Summer ale with citris zest

I'm making a summer ale and I wanted to add some citris zest; orange, lemon, and lime. I want to do it with fresh fruit, but I'm not too sure on how to add it and how much. Would one of each fruit be good? Should I throw it in the boil and if I do, what time? Should I rack it in my secondary? I was thinking of racking it in my secondary, but I'm not sure.

 

Hi There,
You will probably want to zest a couple pieces of fruit each, making sure you wash them well before zesting. I would suggest adding to the boil with 5-10 minutes left in the boil. Most people use dried peel to add citrus but I understand that you want to use fresh. Just make sure that you don't zest down into the pith (the while layer under the skin of the fruit). The pith will add unwanted bittering to your beer. You may also add more zest into the secondary if you are looking for more citrus flavors, just do a quick soak in vodka or other flavorless sanitizer before adding to your beer.

Good luck!

 

I just did a Belgium Wit, and added 4 oz of orange zest at the last 10 minutes of the boil. I used five large oranges. I won't add any more during fermentation, but will do a two week primary only for this style.


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I've put some zest in the last 10-5 minutes of the boil before and I've also added some after fermentation is complete. You could do both and see what happens. I'm going to brew a kumquat ale that has the whole fruit in the keg. If I remember I'll report back and share how it does.

 

I did a two gallon batch last year of my version of a bud lite lime. I used the zest of two limes at flame out. The beer was good, but I'm making three gallons of it again this month. Gonna add zest of 4 limes at 10 min mark. Hoping to get more lime flavor than last years.


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If I zest an orange, lemon, and lime for the boil and did the same for secondary, would that be a good amount? To little or too much? It is a 5 gallon batch.

 

Don't do both the end of boil and secondary. You don't want it to be overpowering, especially with a beer that is light in body and colour. Those kind of beers don't let you hide any mistakes. Start small so people say, "Hmm... I detect a pleasant hint of lime."

 

Especially with lime. I made a cider once and chopped up a whole lime and added one per gallon. Holy lime batman. Too much!


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Do you think one of each, a lime, orange, and lemon would be good for a 5 gallon batch?

 

I would do one of the lemon or the orange. Then if you want it more intense, you can add more next time.

 

I just brewed a blonde ale in which I added the zest of two oranges to secondary. It's not bad and seems to have a stronge citrus flavor that is mellowing a bit in the bottles. I was planning on adding it to the boil next time.

 

You could always add the zest in the last 5min of boil, and then if at bottling you feel you need more based on the flavor, add some then.
In my experience, orange zest is fairly subtle- takes 2-3 to make a difference, but lemon is pretty strong- 1 is plenty. Have not tried lime.

 

I'd refrain from doing all three (orange, lemon and lime) in the same brew. You don't want the flavors to be confusing or overpowering, but something that compliments the beer and makes it refreshing.

At most, opt for a combo of two that go together like orange/lemon or lemon/lime.

 

I decided I'm going to go with the orange and lemon combo. I'm going to rack it in my secondary after a week or so in primary. How long should I let it sit in secondary?

 

Using zest for your fruit flavor, I'm not sure why you're wanting to move it to a secondary, especially after just a week. Simply leave it in the primary until it's time to prime/bottle.

 

Yes.

Unless your doing a really big beer like a barley wine that needs to sit a long time, secondary isn't needed. Let your beer sit 5 or 6 weeks and if will be clear.

Do you use Irish moss?

I think the citrus oils will come out better in boil. It will also reduce chance of infection.


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I'm brewing it tomorrow. I was gonna use 3 oranges and 2 lemons in my primary. Would that be too overpowering for a 5 gallon batch?