Brewing w/ Orange Zest

[solidsolo]

Hi all, I'm new to brewing and am so far loving it.
I'm about to do a Belgium Wit and I wanted to make it a more citrus beer. I have all the ingredients except the orange.

How do you brew w/ the orange exactly? Do you use the orange peel zest? Can you squeeze in a few oranges while brewing?

thank you

 

[BarleyWater]

Use the zest, and use a TON. Seriously, when your arm gets tired from zesting, you're not quite done, and it will give an amazing citrus flavor in the finished brew.

 

[solidsolo]

Thanks for the info.
When should I throw it in the brew during the boil? Right before it's finished?
Any idea how much? Like a cup of zest?

 

[smizak]

+1 on making a lot. Zest a whole bunch, like a softball sized pile.

Add it a knockout, and I mean RIGHT at knockout. Throw it in and start the chiller immediately.

 

[BarleyWater]

Ya what he said, right at flameout and chill immediately, and a softball size is a good estimate, gonna take a few fruits. I used 2 naval oranges 1 grapefruit and 1 lemon on my last wit.

 

[solidsolo]

I'm pretty new at this.
What does "knockout" mean? I'm assuming per the previous post that it's right before I take it off the stove to chill.

That's interesting... so the zest really doesn't even get boiled into the brew?

 

[MarsColonist]

knockout=flameout

chill fast, as you want to retain the aromatics (hence the lack of need to "boil" the zest, wort is hot enough)

I made a 10gal batch of wit with the zest of: 2 valencia oranges, 2 heirloom oranges, 2 seville oranges, 1 lisbon lemon, 2 limes, 1 grapefruit and 1 tangelo ... the fruit flies noticed... it was super citrus-y and the ladies loved it.

 

[smizak]

I'm pretty new at this.
What does "knockout" mean? I'm assuming per the previous post that it's right before I take it off the stove to chill.

That's interesting... so the zest really doesn't even get boiled into the brew?

Nope. Boiling will zap the aroma real fast. The zest particles are so small that as long as they contact wort that is near or at boiling temp for some amount of time, it should be enough to kill off any nasties. I would imagine that the contamination risk of citrus zest is very small anyway.

 

[klyph]

I wonder how much the zest contributes to IBUs. Seems like that should factor into the recipe.

 

[smizak]

The key is to only zest the very outside of the rind, just the colored part, and avoid zesting any of the white pith underneath. As long as you do that, you shouldn't pick up any bitterness from the zest.

 

[PatMac]

Out of curiosity - How would the taste differ if you added the oranges during the secondary instead of before fermentation?

 

[klyph]

Out of curiosity - How would the taste differ if you added the oranges during the secondary instead of before fermentation?

I suspect the orange flavor would be more prominent, but I have only used zest pre-ferment.

 

[BarleyWater]

Out of curiosity - How would the taste differ if you added the oranges during the secondary instead of before fermentation?

I've heard, but not experienced myself, that fermented orange juice tastes terrible.

 

[klyph]

Ah, I thought you meant zest. Ya, don't put oranges in the fermenter.

 

[PatMac]

I've heard, but not experienced myself, that fermented orange juice tastes terrible.

Good to know. Thanks.

 

[CiscoKid]

I've heard, but not experienced myself, that fermented orange juice tastes terrible.

Ask the folks in prison...

 

[Powers]

I recently made a pale ale and decided after flameout and chilling that I wanted to add some orange zest. I waited until I racked the beer to the bright tank (secondary). Before I racked, I zested three oranges. Basically, I used a sterilized potato peeler and was very meticulous not to get any of the white pith with the zest peels. I suppose you could grate the zest, but I wanted to avoid the particles and go with larger peels.

After getting the zest, I put them in a small sterlized pot with about 2 oz vodka and just enough water to cover. I brought this to boil and let it go for about 2-3 minutes. Then I put the whole solution (peels and all) into the bright tank and siphoned the beer on top of the solution. Before placing the airlock on, I gave the beer gentle stir to circulate the orange zest solution.

After two days, the orange flavor was very slight. For me, I didn't want an overpowering flavor so I'm happy with the direction. I expect more orange flavor to emerge over the next week or two. If it gets two much, I will rack the beer off the peels. I'll try to post an update later...

