need some opinions on a tangerine wit

Ok so I’m thinking about brewing up a wit with some tangerine flavor to it for one of my future batches. I have been trying to figure out a recipe for one, but haven’t really seen any. What I ended up doing is taking the kiwit recipe and the blood orange hefewizen recipe from the extreme brewing book and combined the two. Basically I’m using the wit portion of the kiwit (obviously omitting the kiwi portion since I’m doing tangerine), and then I was going to take the method for adding the blood oranges in the other recipe, but use tangerines instead. I want to achieve a pretty noticeable tangerine flavor, but still be able to taste the wit flavors cut through the tangerine. Pretty well balanced of the two to say the least. I also don’t want the tangerine to create an extreme bitterness. Anyways, here is what the recipe would look like. I'm hoping to get some opinions on how this recipe may come out or if I should change something around?

Batch Size: 5 gallons

Steep
-(.5 lbs) Crystal 15

Boil
-(6.6 lbs) Wheat-barley liquid malt exract (65 minutes)
-(1 oz.) Tettnanger hops (60 minutes)
-(.5 oz.) Hallertau hops (10 minutes)
-(.25 oz.) Crush coriander (10 minutes)
-(1 tsp) Irish Moss (10 minutes)

Yeast
-White labs WLP400 Belgian wit ale or WLP410 Belgian wit II; or Wyeast 3944 Belgian wit or 3463 Forbidden Fruit.

Now for the tangerine portion...
Peel, separate, and cut up 3-4 tangerines. Then use about half of the tangerine rinds to create a tangerine zest. In a separate pot place cut up tangerine and zest in .5 gallons of water. Heat up to 170 degree F and then shut off heat. Let steep as it cools. Once cool transfer to the wort in your primary and pitch the yeast.

should i switch out hops or change the hop schedule around? also would it be better to add the tangerine and zest to the secondary? or should i not even use the cut up tangerine and just use a tangerine zest in the boil or secondary?

Thanks in advance!

First, why are you steeping the torrified wheat? Torrified wheat, and wheat in general in that amount is generally used for head retention. You are already using lme that has wheat in it so the torrefied isn't necessary. Also, the six row needs to be mashed so unless you want to add a bunch of unconverted starch to your beer then don't use it either. If you want to add a bit of fresh malt to the recipe, use a 1/2 pound of crystal 15, I would probably skip the steeping step though and just focus on when/how you add the tangerine. Be careful with the zest as it will add quite a bit of bitterness. I would add a 1/2 gallon or so of tangerine juice plus the 3-4 tangerines you were planning on. The juice from 3-4 tangerines alone will not be enough. I would buy odwalla tangerine juice or other non concentrate tangerine juice of very high quality. That will give you some tangerine flavor without taking away from the wit flavors. Also, a half ounce of coriander is a lot, I wouldn't use more than a quarter ounce.

oh, and boiling the zest will just boil off all of the aromatics and leave bitterness, don't boil the zest. I would add the zest just after flame out. Don't use too much and don't cut into the white pith as that is very bitter. The hops are okay but you might want to stick with noble hops and omit the willamette. USe hallertau instead, I love willamette but I don't think it's appropriate for your recipe.

I've got no input, but a tangerine wheat is on my short list ever since I bought a case of Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat... definitely post a follow-up after you brew, I'd love to hear how it turns out!

Thanks for the opinions so far. I would like steep some fresh malt in so I took your advice to just use the crystal 15. I also switched out hops as advised. Should I stick to the 10 minute with the hallertau or would adding them earlier at say 30 minutes be better? How would saaz hops do if I used those instead of hallertau? Still not too sure what do do with the tangerine portion of the recipe though. I think what I'm gonna do is make what I have above in my recipe for the tangerines and taste it to see how it comes out. If it comes out good I'll use it, but if I don't get the amount of tangerine flavor I'm looking for then I will add in some of the juice as suggested during secondary or before bottleing. Or if it comes out good should I add to the primary. Then during secondary add juice if nessecary? Or add to secondary and juice before bottling?

How'd your brew turn out?

I just put one of these recipies in the primary, one calling for lemon zest. The recipe from Midwest say's to zest one medium sized lemon and micro-wave it for 30 seconds, add either 1/2 or all to secondary. I'm not sure exactly how much to use to get a hint of lemon, guess I'll decide when it's time to move it.

i honestly havent had a chance to brew this recipe yet. it's been too hot the past month here in florida to let my brews ferment in my closet (house is about 76-77 during the day). i don't want to deal with swamping my carboy so i decided to invest in a mini fridge to ferment in. it was on back order for the longest, but it finally got here. i'm now in the process of getting the temp controller hooked up and everything then i will be able to brew again or at least i hope i will be able to brew soon. my schedule with school and work lately has been killing me. i rarely have enough time, but i will have to make time to brew for sure!!

@newnick - that microwave idea sounds like a pretty good idea too. let me know how it goes. i wonder if it gives a similar or better effect to steeping the zest and fruit like i had mentioned in my recipe above.

refect said:

i honestly havent had a chance to brew this recipe yet. it's been too hot the past month here in florida to let my brews ferment in my closet (house is about 76-77 during the day). i don't want to deal with swamping my carboy so i decided to invest in a mini fridge to ferment in. it was on back order for the longest, but it finally got here. i'm now in the process of getting the temp controller hooked up and everything then i will be able to brew again or at least i hope i will be able to brew soon. my schedule with school and work lately has been killing me. i rarely have enough time, but i will have to make time to brew for sure!!

@newnick - that microwave idea sounds like a pretty good idea too. let me know how it goes. i wonder if it gives a similar or better effect to steeping the zest and fruit like i had mentioned in my recipe above.

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This is what the instructions say about microwaving.

"At this
time zest 1 medium size lemon and microwave the peelings for 30 seconds to kill any microbes. Do
not boil the peels! Add ½ to all of the zest to the secondary fermenter depending on your desired
taste. Leave in the carboy for 1-2 weeks."

Not sure exactly how much to try, I just want a hint of the lemon flavor. I believe I'll move it this weekend so I'll decide on the run I guess.

I'd consider using some summit hops late in the boil or dry hopped. They give a tangerine flavor so it should add on to what you're trying to accomplish

dcp27 said:

I'd consider using some summit hops late in the boil or dry hopped. They give a tangerine flavor so it should add on to what you're trying to accomplish

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That does sound like it'd go well with orange & lemon zest. I'll have to remember that one.