LorAnn Candy Oils

Hi there,

I'm planning on making a pumpkin beer this fall, realizing adding real pumpkin just makes a mess, I was thinking of trying these candy oils after hearing about it somewhere.

https://www.lorannoils.com/p-8555-pumpkin-flavor.aspx

1) Has anyone used these oils before?
2) How much should I use in a 5 gallon batch? They're sold in units of drams (?) and ounces
3) When do you add it? To the boil? Flameout? Secondary?

PS - I totally realize the spices are the majority of the pumpkin pie taste, my gal and I are just nutso about pumpkin flavor.

These are oil based flavorings. I've used them before (as candy flavoring) and they are not water soluble. You won't get much flavor into the beer that way.

You could try to extract the flavor into vodka--put the flavoring oil (all of the tiny bottle) into a pint of vodka, shake it up real good, and let it set for a couple of days. (shaking 1-2 times a day). Then add small amounts at bottling and taste until its right.

you might want to try this http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002G8AYQO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I've bought from fairies finest before (but not pumpkin extract).

Some are soluble, some are not. The pumpkin one is soluble so you will be fine. I just used the watermelon one (also soluble) in a 21A Watermelon wheat clone that I made and it turned out fantastic. I added 1 dram to my secondary for 10 days right before kegging and it was just the flavoring I wanted with a lot less mess. If you want a more mellow flavor, add it to your primary, if you want a more potent flavor, add it after a secondary transfer. It mellows with age. I would not hesitate using the pumpkin flavoring, go for it!

PS-You can get them on ebay pretty cheap.

no, i used the lorann in my first pumpkin ale with bad results.....i highly recommend sticking with the spices,

Another poster has used the pumpkin oil with success, you may want to PM him. Here is the thread about his (and my) watermelon ale:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f75/watermelon-ale-167129/

HarkinBanks said:

Another poster has used the pumpkin oil with success, you may want to PM him. Here is the thread about his (and my) watermelon ale:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f75/watermelon-ale-167129/

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Gentlemen, thanks for the prompt and thoughtful replies. Maximum respect.
This forum rules.

bkov said:

no, i used the lorann in my first pumpkin ale with bad results.....i highly recommend sticking with the spices,

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How much did you use giving you bad results? Also how did you use it in fermentation, in the boil, or at bottling?

I'm interested in this stuff also because I don't particularly want to deal with pumpkin although I already have it.

pretty sure i used 1oz into secondary....it gave a strong wierd off flavor

and they should call it pumpkin spices extract

Even oil will have some solubility in water, believe it or not. It's very very tiny, but using 1 or 2 mL of various essential oils in assorted batches works fine for me, and has zero effect on head. And with most essential oils, that amount is PLENTY to flavour a batch (my last witbier made with orange essential oil tastes like orange juice)

2mL in 20L is 100ppm, and at that level, it appears to be soluble.

For anyone who's used - do these oils affect head retention at all?

I used the watermelon, which is soluble, and it did not affect head retention at all. As another poster mentioned, these are powerful little oils. I only used 1 dram and it was very potent. It is remarkably similar in flavor and aroma to 21A Hell or Highwatermelon wheat. I would be willing to bet 21A uses something similar to this artificial flavoring in their beer.

FTR: 16 drams in an ounce

Has anyone used combined flavors in a brew? If we just assume 1 dram per 5 gallons, and assume that provided the desire flavor, if I wanted to combine 2 flavors, would I want to use 2 drams, or 1/2 of each dram? My debate is 1 dram of each brings the appropriate flavor of each dispersed among 5 gallons, or the combination will bring to much of an artificial taste and no more than 1 dram total is what is needed.

Thanks.

HarkinBanks said:

I used the watermelon, which is soluble, and it did not affect head retention at all. As another poster mentioned, these are powerful little oils. I only used 1 dram and it was very potent. It is remarkably similar in flavor and aroma to 21A Hell or Highwatermelon wheat. I would be willing to bet 21A uses something similar to this artificial flavoring in their beer.

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Resurrecting this old thread.

I think that I'm going to get myself a dram or two of this stuff. Just bought a 6 pack of the Hell or Highwatermelon and I'm really liking it. The watermelon is not strong at all but you know it's there.

I'm going to use it on the American Wheat all grain recipe that's on here. My plan is to dump it in while I'm siphoning in the keg. Then I may let it sit for a week or so at room temp.

So, I read through these postings about the LorAnn oils and have really not seen much on results. Here is my result from using it recently.

