How/when to add stuff to my beer?

Topic title says it all: how do I go about adding stuff to my beer? Do I just toss orange peels in at the same time I pitch the yeast? Is there something I need to do to the hypothetical orange peels before I throw them in so they don't contaminate my beer, or is it all good? Etc.

Add the orange peels 5-10 minutes before the end of the boil. No need to sanitize. Other stuff may be different.

I was wondering the same thing. Had a peach wheat beer at the local brewpub and thought of trying to clone it. Sorry about hijacking your thread, but it's a great question.

Its far too complex a question for one thread. The search would be better or individual threads. Every addition is different in timing and sanitation. Also depends on recipe.

Citrus zest is too volatile to just toss in the Fermentor. All of those Yummy aromas will be lost as co2 escapes the fermenter. What I do to get those flavors is make a nice concoction of zest and vodka (maybe a shot or 2 depending on how much zest). Cover your concoction with a lid (tupperware) and let it sit for a day or 2 in the fridge. When I keg or bottle the brew, I toss all of the concoction in the beer and give it a gently stir to mix it evenly then bottle/keg.

Be careful with the amounts. Zest can go overboard easily.

mrrshotshot said:

Citrus zest is too volatile to just toss in the Fermentor. All of those Yummy aromas will be lost as co2 escapes the fermenter. What I do to get those flavors is make a nice concoction of zest and vodka (maybe a shot or 2 depending on how much zest). Cover your concoction with a lid (tupperware) and let it sit for a day or 2 in the fridge. When I keg or bottle the brew, I toss all of the concoction in the beer and give it a gently stir to mix it evenly then bottle/keg.

Be careful with the amounts. Zest can go overboard easily.

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You just grate the peel and let it sit in wodka? How does the wodka affect the brew you're making, or is it negligible (re: taste and abv)?

How much zest would you say you use, 1 tsp, 1 tbsp, 1/2 cup? And how much wodka?

Let's say I'm bottle conditioning, do I add the zest mix to the bottle bucket at the same time I add my priming sugar?

Sorry for the rapidfire questions, it's something I'm really curious about!

Mathblasta said:

You just grate the peel and let it sit in wodka? How does the wodka affect the brew you're making, or is it negligible (re: taste and abv)?

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Yes. The amount of vodka compared to beer will make the vodka negligible when only using an ounce or two

Mathblasta said:

How much zest would you say you use, 1 tsp, 1 tbsp, 1/2 cup? And how much wodka?

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Start out small and experiment. Depends on what style your shooting for. Do you want sweet undertones of orange or a powerful blast in you nostrils? I'd start with the zest from half to a whole orange (medium to large orange) and go from there. Remember, even if you don't notice the orange you will still have an awesome beer, but if the orange is overpowering chances are the beer wont taste so good anymore, so play around with small quantities first.

Mathblasta said:

Let's say I'm bottle conditioning, do I add the zest mix to the bottle bucket at the same time I add my priming sugar?

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This I'm not too sure about. I've been kegging since day one so maybe somebody else can chime in here. Maybe add it a day or so before bottling? Not sure how it would affect the amount of priming sugar you will need either since the vodka could potentially kill some of the yeast, but the alcohol is necessary to extract the aromas from the zest, most of those flavors will be in the vodka itself so you wouldnt want to dump it out and throw in the zest...

Mathblasta said:

Sorry for the rapidfire questions, it's something I'm really curious about!

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Not a problem, happy to help, good luck!