Blood Orange Wheat

Hey guys,

So we are planning on brewing a Wheat beer from extract tomorrow. 5 gallon batch, unfortunately we don't have the tools to do a full boil though. So our boil will only be 3 gallons and we will make up for the rest with distilled water in the fermentor.

What we were planning on doing for the sake of experimenting was adding some orange flavor to it.

The kit we are using is a True Brew American Wheat Kit (unfortunately i can't find the specifics on exactly what is in the kit).

We did a bunch of research online and decided the best method would probably be going with blood oranges.

Our plan is to zest about 4 oranges and boil the zest for the last 5 minutes in the boil. The guy at our LHBS also suggested that we steep some more zest and a few slices of the actual oranges themselves to the secondary fermentor and leave them in there for about 10 days. He suggested that we poke the oranges with some tooth picks before putting them in.

What are your guys thoughts on this one? We are obviously hoping for the sweet orange taste, as opposed to the bitter taste from the rind. We were told that we may want to skip adding the oranges and instead add freshly squeezed juice.

We were also told that adding oranges to the secondary may require us to re-pitch some more yeast.

Any suggestions/ comment?

Thanks

if you are using fruit in the brew, it is recomended to freeze it for most fruit - the freezing breaks the cell walls and helps let out the juice. I knwo that is true of berries, I think it is also true of oranges...

although Juicing makes more sense

Here is a recipe from Sam Calagione
http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to-plans/beer-recipes-how-to-home-brew-hefeweizen#fbIndex2

I just made an orange hefe today, kind of based on the Dogfish Head Blood Orange hefe, using navel rather than blood oranges. I also put in one pound of saw palmetto honey at flame-out. Just because.

So anyway, I zested five oranges, peeled them, cut them up, and put them in a pot. I just barely covered them with water, heated them just short of a boil, and let them stew for a few minutes. Then I covered them and let it all sit until it reached room temperature.

Brewed the beer, put it in the fermenter, added the orange goopy stuff and the yeast, and off she goes :rockin:

@Unionrdr - thanks for the tip on the citrus v berries

You could freeze the oranges if you want too, it won't hurt the flavor. Fruit is a a way to attract creatures to eat and disperse the seeds for next generation of plant.

I freeze almost any fruit I use to make beer or wine. It extracts more liquid.

kharmajavah said:

Brewed the beer, put it in the fermenter, added the orange goopy stuff and the yeast, and off she goes :rockin:

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What difference would one see putting the orange goop in the primary vs waiting until the secondary? Will that give you less orange sweetness as the sugars ferment out? or would I see the same level of sweetness ferment out in the secondary?

have 2 cornies of blood orange wheat ready to replace my amber ale when i finish it. i am fortunate to have a blood orange tree, and i need to finish harvesting it as the fruit was ripe in december. i am going to freeze some to use in a future batch.

Well startin it in 3 hours.. i'll let you guys know how it looks

unionrdr said:

All fruit is just the plant's energy storage system.

Click to expand...

But this is not quite correct. It is not food for the mother plant, it is rarely food for the seed. It is mainly for protection of the seed and for getting birds and other animals to eat it and poop the seeds out elsewhere so there is no competition near the mother tree.

Back to topic:
I will be brewing a blood orange ale soon, so I am interested in hearing how your recipe works out. Im going to be trying This recipe. However, I noticed that the level of orange in it was next to nothing so I am looking around to see how much orange / zest I should put in.
Do you taste your wort ever to see how much flavor you have in there? I know its not a good indicator of final post ferment and post aging flavor, but it would be nice to know.

I'm a day late to the thread, but in the future try to stay away from distilled water if you can help it. You want some of the minerals in water that distilling eliminates (especially calcium). Distilled water will still give you beer, but you'll make slightly better beer if you use non distilled, and for pretty much the same cost.

Do you have well water, or city water? You can get into toying with the minerals in your water, but that gets complicated. If you feel like experimenting, try 2 batches of the same recipe. 1 with distilled and 1 with different water. See how the flavor is different.

I have just been using bottled water for my brews, however im not sure if it's distiller or just mineral water... I have city water and it doesn't taste too great, but in thinking about trying it soon. Just for the fact that buying water is getting expensive.

Funny this thread came up.

I ordered ingredients to brew Sam Calagione's blood orange hefe recipe. After getting them I couldn't find blood oranges anywhere. So I subbed in 6 clementines for the blood oranges. I boiled some of the peels.

Anyway I tried it for the first time yesterday. The beer came out great. It's not that far off from a traditional hefe, but there is a slight citrus flavor that complements the beer very well. Next time I might add two or three more clementines to give it some more flavor.

Here's the brew:

That looks delicious

Interestingi just brewed a blood orange hefe yesterday. Can wait to try it. Must be that time of the year.

timbudtwo said:

But this is not quite correct. It is not food for the mother plant, it is rarely food for the seed. It is mainly for protection of the seed and for getting birds and other animals to eat it and poop the seeds out elsewhere so there is no competition near the mother tree.

Back to topic:
I will be brewing a blood orange ale soon, so I am interested in hearing how your recipe works out. Im going to be trying This recipe. However, I noticed that the level of orange in it was next to nothing so I am looking around to see how much orange / zest I should put in.
Do you taste your wort ever to see how much flavor you have in there? I know its not a good indicator of final post ferment and post aging flavor, but it would be nice to know.

Click to expand...

