Adding orange slice to ferment

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bigskooter

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I am wanting to add orange slices to my Carboy tonight. I have heard to soak them in vodka to kill the nasties before adding to my brew. I do not have vodka but I do have everclear. Is everclear to high of alcohol or would it matter?
 
From the title, I totally thought you were talking about Slice, the orange soda, and thought to myself, "This I've gotta read!" :)
 
From the title, I totally thought you were talking about Slice, the orange soda, and thought to myself, "This I've gotta read!" :)

My initial thought was the gummy candies, and I thought "that can't be right... can it?"

I don't think that everclear is a good substitute for vodka in this case, but other with more experience will surely chime in soon.
 
There is no need to soak it in vodka, although you can. As long as you add the fruit to the secondary after primary fermentation. If you want - spray the outside of the orange, work surface, and any knives etc. with sanitizer.

I regularly add fruit, spices etc. to my secondary and have never had an infection. As long as you are adding it to the secondary there is enough alcohol to guard against "nasties".

Just my experience.
 
If this is a standard grocery store orange, you may want to shave off a few outer layers of the peel to make sure there's not any pesticide residue or anything getting in there.
 
If this is a standard grocery store orange, you may want to shave off a few outer layers of the peel to make sure there's not any pesticide residue or anything getting in there.

The zest from the orange is the outside of the peel. You don't want to throw that away!
 
Also, I'm not super familiar with adding fruit in the secondary, but doesn't a little go a long way with citrus zest? I don't know that I'd add an entire orange slice (flesh and all), but maybe someone here has a more informed perspective then me.

Strike that, CERTAINLY someone here has a more informed perspective then me. :)
 
I'm making a Lemon Coriander Weiss right now (kit from MW) and their directions said to put the zest of 1 lemon in the microwave for 30 seconds prior to adding to the secondary. Don't know if it's good advice or not but that's what the directions said and the kit has good reviews so I followed the instructions.
 
As long as primary fermentation is done, you can put pretty much anything in. I would suggest washing any fruit before adding to your Carboy, and use sanitizer on the airlock/ stopper as well.
I made some lemon-ginger cream ale a few months ago. Ginger really took over. If you are just using the zest, I'd say add all of it. If you are adding the flesh as well, you might want to peel the white parts off. Then smash up the fruit a bit to help release the juice.
 
Just finished making a Orange Blossom Hefeweizen. My technique, described in this thread, was to make the base beer and while it was fermenting I zested 6 organic Valencia oranges and added it to 1 cup of Everclear for 2 weeks. I ended up adding only about 1/4 C. of the orange extract to approx. 5 gallons of beer. The result was a strong orange aroma and flavor; its been a really popular beer this hot summer.

Word of advise, make sure you leave all the white pith from the orange peel behind, otherwise you'll end up with a 'vegetable' or 'bitter' taste. If you zest correctly your orange will still look orange after zesting, not white.
 
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