I made a fairly low gravity IPA and the primary fermentation temps went up to around 78. Even using Safale 05, this produced some esters. So, I decided to use one of those little bottles (a dram?) of LorAnn oils to just roll with the off flavors. It was raspberry. Yes, I know that I now have a raspberry IPA. It is pretty good! The flavor is mostly on the front end in the aroma. Subtle but definitely there. Keep in mind that I like fruit beers. For me, it was not too much. This beer is not lasting very long.

kasetroy said:

So, I read through these postings about the LorAnn oils and have really not seen much on results. Here is my result from using it recently.

I made a fairly low gravity IPA and the primary fermentation temps went up to around 78. Even using Safale 05, this produced some esters. So, I decided to use one of those little bottles (a dram?) of LorAnn oils to just roll with the off flavors. It was raspberry. Yes, I know that I now have a raspberry IPA. It is pretty good! The flavor is mostly on the front end in the aroma. Subtle but definitely there. Keep in mind that I like fruit beers. For me, it was not too much. This beer is not lasting very long.

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My results were fantastic with the watermelon. I'm certainly doing it again. However my keg line has watermelon flavor in it that will not leave so I had to replace it.

Safale 05 at 78? Any beer that high probably won't turn out well.

I just bought a 12-pack of these flavors:

Cherry
Coconut
Cranberry
Green Apple
Mango
Peach
Pear
Pineapple
Pomegranate
Raspberry
Tangerine
Watermelon

I brewed an IPA last night and want to try it out with the Pineapple oil. I'm planning to make a tincture with the oil in vodka first to ensure that it diffuses properly, unless anyone else has suggestions or advice against doing that. I'll probably also try a sample glass with a tiny amount of the tincture before dosing the entire batch. I'll let you know how it turns out!

You might check if the Pineapple is actually an oil. I don't think that it is. The raspberry is not an oil, so I put it directly into the keg. I was going to use the pineapple, so I am very interested in your results.

How did you find out that the raspberry is not an oil? The LorAnn website describes the Pineapple as "Pineapple Flavor Candy Oil", but also states that it is soluble in water, so I'm not sure whether the "oil" part is accurate or just used as a descriptive term.

I recall looking at the raspberry bottle and it said that it is water soluble. I came to the conclusion that it can't be oil. I certainly could have been wrong and it IS some kind of soluble oil. I also saw on one of these threads that some of the LorAnn "Oils" are not actually oils and that raspberry is one of those.

Let us know how yours turns out. Lucky Girl Brewery makes a Pineapple IPA that I really like. It would be great to do one like that.

I see a brew supply place selling these for beer and they also state that the pineapple is "completely water soluble."
http://www.hopgoblin.com/Pineapple-LorAnn-Oil-1-dram-p/dd46554.htm

I just cracked my first bottle of the Pineapple IPA.
I ended up splitting the batch, 1/2 kegged with no flavoring added, 1/2 bottled with flavoring. I used 1/2 dram of the pineapple flavoring for 2.5 gallons bottled.
The pineapple aroma is medium-high, sweet, mixes well with the hop aroma, although it is a little artificial-smelling. The pineapple flavor is medium, low sweetness, and again mixes really well with the hop flavor. The mouthfeel is slightly slick from the flavoring, but this is balanced out nicely by the overall creaminess in this beer. Overall the Pineapple IPA is quite delicious, and I would definitely brew this again and use the oils again.
Prior to this batch being ready I also experimented with adding a couple drops each of mango and peach to two bottles of an Amber, and those were both super tasty too.

brewprint said:

My results were fantastic with the watermelon. I'm certainly doing it again. However my keg line has watermelon flavor in it that will not leave so I had to replace it.

Safale 05 at 78? Any beer that high probably won't turn out well.

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kasetroy said:

So, I read through these postings about the LorAnn oils and have really not seen much on results. Here is my result from using it recently.

I made a fairly low gravity IPA and the primary fermentation temps went up to around 78. Even using Safale 05, this produced some esters. So, I decided to use one of those little bottles (a dram?) of LorAnn oils to just roll with the off flavors. It was raspberry. Yes, I know that I now have a raspberry IPA. It is pretty good! The flavor is mostly on the front end in the aroma. Subtle but definitely there. Keep in mind that I like fruit beers. For me, it was not too much. This beer is not lasting very long.

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TheCauseOfAndSolutionTo said:

I just cracked my first bottle of the Pineapple IPA.
I ended up splitting the batch, 1/2 kegged with no flavoring added, 1/2 bottled with flavoring. I used 1/2 dram of the pineapple flavoring for 2.5 gallons bottled.
The pineapple aroma is medium-high, sweet, mixes well with the hop aroma, although it is a little artificial-smelling. The pineapple flavor is medium, low sweetness, and again mixes really well with the hop flavor. The mouthfeel is slightly slick from the flavoring, but this is balanced out nicely by the overall creaminess in this beer. Overall the Pineapple IPA is quite delicious, and I would definitely brew this again and use the oils again.
Prior to this batch being ready I also experimented with adding a couple drops each of mango and peach to two bottles of an Amber, and those were both super tasty too.