You're kidding,right? The tree doesn't grow stuff for other creatures welfare. It couldn't give a flyin rats a$$. The simple sugars are for the plants welfare. Just in case of dry seasons,etc. It needs to store sugars in it's roots to survive the wither cold till warm weather returns. The plant/tree can feed on these simple sugars to stay alive if need be. I learned that in school...

unionrdr said:

You're kidding,right? The tree doesn't grow stuff for other creatures welfare. It couldn't give a flyin rats a$$. The simple sugars are for the plants welfare. Just in case of dry seasons,etc. It needs to store sugars in it's roots to survive the wither cold till warm weather returns. The plant/tree can feed on these simple sugars to stay alive if need be. I learned that in school...

Click to expand...

actually timbudtwo is correct many plants produce nutritious products for other animals to eat as part of their reproductive cycles. whether it nectar to entice a butterfly or bee to come to the flower to facilitate pollination or the production of fruits and nuts to facilitate the spreading of seeds. some plants produce seeds that are so tough they must first pass through the digestive tract of a bird or mammal to be softened sufficiently to germinate. Now why would the animal eat the seed? well it is encased in a delicious and nutritious fruiting body. I think you have the function of the endosperm of a seed confused with that of a fruiting body of a plant. Hope that helps. Now back on topic. Orange Hefes are tasty.

CrookedTail said:

Funny this thread came up.

I ordered ingredients to brew Sam Calagione's blood orange hefe recipe. After getting them I couldn't find blood oranges anywhere. So I subbed in 6 clementines for the blood oranges. I boiled some of the peels.

Anyway I tried it for the first time yesterday. The beer came out great. It's not that far off from a traditional hefe, but there is a slight citrus flavor that complements the beer very well. Next time I might add two or three more clementines to give it some more flavor.

Here's the brew:

Click to expand...

Thats a work of art...I got to brew this for the summer months.

I am going to make a blood orange brew next because of that picture up there.

Did you use bitter orange peel in that batch?


Plants create simple sugars through the process of photosynthesis and in some cases it is stored as starch in roots. Plants create seeds to reproduce. All plants have unique ways of seed dispersal. Sweet tasting fruits, berries, drupes, etc.... are eaten by animals and dispersed in the wild for the next generation of plants. A plant can survive without ever having to reproduce and create the fruit. No the fruit isn't created for the welfare of the animal, but for the welfare of the plant.

I think one reason for the blood oranges is taht the prices of oranges are lower right now. In the summer they are more expensive - at least for me.

likwidbliss said:

I am going to make a blood orange brew next because of that picture up there.

Did you use bitter orange peel in that batch?


Plants create simple sugars through the process of photosynthesis and in some cases it is stored as starch in roots. Plants create seeds to reproduce. All plants have unique ways of seed dispersal. Sweet tasting fruits, berries, drupes, etc.... are eaten by animals and dispersed in the wild for the next generation of plants. A plant can survive without ever having to reproduce and create the fruit. No the fruit isn't created for the welfare of the animal, but for the welfare of the plant.

Click to expand...

I didn't use blood oranges. I used clementines. I boiled the peels from two of them.

So I checked on my brew last night... Not really fermenting at a rate I am happy with. I can see the yeast sitting on the top working, but not the rapid rate of fermentation that I had with my other brews. However this is a different type of yeast.

I'm not too worried though.... If there's one thing I've learned from this forums it's that sometimes you just need to letthe yeast work it's magic. Ill prolly let it sit for another 2 weeks and see how it looks then. Hopefully by then I can rack to secondary and put some orange "sludge" in it.

My goal is to have it ready for the fourth o July... So I have some time to let it ride and fix it's self.

rdann87 said:

My goal is to have it ready for the fourth o July... So I have some time to let it ride and fix it's self.

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Hefes are ridiculously easy to brew with extract. Just make sure you ferment in the low to mid 60's, and use one of the liquid yeast cultures. The dried versions of Bavarian Wheat yeasts aren't that great.

To get the lighter color like the pic of my brew above, use DME only, and use the late extract addition method.

Yea I used dried yeast. I will look at it in a week or so to see the progress. Like I said... Hopin it just fixes it's self, and that more yeast isn't needed

rdann87 said:

Yea I used dried yeast. I will look at it in a week or so to see the progress. Like I said... Hopin it just fixes it's self, and that more yeast isn't needed

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Which dry strain did you use? Danstar Munich or Safale WB-06?

I think it was called dcl saflager.... That's what the Internet seems to say at least. It was the truebrew American wheat kit

Looked back threw my brew day notes. It appears the yeast was muntons dry yeast. We rehydrated it for about an hour before it was pitched. Anyone have any experience with this type? Any issues?

I'm still not seeing much bubbling inthe air lock or Krausen on the top of th wort. At least not like what I've seen in other brews.
There is just a layer if sludge like stuff on re top. However there is bubbling in the sludge

rdann87 said:

I think it was called dcl saflager.... That's what the Internet seems to say at least. It was the truebrew American wheat kit

Click to expand...

DCL Saflager is the s-23, a lager yeast.

So I checked the gravity... Looks good dropped from 1.04 to 1.021. Sample tasted it and it was pretty good. Obviously no volume at all, but a nice orange after taste. I'll still probably add some orange "sludge" to the secondary when rack to that on Sunday.

I'm afraid I might "over orange" it though... I'll update with what we do

Seated about 4 more oranges the other day. Boiled the zest and juice with a cup of water for 20 mins.. Then cooled it to 70 and siphoned it into the carboy.... Looks good

Btw I meant to say Zested but the iPhone corrected me... Stupid technology