QUOTE=smizak;1784061]The key is to only zest the very outside of the rind, just the colored part, and avoid zesting any of the white pith underneath. As long as you do that, you shouldn't pick up any bitterness from the zest.[/QUOTE]

 

[Powers]

One more note: you really want to avoid the pith to avoid having a haziness in the beer from the associated pectin. however, the pith does provide a bitterness that can be desired by some brewers. i'm unsure about whether there is a lessened impact if you use dried orange bitter instead of fresh...

 

[klyph]

The orange blossom hefeweizen I just made called for the zest to be steeped in vodka throughout fermentation, then added right before bottling. I'll report back once they're done conditioning to let you know how strong the flavor is.

 

[ReverendTap]

I brewed a wit not that long ago and could not for the life of me track down anywhere local that sold seville ("bitter/sour") oranges. On the advice of my LHBS, I found and used a seville orange marmalade instead, and it really didn't take much to get a good citrus flavor (couple of spoonfuls was all). Not an ideal solution, and it can be hard to find even seville marmalade (if it doesn't specify seville/sour/bitter oranges in the ingredients, it's not), but my results were good.

And yes, I can verify from personal experience that fermented orange juice tastes absolutely awful.

 

[growmegrapes]

I'm pretty sure wheat malt has pectins and you have to boil that in the wort, thats why wheat beers are cloudy. i agree with your technique, just saying the cloudiness in wheat beers is unavoidable as far as I know.

 

[growmegrapes]

please let us know how it turns out!

 

[lurker18]

I did the grapefruit soaked in vodka thing. Peeled 5 grapefruit with a potato peeler and covered the stuff with just enough vodka to cover. Put in a seeled tupperware container and let it soak for the same time the primary was going on. Put the whole thing, vodka and all in the secondary and racked onto, and sat for probably another week or so. The aroma and flavour at bottleing was incredible, but unfortunately it calmed down quite a bit. Now I have an almost exact clone of a Hoegarrden (got there by accident, was not trying to make a clone).

 

[klyph]

I tried the first of the Orange Hefeweizen. It is fantastic. Love the orange flavor, not too much, just right.

 

[Powers]

The aroma and flavour at bottleing was incredible, but unfortunately it calmed down quite a bit. Now I have an almost exact clone of a Hoegarrden (got there by accident, was not trying to make a clone).

i'm in the same boat, lurker. so would you recommend extra time in the secondary to get a stronger aroma/flavor than you would prefer to adjust for the easing off after bottling? or would it better to add more peel next time around?

 

[klyph]

i'm in the same boat, lurker. so would you recommend extra time in the secondary to get a stronger aroma/flavor than you would prefer to adjust for the easing off after bottling? or would it better to add more peel next time around?

My recipe called for leaving it in the vodka throughout fermentation, and adding it at bottling. I think that will give a stronger orange flavor.

 

[Powers]

my ship has sailed on that method, although it sounds like a good one. i'm not too convinced i want a stronger orange flavor. i really just want a hint of orange percolating in the background. i will serve the beer with an orange to increase the flavor if necessary. that being said, my beer is still in the bright tank and the jury is still out...

 

[DrugCoder]

Other than those that specified the potato peeler, how are you getting your zest? Using a microplane grater? One of those bar zesters that leaves it in more of a strand?

The bar one to me seems like it would pick up too much of the pith... May be wrong though..

 

[Powers]

i started with a micro grater and i wish i would have finished the chore with it. that method better releases the oils in the zest that impact flavor. i didn't have as much flavor as i wanted, it was very mild.

i've since used dried orange peel, which appeared to include both the zest and the pith, in a different recipe and had better luck.

 

[Henrythewound]

Klyph, how much zest would you say a 5 gallon batch calls for using thr vodka method? It sounds like you soak the zest in vodka then add to the bottling bucket?

 

[klyph]

I can't remember how many oranges, I guess it depends on the size of the orange. Here's a shot of the zest pile. The mug is really huge and the planer is pretty big so that throws off the scale of the picture. The pile of zest is about the same size as the orange.

 

[Henrythewound]

Thanks, I already brewed my beer. I didn't manage to get nearly as much zest partially due to trying to avoid the pith. I figure I'll taste it tomorrow to see if there's enough orange in there and add more with vodka if necessary. Thanks for the pics