bitter orange

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Joe028

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Brewing up a wit and I have this curacao bitter orange peel. It is not fresh from the orange, but rather the dried kinda direct from the homebrew store. They are in pieces about the size of pencil erasers. Am I supposed to grind those up to a powder just like the coriander seeds? Or do I just throw them in the boil the way they are. Thanks.

Joe
 
I used it before and realized that I don't like orage in my beer. I thought it made it taste tart and sour.. You are supposed to put it in near the end of the boil and strain it out, or not. I tried it both ways. Leaving it in the primary was real sour. Straining it out was better.
 
how much did you use per 5 gallon batch that you didn't like it. I plan to use .75oz of the orange, and .5oz of the coriander.
 
A agree with a few others (including Mosher) who say that the orange peel you buy at the LHBS is crap because it contains too much of the pith in addition to the rind.

The pith (white part) of the rind gives off the vast majority of the bitterness. Instead, may I suggest going to a Whole Foods type store that has natural (unwaxed) oranges and buy a couple and use it with a microplaner to shave off just the rind.

I think your results will be much improved.

FWIW, I've never done this for beer, but I've done it with lemon sorbet and the results are amazing. I'm thinking for a beer, each ounce of "orange zest" from the LHBS with zest is equal to maybe the zest (without the pith) of one real orange.


HTH
 
I forget how much the little pack at the home brew weighed, but I used half a pack both times. It smelled so good when I bottled it that I made another batch that night, but strained the orange out when I put it in the primary on the second batch. Two weeks later I had beer that I didn't particularly like, and two weeks later I had two more cases. I still drank it all and I learned to taste the final product before duplicating a batch. I have only been brewing 5 months and still learning.
 
well what's done is done. Maybe I'll learn the same thing you did. I used .75 oz of the stuff from the homebrew store. Didn't have time last minute to make the change. It's kind of ashame that the stuff you get from the LHBS isn't what you should be using for the best turnout. Oh well, I'm sure it will be good anyways.
 
Damn Squirrels said:
A agree with a few others (including Mosher) who say that the orange peel you buy at the LHBS is crap because it contains too much of the pith in addition to the rind.

The pith (white part) of the rind gives off the vast majority of the bitterness. Instead, may I suggest going to a Whole Foods type store that has natural (unwaxed) oranges and buy a couple and use it with a microplaner to shave off just the rind.

I think your results will be much improved.

FWIW, I've never done this for beer, but I've done it with lemon sorbet and the results are amazing. I'm thinking for a beer, each ounce of "orange zest" from the LHBS with zest is equal to maybe the zest (without the pith) of one real orange.


HTH
Click to expand...

I used orange zest in a white ale that I did. SWMBO has this cool tool called, what else, a zester! I used the zest from one medium sized orange and it was just about right. I'm not a big fan of the Blue Moon type brews that have too much orange in them.
 
Hopfan said:
I used orange zest in a white ale that I did. SWMBO has this cool tool called, what else, a zester! I used the zest from one medium sized orange and it was just about right. I'm not a big fan of the Blue Moon type brews that have too much orange in them.
Click to expand...


I'm sorry to say that knowing what the name of the tool is just made you a little bit gayer in my eyes. :(









:p :fro: :mug:
 
We have natural/unwaxed/organic/tree-hugging oranges at our local Publix. Zested one using a microplane, dropped it in a big tea-ball infuser and put it in with the final hops at the end. Turned out pretty dang good, more of an orange essence than an orange flavor.
 
Damn Squirrels said:
I'm sorry to say that knowing what the name of the tool is just made you a little bit gayer in my eyes. :(
Click to expand...


But he used that tool to make BEER! If was part of a fru fru mixed drink, then definately. But this is BEER!

my vote... not gay
 
There are two different types of dried orange peel from my LHBS, Bitter, and Sweet. Ive used the sweet peel for the full boil with great results. It doesnt make a very stout flavor of orange. Its kind of like a coca cola, unless you know what your tasting, you wouldnt think Ginger right off the bat.
 
Damn Squirrels said:
I'm sorry to say that knowing what the name of the tool is just made you a little bit gayer in my eyes. :(









:p :fro: :mug:
Click to expand...

I think I'll stay out of your eyes then....
Not that there's anything wrong with that!
 
Most culinary arts type people I know think a zester is crap compared to a microplane grater. And it has other uses as well. =)

(AB would frown on unitaskers. :p)

-D
 

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