Using Grapefruit Peel in Primary

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arnobg

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I have used zested orange peel in the boil before but never used peel in the fermenter. I am brewing a Grapefruit Sculpin' Clone and the recipe calls for 2 oz of grapefruit peel in secondary however, I am going to to it in primary about 1.5-2 weeks after start of fermentation with the dry hops.

What is the best way to use the grapefruit peel in the fermenter? I will soak in vodka for a couple hours before. Do I want the whole peel or zest? The recipe doesn't specify just says use grapefruit peel, but do I want to avoid the white pith such as in the boil?
 
I think you just want the zest.

Add to vodka as soon as possible, and leave it in the vodka for as long as possible. The higher alcohol of the vodka will improve extraction of the oils from the zest.
 
Hmm will the beer not do that? I was thinking the vodka was just to sanitize.
 
I've used grapefruit peel in past brews, and the way I did it was to add it at flameout, and then let it sit for a few minutes before beginning the cooling process. This way any microbes would be likely killed by the heat, but it's not exactly added during the boil. This worked well and gave just the subtle flavor hint that I was looking for. To note, however, I don't strain my wort; I just dump everything, including all of the hop residue, into my fermenter, so I didn't have to worry about straining out any of the grapefruit peel.
 
Well this beer has already been brewed so it is going to have to go in the fermenter as the recipe instructs. I'm just wondering how to do that.
 
Well this beer has already been brewed so it is going to have to go in the fermenter as the recipe instructs. I'm just wondering how to do that.

I will be brewing the same in a few weeks and my plan is to use just the zest, soak in vodka for 2 days then dump into primary after fermentation is complete.
I usually allow three weeks in primary then bottle so your time frame sounds good as that what my plan is.
For me, at the 1.5-2 week mark is when I will add my dry hops and zest with the vodka it was soaked in.

I may add a half ounce at FO just to see what it does to the final product as I don't find using just hops gets the grapefruit flavor I want.

If you don't mind, please post your results as I'm curious.
 
I soaked 3 oz. of zest in 4 oz. of vodka for 2 days, then dumped vodka and zest into a dry hopping container in the keg. Pulled it after a couple days and the flavor was amazing. Doing it in the fermenter should work fine, just be sure you will be ready to rack it off within a couple days. If you have a way to grab a sample, try it each day until you get the flavor you like. I only did mine in the keg because it was a ten gallon batch and I originally was only going to grapefruit half of it. It was so good, I went back and did the other half!
 
Well this beer has already been brewed so it is going to have to go in the fermenter as the recipe instructs. I'm just wondering how to do that.

Scrub the grapefruits really well, then dunk into Starsan for 5 minutes. Fish them out and use a sharp potato peeler and just slice off thin pieces of zest (the colored part only).

Needless to say, keep your hands sanitized, as well as the peeler, cutting board, collecting cup, etc. Add the peels directly to your beer.

You may soak them in cheap vodka or Everclear which will sanitize them even more while extracting the aromatics a bit faster since it's 80 proof, but the alcohol in your beer should be able to do most of it over a week at room temps.

For better submersion, extraction through daily agitation (dunking motion) and easy retrieval, you can stick your zest inside a nylon hop sack, clean, sanitized, and weighed down with a few marbles.

There is no real need to rack to a secondary either, just add to primary.
 
Hmm will the beer not do that? I was thinking the vodka was just to sanitize.

The higher alcohol of the vodka will extract the oils faster than if just tossed in the beer. If you plan to soak in vodka anyway, the earlier you do it (and the longer it is in the vodka) the more flavor you will extract.
 
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