Missing orange flavor

[jmulligan]

I put together BierMuncher's Sterling Gold this weekend (5 or 5.5 gallon, not 11).

7 lbs Pilsner (used an extra pound as insurance against uncertain efficiency)
0.75 lbs rye malt
0.50 lbs carapils
0.50 lbs crystal 10L
0.50 lbs rice hulls
0.33 oz coriander seeds (uncrushed) @ 10
0.33 oz bitter orange peel @ 10
1 tsp black peppercorns @ 10
1.0 oz of Sterling pellets (did not have on-site to boil; added hop "tea" later)

It's been in primary for 5 days, down to 1.010, will rack to secondary in 3 more days.

I tasted it, and while I definitely get hints of the coriander and pepper, I am not tasting much orange. I also f*cked up the hop addition (basically forgot them, and had to boil them in water and add that to the primary later).

My main question is just about the orange flavor. I still have some bitter orange peel left. Should I boil some of that and add the "tea" to the secondary? Or should I just leave this alone for now and wait it out?

Thanks!

 

[mynamestanner]

I recently made a wheat beer and put the shavings from 2 oranges into the secondary and got some real good orange flavor out of that. It was real strong the first week, then mellowed out to what i think is a perfect level.

So yea, toss them into the secondary

 

[avidhomebrewer]

When I use orange peel, I'll use the full ounce, usually at 15 minutes. I've found that gives a nice orange character without being too overpowering. The taste does fade away a bit too quickly though, say after 2-3 weeks.

 

[fishops]

Definitely try fresh orange zest in the secondary, I've had very good luck with that. Steam an orange briefly to sanitize the outside of the fruit, then either use a (sanitized) zester or paring knife to take off the first layer. You don't want any of the white pith or flesh, just the zest.

 

[Cookiebaggs]

I just made a Blue moon clone last week. I have a pretty good method for processing your own orange peel.

I started by saving all the peels from the oranges I ate at work. I would use a box cutter to score the orange skin before peeling. This helped me to pull the peel off in even strips. Right after peeling, I would take a razor blade and shave the white portion off the back of the orange peel leaving only the zest. I let the zest dry for 3-4 days and then ground it to bits using my coffee grinder. This worked really well and gave me a fresh supply of orange zest that I can store for later batches. (ie. a holiday spice)

I'll get some pics up tomorrow.

 

[Poobah58]

The orange flavor comes from the coriander, not the orange peel. You get more flavor when you crush the coriander and add the last few minutes of the boil. Remove some wort, add some crushed coriander and bring to a boil, then put back in when cool.

 

[jmulligan]

Considering that the beer already tastes HUGELY of coriander, I don't think I want to crack any open and boil some more. Thanks for the suggestion Poobah, but I think I'm going to go with zest first.

Cookiebaggs, fishops, avidhomebrewer, mynamestanner: Thanks for the various zest suggestions. I will definitely chuck some zest when I transfer to secondary this weekend.

Cookiebaggs - looking forward to the pics.

Thanks guys!

 

[Sherpa FE]

Please do not grind the coriander, I made that mistake, ruined the beer. Put it in a bag and whack it with a rubber mallet until it seems that all the kernals are cracked in half...

Too fine a grind and it becomes WAY overpowering.

I use about 1.5 oz of orange peel in a 5 gallon batch last 10 mins of the boil. I find that comes out about right

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

I just brewed an american wheat in which I used 1/4 oz of bitter orange peel and 1/4 oz of sweet. I've got quite a citrus flavor in the beer...not overpowering, but very pleasant. You may want to try adding the sweet next time. Personally, next time I do this beer I'm going to up the sweet peel to 1/2 oz. and add corriander.

 

[z987k]

yeah I don't grind the coriander anymore either. .5oz and just cracked.

 

[fellc]

The first time i made a belgian wit, i added too much coriander and it tasted way too spicy. The last time i brewed it, I added half of what the recipe recommended and the beer came out tasting very citrusy. So just keep experimenting.
And if not the best then just drink it quicker so you can brew another.

 

[Revvy]

I've had the same problem with my ginger orange dortmunder, and each batch I've increased the amount and still it doesn't last....I usually do it in 3 additions at the end of the boil and flameout....My last batch had over 3 ounces of peels in it....I've been thinking about extract, myself...I really don't want to add coriander...People CLAIM that you get the orange flavor from the coriander, but when I cook with citrus peel I'm getting the flavor from the peel and never had to have added Corriander to fake it....so I dunno...

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

+1 on adding the orange rinds to the secondary. You can get some great aroma that way.

 

[tbone]

I have some notes concerning a Blue Moon Clone and they state that the "dried, ground Valencia orange peel should be 1/3 the weight of dried coriander." I am going to brew a batch tomorrow and use that ratio. I'll see how it goes.

 

[Jilaman]

I am confused now, I am getting ready to brew AHS Blue Moon Clone, and now I am seeing conflicting answers.

When do you add the Coriander and the Orange Peel?

Orange Peel dried or fresh?

Do you grind the Coriander? This is the most confusing....

 

[DaleJ]

You generally want to hold your coriander/orange additions to sometime within the last 5 minutes of the boil. Otherwise you burn off a lot of what you're trying to infuse.

 

[jmulligan]

When do you add the Coriander and the Orange Peel? Orange Peel dried or fresh? Do you grind the Coriander?

1) Usually you will add dried orange peel and coriander towards the end of the boil. I believe the recipe I used had it in the last 10 minutes.

2) Dried peel can be used in the boil. If you desire more orange flavor, free (pith-free!) peel can be used in secondary.

3) I would not personally recommend grinding the coriander - I kept mine whole and there is PLENTY of coriander flavor.

 

[tbone]

The recipe that I am following has the Coriander in for the last 10 min and the orange peel for the last 5. I did a very coarse crush of the Coriander - lightly rolled with a rolling pin.