Anybody Adding Orange Zest to Kegs??

I wanted to add some orange taste to my Belgian Pale Ale so I was thinking of zesting a couple oranges and then bring them and a quart of water up to about 165* to pasturize the zest and water. Then add the water and zest into the keg (putting zest in a sterile strainer bag) to add the flavor. Anyone do anything like this before?

I haven't, but now I am. Finally got my orange tree to produce some good stuff this year so I might have to follow your lead on this one.

I have added all sorts of stuff hops, cranberries, de-tannised wormwood, lilac flowers to name a few.

1. 165F does not kill all the stuff you need it to but boiling it will. I would cover the zest in a microwave safe glass with water and microwave it for 3-5 minutes on high. Nothing will live through that. Then drain the water as much as possible and add the zest to a bag.

2.DO NOT ADD ANY WATER in the keg. The water will have oxygen in it and you will oxidize your beer!

3. You can use pantyhose or a paint strainer bag to do this and they are cheap. (I also add in some sterilized marbles to sink the bag.) I sanitize the bag with Starsan.

In the future orange zest is best added at 15-0 minutes in the boil.

thanks for the info.. Never thought of the MicroWave for this.

hbhudy said:

thanks for the info.. Never thought of the MicroWave for this.

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I sterilize the marbles that way to.

Zamial said:

In the future orange zest is best added at 15-0 minutes in the boil.

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About how much orange zest have you found to work best?