been just a fluke though.
 
let us know how it turns out, I was going to use the other hefe yeast. I had a bad batch on a hefe about 2 months ago an I narrowed it to the yeast. May have been just a fluke though.


Got mine going with the 380. I'll let you know how it tastes in another week or so. My fermentation temps were on the low side though (+/-65ish).
 
so yeah I just made this and its in my primary right now. I used safbrew WB-60. do you think it will turn out okay with this yeast? it said wheat beer yeast on the package, but havent noticed anybody else using this yeast on here.
 
All grain version should be a 90 minute boil, no? Every recipe I've read from Palmer or Jamil with Pils says 90 minute boil to drive off DMS.

Correct?
 
I kegged and force carbed this beer a couple days ago and I'm having my first glass right now. I have to say that the blood oranges haven't contributed as much flavour to the beer as the clementines did to the batch I made last year. The blood oranges are still detectable in a tangy sort of way, although there wasn't any colour contribution. The yeast did a great job of contributing banana and mild bubble gum flavours to the beer! It's easy to drink and I think my girlfriend is going to tuck into this one... Keep in mind I used a can on pre-hopped malt extract and made this as a "no boil" brew, so it didn't turn out in the same way as last year's batch did.
 
I personally wouldn't secondary this beer. I just found blood oranges today, so I'm brewing this bad boy this evening. Hefeweizen's taste better young, as it is a wheat beer. 10 days in the primary for me... I'm going to try to squeeze the oranges in a muslin bag into my carboy with a blow off tube. I'm adding everything to the primary! Should make for a very active fermentation!!!! Fruit beers always are active, and possibly dangerous in a glass carboy!!!

I have a question in regards to this. Will the acidity of the oranges have (negative) side effects on the yeast?

A secondary probably isn't necessary to add the oranges. However, I wouldn't want the yeast to be affected by the oranges/peel.

Thanks
 
Just wanted to update about the batch I did of this.

i got terrible efficiency when i did it (around 50%) and then kegged it. its only like a 3.5% beer. The actual product itself tastes almost identical to Rickards White. Has anybody else noticed this? lol its like the same damn beer.
 
So you don't need to worry about infection from the peels or oranges or water or muslin bag even though they are only being heated to 160 degrees???
 
Just wanted to update about the batch I did of this.

i got terrible efficiency when i did it (around 50%) and then kegged it. its only like a 3.5% beer. The actual product itself tastes almost identical to Rickards White. Has anybody else noticed this? lol its like the same damn beer.

I think yours may have faired better then mine b'y. I'd be stoked if mine tasted like Rickard's White; we're having mussels tomorrow night so it would have gone really well with those... I let mine get too warm while it was fermenting and it has a heavy mouthfeel that doesn't seem well-suited to a wheat beer. PS when's your spring break?
 
So you don't need to worry about infection from the peels or oranges or water or muslin bag even though they are only being heated to 160 degrees???

I boiled mine for about ten minutes, then turned my burner to low and steeped for about 30 minutes. I then let it cool to room temperature.

I used just enough water to cover the oranges/zest.
 
I think yours may have faired better then mine b'y. I'd be stoked if mine tasted like Rickard's White; we're having mussels tomorrow night so it would have gone really well with those... I let mine get too warm while it was fermenting and it has a heavy mouthfeel that doesn't seem well-suited to a wheat beer. PS when's your spring break?

My spring break is at the end of February, like the 27th I think. I go to St Thomas University. Are you a student too?
 
I boiled mine for about ten minutes, then turned my burner to low and steeped for about 30 minutes. I then let it cool to room temperature.

I used just enough water to cover the oranges/zest.

You boiled just the water right? Not the oranges and zest? Probably a dumb question but I wanted to be sure. Thanks.
 
My spring break is at the end of February, like the 27th I think. I go to St Thomas University. Are you a student too?

Yeah, at Dalhousie. My roommates little sister goes to St. Thomas. We were thinking about driving up for a couple of nights during spring break (22-26) but if your spring break is the next weekend then I'm guessing it'll be pretty lame on campus during the week if everyone is in class...

You boiled just the water right? Not the oranges and zest? Probably a dumb question but I wanted to be sure. Thanks.

The instructions in the book say to put the fruit and peels in a muslin bag, place it in 2 liters of water and heat it until it reaches 160*F, then turn the heat off. I believe that the citric acid on the peel acts as a natural sanitizer, which keeps the fruit inside free of most bacteria and fungi. Just make sure that you rinse the fruit well and that your implements are sanitized. To prove my point, I once left a clementine in my fruit bowl for 2 months and it never got moldy; it just turned brown and shriveled.
 
I just brewed this up this past weekend, and its coming along nicely. I figure I let it go 10 days in primary then bottle, want to see how it comes out though and get more blood oranges if its good!
 
I'm going to brew this tonight! My oranges are not that sweet though. I was thinking about adding some sugar to the steeping water for the oranges. What do you guys think?

I am also adding 8oz Carapils and 8oz Red Wheat grain and steep for 20min. I thought it was strange that the recipe called for pure extract and no grain steeping. I love the diversity!!
 
So you don't need to worry about infection from the peels or oranges or water or muslin bag even though they are only being heated to 160 degrees???

I didn't use a bag in mine, just dumped all of the orange stuff into the fermenter straight from the pot, mixed, and then added the yeast.

From what I've read, 160 degrees is an okay temperature and you don't have to boil. In fact, boiling may change the color and flavor of the final product. See the following link about Flash Pasteurization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_pasteurization
 
Mine came out pretty good; I'd brew it again. When I first started drinking it, it had more orange than I cared for, but I have gotten used to it over the week or it has mellowed. I fermented mine for about +/- 17 days and let it carb at 30 psi for a day then started drinking it and left it at 10 psi then upped it to roughly 12 psi (can't see the regulator clearly, it is in the back of the fridge). After a week and a half the keg is feeling pretty light.

Blood-Orange-Hefe.jpg
 
Just tried my first one of these off the keg. Really good Hefeweizen but I got ZERO Orange flavor. I'm not sure how this is possible.

I used a good amount of zest and actual orange and added the whole solution to the primary as recipe calls for. I used 4 good size blood oranges and the zest from 2 of them.

Any ideas why I got nothing from the oranges? Very tasty Hefeweizen though, so not all bad.
 
I almost dumped this beer when I opened my primary after a week. The orange pulp and yeast were floating on top and it looked moldy!

I couldn't get myself to taste it at that point, so I just racked it to the secondary and prayed.

This ended up as one of my favorite all time beers!

It started off really orange and by the last bottle the bananna flavor from the yeast was incredible.

I'll have to get this into rotation soon as the season for blood oranges is short.

Bull
 
Just tried my first one of these off the keg. Really good Hefeweizen but I got ZERO Orange flavor. I'm not sure how this is possible.

I used a good amount of zest and actual orange and added the whole solution to the primary as recipe calls for. I used 4 good size blood oranges and the zest from 2 of them.

Any ideas why I got nothing from the oranges? Very tasty Hefeweizen though, so not all bad.

Maybe because you only zested two oranges? I zested all of them completely. What type of oranges did you use?
 
I will be brewing the AG version pretty soon, a co-worker has 3 blood orange trees and just gave me 2 grocery bags full to brew with.
 
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