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Really want to thank you guys for actually posting results in these threads, and unbiased results at that. So many times you scroll and scroll and scroll through these threads and everyones like 'great idea! I'm totally gunna try this!' then there's like 5 'any updates?' posts and then the cycle starts over.

Has anyone tried the Peanut Butter? Or the Chocolate? I know chocolate can be achieved with cocoa nibs but PB2 is really expensive and this seems so much easier and cheaper (~1.40 per + shipping) . It says completely soluble in water.

I am a vaper with a small lab consisting of over 300 flavorings in which I make my own juices (eliquid). I use flavorings from 6 different manufacturers, LorAnn being one of them, but I order 1-4oz bottles at a time. LorAnn puts out a really good product but the flavorings for authenticity are a hit or miss. They also vary in concentration. For our purposes (homebrewing), the watermelon is a good example of the one-dram bottle being a perfect amount for a 5 gallon batch.

My recommendation for testing the concentration of any flavoring for beer is to find a base size (say, the one dram vial). Dip a toothpick and get an estimate of how strong it is and use that as a rough benchmark for how much you will need. You can also use a dropper and a measured amount of beer, say, 8oz, and adding one drop at a time, see where the flavoring level is at. Once you find a good amount, quantify that into the number of gallons.

As a side note, if you find a flavor yii like, you could find good prices for larger bottles online, about $5/Oz, $15/4oz.

I have a 12 pack of 1fl dram flavors/oils. I noticed when reading the front label some are labeled oil and some are not. Take a look at the ingredients for each bottle. This should tell you if it is oil based or not. For instance, tangerine oil flavor lists tangerine oil as the ingredient. Mango flavor lists natural and artificial flavors, propylene glycol, alcohol and annatto.

If you are still weiry about solubility, add a few drops to a glass of water and stir. give it a minute for any suspect oils to settle out. grab a syringe or turkey baster and pull from the bottom of the glass. see if you notice any oil slicks in the glass and try the syringe/turkey baster sample for flavor.

You're exactly right. I put a few drops of the tangerine oil in a beer, and the drops just floated on the surface.

I have only made one beer with Lorann Oils.

Adventures in homebrewing's Raspberry Plunder. (if you would like to see reviews)

I bottled mine on 9/5 and after a few weeks I thought it did effect head retention. This past weekend I tried another bottle, and it had a nice white head on it. So I don't think it does.

I think (and other flavors might be different) 1 dram = beer with a hint of flavor 2 drams = Flavor with a hint of beer.

1 dram is all that AIH calls for in their beer, and it's pretty much perfect for an ale with a hint of Raspberry.

I added mine to the bottling bucket...

Hi, I have a bunch of these lorann essential oils that were given to me. I definitely want to experiment with beer, but I want to try flavoring vodka first. If I have a 32 oz jar with vodka in it, how many drops of the oils should I drop in to give it a pronounced flavor. I don't want to overdue it. Thank you!

1 drop at at time and taste in between.

I use LorAnn oils to put in carbonated water i have on tap. I add it by the glass so can have a different flavor every time. Comes out very similar to other flavored fizzy waters (e.g. la croix). I add 3-5 drops per pint. Watermelon is one of my favorites.

I have used the orange in a cream ale. I added the whole small container (1 dram) to 5 gallons. Orange flavoring is very subtle, but about perfect imho for a beer.

You don’t have to add these with vodka as discussed above. Just add to your beer at kegging or bottling. I would make a few small glasses up to test how much i would want and scale up from there.

I will definitely try some with beer, but I do want to try flavoring vodka. I actually talked to a guy who used pineapple and coconut and made a pina colada flavored rum. It actually was good.

Picked up a large bottle of the strawberry oil, and it's (and many of their flavours) are extracts (alcohol based) not oil based.

Hoping to try it out in a strawberry wheat and a hooch brew which all the kids are calling hard seltzer.

flavoring syrups for coffee work good too. just go easy and taste, they can be sweet.

I'm wondering if, even not being water soluble, these would infuse a little better if added during the boil, say for the last 5 minutes or so. Thoughts?

possibly, try it and let us know

BPoling7 said:

I'm wondering if, even not being water soluble, these would infuse a little better if added during the boil, say for the last 5 minutes or so. Thoughts?

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I would think the flavour would get scrubbed out by the volatile oils that make up the flavouring suspended in the alcohol boiling off.

But you never know, my blueberry beers taste the best with the berries in the boil in secondary, which makes no sense, so this could be the same