Orange IPA

[CharlieM]

I have a kit coming from Austin HB and read in reviews of it one brewer added some orange peel to "spice" it a little. Has anyone ever done this? Actual peel, zest? Opinions / thoughts?

 

[Calder]

Add the zest. The zest has all the oils that have the fruit flavor. Try and minimize the amount of the pith (white stuff) as it is bitter.

I usually add the zest to vodka and then add both to the fermenter. The higher alcohol extracts the oils better than beer, and also sanitizes the zest.

 

[Painter]

How much zest and vodka? When do you add it? Sounds like a good idea.

 

[Transamguy77]

I have made a few "citrus" beers and I have found the best way to get the flavor is to steep the peel (pith and all) for about 10 mins after flameout but before starting to cool it.

 

[CharlieM]

Transamguy77 - are you saying the last few minutes of the boil? I could see adding in the last 5-10 minutes. Any idea how much you put in? And you add the white as well? I've always heard that was bitter.

 

[Transamguy77]

Transamguy77 - are you saying the last few minutes of the boil? I could see adding in the last 5-10 minutes. Any idea how much you put in? And you add the white as well? I've always heard that was bitter.

I add it at flame out and let it "steep" for about 10 mins then start to chill it down. For 5 gallons I would add 1 whole orange, just the peels and yes with the white. I (or anyone else) have never noticed a bitter taste at all. I have also added the juice as well so the whole orange, lemon or lime was used. I have left the peels in during fermentation and didn't notice a difference so I just take them out now.

 

[ArrogantDusty]

I add orange zest to my holiday red and I do it at flameout. I also let it sit in vodka for about a week before brew day. Let us know how it turns out!

 

[sablesurfer]

Added zest to end of boil for a Saison a couple weeks back, kitchen and wort smelled amazing. Moving to secondary, it is all mostly gone. :-(

Will be getting more oranges today to put zest in when I dry hop this weekend.

 

[Kiichi]

I am just doing a saison with a good bit of lemon, mostly zest. My process is based upon the idea (do not know how well supported it is), that a lot of the wonderful oils you want are very volatile. For around 5 gallons I added zest and juice of 1 lemon initially with the yeast pitch to avoid anything going away due to heat. I prefer time over heat with hops as well being a huge fan of hopstands. Smelled brilliant combined with the rest, but after a week a lot of that hit was gone. Thus I added the zest of 2 more lemons to secondary for 4 days. Thinking about doing a final 1 lemon zest charge on bottling day.

Point is that these flavors are volatile and I recon you get the best extraction when you add them for some time when there is alcohol present, meaning secondary. That way you do not boil off any of the good stuff and the alcohol helps extract it. Not that different to dryhop really (still hopstand fan).

 

[bonarek]

I made an OJ IPA using citrusy hops and I added the rough zest of one large orange (after soaking in vodka for a day or so) to the dry hop. The flavor and aroma were wonderful after a few weeks bottle conditioning.

Unfortunately after about two months in bottle the orange aroma and flavor was gone or at least very different