When to add orange?

So for some reason I have friends that like a "shock top" kind of beer. So I want to try to make one. Any ideas? and when do I add the orange peel, during the boil? What have you all tried?

I asked this a few weeks ago. Also ended up searching the Extract Brewing forum and the General Discussion forum keying in on "orange" and "zest". You will be able to find a lot of useful information if you read around.

I ended up adding zest at flame-out, by using a peeler to get larger zest peels making sure not to get any of the white portion (bitter tasting). This beer is still aging and won't be ready until March, will give feedback then. Good luck on your search. Cheers!

My Hoegaarden clone recipe had me adding dried bitter orange peels (from lhbs) at 10 minutes before flameout. Shocktop has a different orange profile, so it may be sweet orange peel (more common) and a much more pronounced orange flavor (almost as if OJ is added to the beer). I believe they add lime zest and corriander too.

You may want to add a small amount of crushed corriander at the last 10 minutes. Corriander seed is often available in the mexican aisle of the grocery store at a very affordable price. Crush it in a baggie immediately before adding.

I suggest flame out or in the last 5 minutes. The longer you boil the less aroma and flavor it will impart to the beer. If of boil for much longer than 5 or 10 minutes you will lose most of the benefit.

+1 to corriander. It adds a wonder orange flavor without the bitterness you get from orange peel. 2oz whole seeds in 3 gallons had a very pronounced aroma in a Hoegaarden clone I made recently.

Size of the orange peel (surface area) also plays into how long you might want it to be exposed to the hot wort. If you are using fresh orange peel, cut it real thin/small and it won't require as much exposure time. Blah blah blah, I cast my vote for 5 minutes as a good generic time to use.