adding orange peel

[OHIOSTEVE]

I am planning to brew the centenniel blond https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/centennial-blonde-simple-4-all-grain-5-10-gall-42841/

this week. Hopefully an AG full boil if the rain lets up... either way I want to add a hint of orange to the flavor but I am not sure how. I put some orange peel in a glass and poured over it and it was great. Do I simply put some orange peel in a secondary and rack over it or do I add it to the boil....also how much for a hint of flavor. I don't want it to hit you over the head but a slight " HMM THIS HAS A GREAT TASTE TO IT...WHAT IS THAT?"

 

[david83]

i just did a belgian blonde and also added bitter orange to it .i added to the boil with 5 ins. left and let it sit in primary for two weeks and switched to secondary and left the orange peels behind.i added 1 teaspoon and when i tasted the wort when switching there was a hint of orange not overpowering by anymeans.

 

[Sithdad]

Adding the zest (the outer skin without the white pith, which is bitter) adds the best flavor and aroma when added at the very end of the boil. So when your boil is over turn off the heat and add the zest and then begin to chill. I made a 5 gal batch of Kolsch where I added 3 oz of Navel orange zest. It's not enough to "hit you over the head" with orange flavor or aroma, but you can tell it's orange (if that makes sense). So, perhaps 2-2.5 oz in a 5 gal batch would be enough for that subtle aroma and flavor. You won't really know until you try one and see how it turns out.

My Kolsch is in the lagering phase right now and when I racked to secondary it was very aromatic and had a nice taste of orange. I didn't add any zest to secondary and I am due to bottle in a few days. So I can't comment how long the aroma or taste will last.

 

[FxdGrMind]

I've made 2 AG beers (5.5 ABV) where I've added the zest from 4-5 oranges to the boil just before flame out. Not much of any hint of orange. A little bitter hint maybe, but that's it.
On my 2nd attempt, I had tasted the first and decided to add the same amount (zest of 4 oranges, roughly 2 oz of zest) in a hop bag to an already racked 2ndary. 6 day's later... OMG! Hammer in the face ORANGE!

I'm calling it my "Sunrise Orange Ale". I've racked to keg and taken the hop bag out, adding CO2 and hoping that a few weeks of aging will help calm down the orange punch!... Time will tell. If it's not enough of a reduction I may have to blend the two together to get something that doesn't Knock you out with orange.

I'm not sure how much you may need or what exactly you are looking for, but that's what I've experienced so far.

Cheers and hope it's helpful.