Orange Zest

[Bonestar]

When adding fresh orange zest to the boil when should it be done? 5 minutes? 1 minute? Flame out?

 

[BonnieJ]

Mmm..that sounds good. I just did some looking around on adding grapefruit flavor, you might try searching for that info.

Let us know how it turns out. I'm drinking something right now that I can imagine some orange flavor in.

ETA: If you look below this thread, there are a bunch of threads on adding zest.

 

[bluemoose]

Yes, yes and yes. You can add at any of those times. It won't make a tremendous amount of difference. Just make sure you wash the fruit pretty well before zesting. Pesticides can create an off flavor, ask me how I know. You could also use the zest as a dry addition. I guess it depends on what you are looking to get out of it in terms of flavor. Is there a specific beer you are brewing or is this a general question?

 

[msa8967]

I have gotten consistent results using 5 minutes for my boil times with the zest.

 

[Bonestar]

Thanks for the info. I whipped up a strong honey ale yesterday and added the zest of 4 oranges at flame out. I did scrub them very good before zesting. From what I gather it is personal preference regarding adding zest during the boil and when to do it. The more it boils the less aroma you will get. Sure did smell good and the wort tasted incredible.

 

[Elweydoloco]

Yeah 5 minutes prior is what I do. When using a dry product you may want to up it to 10 minutes but it's not too necessary. Also throw it in there with the primary. It will continue to soak in and give the zesty goodness!!

I'm assuming you're using wheat beer so the hell with the cloudiness anyway.

 

[Insomniac]

Only tried it once on an exract wheat that was using the "tea bag" method for hops of 3 20 min soaks in water that was boiled and left to cool. I assume thats the equivilent of hop additions at 60, 40 and 20. When Adding zest to this I just put it in from the start, it tasted fine, though not very pronounced, might get a bit more if you leave it in the fermentor (mine was taken out before fermenting)

 

[POAS]

I've put it in for about the last 5 min. The biggest difference I found is leaving it in the primary. That definitely makes the hint of orange more pronounced.

 

[ozzy1038]

I have added it near the end of boil. Last time was at 5mins and 2oz of fresh peel were used. I could not pick up any orange in the beer. Maybe next time I'll put it in a hop bag and when kegging, siphon through it as a last minute thing. I assume/hope it would be more pronounced.

 

[sdsurfaddict]

I have an orange hefe in the secondary right now, it is my first attempt at using fresh fruit. I took a hops approach to it, boiling 60 for flavor and 5-10 for bouqet. I boiled 75% of my zest for 60 mins and the remainder for 10 mins. When I racked to the secondary my house smelled of oranges for over an hour! Could def taste some orange flavor at time of racking. I plan on kegging it soon ( time constraints ) Ill let you know how it turns out!

 

[nilo]

I soak the peels in vodka for a day and dump to primary. I think that boiling it evaporates the good aroma.