First time brewer fruit addition question

[jmp138]

Im going to be brewing a hefe kit that I bought at my LHBS for my first beer in the next week or so. I want it to turn out nicely and was thinking of adding coriander and orange as I was noticing they do in Saranac's white ale. I was wondering if anyone knew amounts for this addition as what I have read says a whole peeled orange and a quarter grapefruit with 10 minutes left in the boil but specifies nothing on coriander. Thanks for your help with not making beer that sucks!

 

[bsay]

I generally zest one orange (that's zest, not fruit) per 2.5 gallons (so 2 in a 5gal batch). As for coriander, an ounce per 5 gallons is the high end range, I usually put in 1/2 to 3/4 of an ounce.

Do yourself the favor, and get organic oranges when you plan to zest them, no pesticides on the outside = better beer for you!

 

[jmp138]

Excellent, thanks for the advice, I figured you could get a lot more concentrated flavor out of zest instead of simply lobbing in a few oranges. Appreciate the advice.

 

[desertbronze]

Use a light hand with the coriander. Very easy to overdo it - and it does not fade into the background quickly. I have a wit bier that is over two years old and the coriander flavor is still dominant.

 

[MoRoToRiUm]

I've never done this for beer, but applies to zest in other cooking; try and get very little to no rhine (white stuff) in your zesting. It will make it bitter/off (I imagine you want that from your hops, not the orange).

 

[Fat Guy Brewing]

Here's what worked great for me: zest of 4 oranges (about 1/2 cup) and 5 tablespoons of coriander. I did not have too much coriander flavor however I used pre-ground coriander. Others may be grinding fresh coriander seed and that may be stronger.

 

[MikeyP]

I've done a hefe with zest from 5 oranges and 5 lemons, and the citrus was still pretty subdued. However, make sure zest is zest, and not rhine, as mentioned previously. I usually add it at the end of the boil as well.