Blood Orange American IPA first try

[PrezDickie]

First non-kit recipe. It has been in Primary for 4 days now

Ingredients as follows

Grains
8lb Pale Malt Extract (split half towards end of boil)
8oz caramel (steeped 20min)
8oz carapils (steeped 20min)

Hops
1oz cascade (60)
.5oz citra (30)
1oz amarillo (15)
.5oz citra (15)
.5 citra (5)
.5 citra (flameout)
1oz galaxy (dry hop?) (open to options)

Fruit
1oz blood orange zest (5 removed when moving to primary)

Yeast
Bry-97

OG target(according to beersmith)
1.055
Actual OG
1.061 (is this due to the zest?)

Overall brew was basic. Went well no issues
Did have a worry about bot rebydrating the yeast properly (resolved)

Heard this yeast strain has lag time along with potentially vigorous fermentation so I used a blow off right off the bat. Fermentation did lag a little. Was bubbling by day 2. However nothing crazy yet

Checked SG today on day 4 its at 1.018

Now for the questions

After some lite research I have learned this is a loaded question with seemingly no direct answer, but I havent seen much on blood oranges specifically. I was going to do mushed up blood oranges and maybe a little zest in secondary. How long should I let them sit in there for? I planned on a couple lbs. is that too much? Open to any ideas and changes that can be made

I originally planned on a citra dry hop but ended with galaxy. 3-5 days seem okay? Is 1oz enough? Again open to any other thoughts on hops or time frames.

I have no issues with criticism as I feel its the best way to learn. So if anyone has any recommendations/tips/tricks/ideas throw em out there.

 

[PrezDickie]

First non-kit recipe. It has been in Primary for 4 days now

Ingredients as follows

Grains
8lb Pale Malt Extract (split half towards end of boil)
8oz caramel (steeped 20min)
8oz carapils (steeped 20min)

Hops
1oz cascade (60)
.5oz citra (30)
1oz amarillo (15)
.5oz citra (15)
.5 citra (5)
.5 citra (flameout)
1oz galaxy (dry hop?) (open to options)

Fruit
1oz blood orange zest (5 removed when moving to primary)

Yeast
Bry-97

OG target(according to beersmith)
1.055
Actual OG
1.061 (is this due to the zest?)

Overall brew was basic. Went well no issues
Did have a worry about bot rebydrating the yeast properly (resolved)

Heard this yeast strain has lag time along with potentially vigorous fermentation so I used a blow off right off the bat. Fermentation did lag a little. Was bubbling by day 2. However nothing crazy yet

Checked SG today on day 4 its at 1.018

Now for the questions

After some lite research I have learned this is a loaded question with seemingly no direct answer, but I havent seen much on blood oranges specifically. I was going to do mushed up blood oranges and maybe a little zest in secondary. How long should I let them sit in there for? I planned on a about 3lbs. is that too much? Open to any ideas and changes that can be made

I originally planned on a citra dry hop but ended with galaxy. 3-5 days seem okay? Is 1oz enough? Again open to any other thoughts on hops or time frames.

I have no issues with criticism as I feel its the best way to learn. So if anyone has any recommendations/tips/tricks/ideas throw em out there.

 

[GiantDad]

Depends on how fruity you'd like the beer to come out. I think 3 lbs would give you a fairly strong fruit flavor and aroma. The zest will probably be a little hard to pick out given the amount of actual fruit going in, so it may be pointless to do the zest in secondary. Usually I find zest is best added during the last 10 to 15 min of the boil.

I would let the fruit sit for at least 1 to 2 weeks, when I'm doing a fruit addition to any of my beers I usually do 3 weeks, but again it really is dependent on how strong you want that flavor to come through. I would let the fruit sit for 1 week and draw a sample to see how it taste and go from there.

As far as methods of adding the fruit, I'd mash em all up and add the juice only. Personally, I've never worked with oranges in my beer, but my main concern would be the pulp adding more bitterness to an already bitter style.

I think Citra is a hop that would compliment the flavors of the blood orange nicely but I love galaxy too, and personally I'd go up to 3 oz for 3 days. The gravity difference is most likely due to the fermentables and not the zest imo.

 

[cswis86]

3-5 days for dry hopping is perfect. An ounce of dry hops will be noticeable but not overpowering. I've never used blood oranges but I imagine a couple pounds would be more than enough to give you some citrus character. I would juice them and pasteurize them. Heat the juice to ~170F and hold for 5-10 mins to kill any wild yeasts and bacteria. An ounce or 2 of zest will probably be good to throw in as well. I haven't brewed many beers with added fruits so sorry I can't give you more specifics. Good luck!

 

[PrezDickie]

Thanks. should I freeze the fruit before I pasturize? Or just juice and pasteurize and toss in

 

[PrezDickie]

Awesome thanks. Just got the blood oranges tonight. After peeling i have about 1.5lbs. Probably going to boos it to 2lbs. I want i mice even balance between the fruit flavor/aroma and the hops. Something close to dogfish head flesh and blood ipa

 

[bajaedition]

one advantage of pasteurizing oranges is it breaks down the sugars for fermentation.
15 minutes should kill off all wild yeast in the oranges and then dump
Zest has flavor and no sugars, but I do not know if it has uchy tannins in it.
I really want you to PM me when this is done, I love blood oranges and want to know how this taste.

