Added orange peel to the grain bag... whoops!

[schneidmaster]

First brew day today, using a Brewer's Best kit to make a summer ale. The instructions weren't super clear and I accidentally put the spice mix (dried orange peel) in the grain bag with the malt. Eventually figured out it was supposed to go into the wort near the end of the boil, but too late. Oh well, rookie mistake

I'm curious what effect this is likely to have on the beer... super orangey since it went in early? No orange flavor at all since it wasn't really in the boil? Somewhere in between?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Hey & welcome.

I'd guess everywhere in between, on the low side.
Kits tend to overdo the flavors sometimes. Might be even better now!

Cheers

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

You probably boiled off most or all of the orange flavor. However, all is not lost. Get some more dried orange peel from your LHBS and soak it a couple of days in a sealed jar with an ounce of two of vodka just covering it. When fermentation is done, dump the whole thing in your fermenter, vodka and all. Give it a day or two more and you're ready to bottle of keg. This will give you your orange flavor. Cheers.

 

[davidabcd]

First brew day today, using a Brewer's Best kit to make a summer ale. The instructions weren't super clear and I accidentally put the spice mix (dried orange peel) in the grain bag with the malt. Eventually figured out it was supposed to go into the wort near the end of the boil, but too late. Oh well, rookie mistake

I'm curious what effect this is likely to have on the beer... super orangey since it went in early? No orange flavor at all since it wasn't really in the boil? Somewhere in between?

My first kit was a three-ring circus so I get it. Seriously, mine was laughable.
I checked out the BB recipe. Looks like a very minor error--thirty extra minutes? I'd leave it alone since it's your first beer; it's going to taste great anyway. I've learned, aside from throwing the wort on the floor, beer is very forgiving.
IF you feel compelled to do something, and it needs that flavor, serve the beer with a fresh slice of orange on the rim.
Good luck!

 

[applescrap]

You probably boiled off most or all of the orange flavor. However, all is not lost. Get some more dried orange peel from your LHBS and soak it a couple of days in a sealed jar with an ounce of two of vodka just covering it. When fermentation is done, dump the whole thing in your fermenter, vodka and all. Give it a day or two more and you're ready to bottle of keg. This will give you your orange flavor. Cheers.

This is solid.

 

[davidabcd]

This is solid.

It is solid advice for an experienced brewer from, clearly, an experienced brewer.
However, wouldn't the brand-new-to-brewing OP be better off not opening the fermenter, until absolutely necessary, and not guessing at how much orange peel to add? As of right now, after checking the BB recipe, it looks like it will taste good anyway.
Cheers!
Edit (about ten minutes after posting) If OP must attempt a correction, would tasting on bottling day and then adding drops, gradually, of a liquid orange extract be acceptable?

 

[applescrap]

You make a good point. I don't think anything could be more confusing than those directions though . They even recommend a secondary.

Obviously op dont open fermenter until fermentation is over and then will need to smell and taste. I believe most of the "spice" will have been boiled off. But maybe not. Find a way to give it a taste and see if it's orange enough. If not sanitize the dried orange peel like with vodka or use liquid flavor to taste. Less is definitely more, but all flavors will fade to, which is worth keeping in mind.

Either way doing nothing is always a good option for sure!

Ultimately taste should rule. If it's lightly Orange and that's what you want then it's perfect. But if it's not and you want a nice bright orange flavor in the beer then the above is how you do it.

 

[Kickass]

You probably boiled off most or all of the orange flavor. However, all is not lost. Get some more dried orange peel from your LHBS and soak it a couple of days in a sealed jar with an ounce of two of vodka just covering it. When fermentation is done, dump the whole thing in your fermenter, vodka and all. Give it a day or two more and you're ready to bottle of keg. This will give you your orange flavor. Cheers.

Simple and effective.

If it were me, I'd taste first. If not satisfied, do this. Seriously, it's easy.

 

[schneidmaster]

Thanks for all the replies! I was planning to pull a sample near the end of fermentation anyway to check on the gravity, so I'll just give it a taste then and see how it is. Adding the vodka-soaked orange peel sounds simple enough if I can't taste the citrus at all (seems important since it's a summer ale). I'll let y'all know how it turns out!

 

[schneidmaster]

Update if anyone was wondering -- it actually turned out with some nice citrus notes (without me adding anything -- I sampled it when checking the gravity and it seemed citrus-y enough as it was). Unfortunately I did get also kind of a bitter aftertaste, but I'm guessing that's probably not related to the orange peel timing.