 

[PrezDickie]

one advantage of pasteurizing oranges is it breaks down the sugars for fermentation.
15 minutes should kill off all wild yeast in the oranges and then dump
Zest has flavor and no sugars, but I do not know if it has uchy tannins in it.
I really want you to PM me when this is done, I love blood oranges and want to know how this taste.

For sure. I'll be racking either tomorrow or this weekend. I tasted it when i checked my last SG. So far its got a nice lite hoppy, citrus vibe to it. Weather around here is slowly turning over to summer so its going to be perfect timing

 

[applescrap]

Recipe seems fine, as for the fruit, yes secondary. My book says freeze for best extraction. Zest should be end of boil 3 to 4 fruits with no pith, see pic. For secondary less. Zest and the fruit seem different to me. I guess they would go together, sure. For oranges the pasteurization process seems not the worst idea. I would personally trust the inside of the fruit and freeze it or just mash it up and throw it in. Gotta love the idea of juice. Saw some podcasts with good results of adding juice at end of boil. Some belgian brewers leave fruit in for months, you are not a belgian brewer, two weeks max book says. I mean you are just trying to extract fruit character not something else a month or two later . Hope it turns out great. And dry hop 3 or 4 days towards end of secondary ferment just before racking. If you threw it in earlier it wouldnt hurt.

 

[PrezDickie]

Just racked on top of the fruit in secondary. Used about 1.5lbs blood orange to start. Frozen and thawed then mushed up. With another 1.5lb on backup if I feel it needs more. I have 1oz of citra and 1oz of galaxy hanging around. Currently. Havent decided if I want to use both or just 1 for the dry hop. Probably base it off the strength of the fruit in a week or so when i go to dry hop.

Notes: little darker than I expected. When I tested grabvity it was pale. But after moving the whole batch to my clear carboy It appears darker. Hopefully it settles and the blood color pulls through nicely.


Lessons learned: used my bucket as a primary (fermonster didnt come in time to use as primary). Siphoning around the trub at the bottom was a ***** and I lost about half a gallon to 3/4 gallon because of it. So fermonster/carboys from now on dor primary when using that much hops.

Is it a homebrew 3sm when you're drinking the first beer off your previous batch while racking yoir current?


Anyways heres a picture of it racked. I dont have kods so i post pictures of my beer all over instead 🤙🏻

 

[thedon986]

I got some hints from Flying Dog near me who makes an incredible blood orange IPA. The juice and dry hops went in while still in primary near the end of fermentation then just bottled from there. The beer came out great with strong blood orange flavor.

What you are doing seems fine as well, I just appreciated their method a bit more as it eliminated the secondary step, which I always try to avoid.

Also, the NE IPA I brew gets dry hopped multiple times while still in primary with excellent flavor results.

 

[PrezDickie]

Next time I 100% am going to do that. I completely understand why I keep reading that most homebrewers do not rack to secondary as much these days. Now that i have the clear carboy I feel a lot better about keeping it in primary now that I can see whats going on in there

Side note: Bloodline is what made me want to brew a blood orange

 

[thedon986]

Side note: Bloodline is what made me want to brew a blood orange

Awesome. I entered a competition with some friends to clone this that was put on by them. Picked up the ingredients from them (BYO blood orange juice) and they gave a semi step by step procedure so that is where I got the tips from. Got third out of about 20 entries and I was judged by the brewery as well.

 

[PrezDickie]

Thats pretty solid. Did you use juice instead of the flesh?

 

[thedon986]

Thats pretty solid. Did you use juice instead of the flesh?

Yep, only juice and it was store bought, not fresh squeezed. Overlooked that detail when preparing for the brew day and ended up scrambling to find anything blood orange.

 

[PrezDickie]

Couldnt find any store bought juice. Was going to put it through my
Juicer but not going to lie, I didnt want to go about sanitizing every little part. Went with mashed chunks instead. Only worry Inhave with that is the little bit of white left over from peeling but I don't thinknit will be an issue

 

[PrezDickie]

Well had my first taste test after bottling. Few things. I used 1.5lbs of blood oranges at first. Then 6 days later I check gravity and took a taste. Added another 1.5lbs of blood orange and 1pz of galaxy for a dry hop. Let go for another 5 days. I froze the oranges and just thawded amd smashed them
Up. Used a muslin bag to keep the mess in secondary minimal. Worked great

Aroma: blood orange aroma to it but not overwhelming. Still has that hoppy feel
Taste: taste like a good IPA with a subtle blood orange flavor, its almost perfect. Really glaf I went with the galaxy hops. They blended withthe blood orange exactly how I wanted
Colo: this is an extract recipe so it is a little darker than I wanted. Has a slight haze to it like a NEIPA would

Overall: extremely satisfied wih how this turned out. I honestly exceeded what i expected the results to be, especially since this is my first built recipe. My significant other is not an IPA person by any means and is in love with this one. Will
Post a final picture after I chill a few more

 

[Redleg84]

This sounds really good, I might give it a shot on my next brew day.

You bought the oranges fresh and peeled/mashed them up? Then froze, thawed and racked onto them in the secondary?

 

[PrezDickie]

This sounds really good, I might give it a shot on my next brew day.

You bought the oranges fresh and peeled/mashed them up? Then froze, thawed and racked onto them in the secondary?

Yes. Bought them fresh. Zested a couple for the brew. Then peeled and froze the rest. When the day came to add them i let them thaw, mashed, added.