Brewing with Orange Peel

[vsusinga]

Hey everybody. I am about to brew an american wheat and i want to add quite a bit of orange flavor. I bought some dried sweet orange peel from my local home brew store and i was wondering whether i should put these into the boil for the last 10 and just strain em out with everything else before i pitch the yeast ... Should i leave them in primary with a hop sack... Should i wait and add to secondary.... Any thought?

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[TimothyPatrick]

I added mine with 10 minutes left in the boil and left them in the fermenter for the entire fermentation (two weeks). The beer was just bottled this weekend and it tasted great already.


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[vsusinga]

Cool deal. So im guessing you used a hop bag for the peel and strained everything else out before pitching? (Sorry, this is my first time using fruit peel)

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[k1ngl1ves]

I prefer to zest an organic orange, soak in vodka for a few days, then pour into the primary after initial fermentation has completed. You could also add it to a secondary, then rack right on top of the mixture. Done both. Both turned out great.

It's all preference. I don't bag it or anything. Just pour it in.

 

[TimothyPatrick]

No bag, just tossed it in the boil. They are good size chunks of orange peel. They swell up some after being in the fermenter. I had no problem siphoning from the fermenter to the bottling bucket. The chunks are too big to cause any syphon problems.


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[vsusinga]

Thanks guys. This is helpful. I guess my confusion is after the boil when you strain all the extra gunk out or the wort.. how exactly do u separate the orange peel out of that?

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[boydster]

I like to zest oranges and lemons. I boil the zest for 10 mins in a little bit of water to sanitize, then add the water and zest to the primary when fermentation is complete. Almost like a dry hop.

 

[vsusinga]

Thank you boydster

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[vsusinga]

Has anyone ever added to boil AND added after primary? Im wondering if that will make it waay too orangy... I also plan on adding vanilla bean to secondary

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[boydster]

Has anyone ever added to boil AND added after primary? Im wondering if that will make it waay too orangy... I also plan on adding vanilla bean to secondary

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Yes, I make a witbier that is a big hit that uses the zest from one orange and one lemon in the boil, then zest from another orange in primary.

 

[IslandLizard]

"Dry zesting" gives you lots of the fragrant citrus high notes. Boiling or steeping after flameout citrus peel changes it to deeper, more earthy flavors and aroma. They're 2 distinctly different uses and goals.

I've read reports that boiling regular orange zest (or peel) can leave metallic flavors. The dried varieties from the LHBS don't seem to have that problem.

Grapefruit zest is wonderful too. I made a few saisons with it. I really liked the zest from red grapefruits. And a little goes a long way, like 1-1.5 ounce in 5 gallons was plenty. EDIT: I added a few ounces of juice too, pulp and all, but no white pith.

 

[Terek]

i just cracked a wheat i made. I put 2 oz sweet dried orange peel in at 10 min in the boil. moss addition made all the peels settle to the bottom nicely, so none went in the fermenter. The orange flavor was a little over powering. It still tastes great, but i wasn't looking for that much orange flavor. I will do an oz next time.

 

[vsusinga]

Aaah so u put the zest in the boil.. strain it . Then add more later? That sounds cool

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[boydster]

"Dry zesting" gives you lots of the fragrant citrus high notes. Boiling or steeping after flameout citrus peel changes it to deeper, more earthy flavors and aroma. They're 2 distinctly different uses and goals.

This is a great description. No one ever explained it like that to me before. I just knew from trial and error that I liked the results. Thanks!

 

[vsusinga]

"Dry zesting" gives you lots of the fragrant citrus high notes. Boiling or steeping after flameout citrus peel changes it to deeper, more earthy flavors and aroma. They're 2 distinctly different uses and goals.

I've read reports that boiling regular orange zest (or peel) can leave metallic flavors. The dried varieties from the LHBS don't seem to have that problem.

Grapefruit zest is wonderful too. I made a few saisons with it. I really liked the zest from red grapefruits. And a little goes a long way, like 1-1.5 ounce in 5 gallons was plenty. EDIT: I added a few ounces of juice too, pulp and all, but no white pith.

That sounds really good. At what point did you add the juice?

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[vsusinga]

"Dry zesting" gives you lots of the fragrant citrus high notes. Boiling or steeping after flameout citrus peel changes it to deeper, more earthy flavors and aroma. They're 2 distinctly different uses and goals.

I've read reports that boiling regular orange zest (or peel) can leave metallic flavors. The dried varieties from the LHBS don't seem to have that problem.

Grapefruit zest is wonderful too. I made a few saisons with it. I really liked the zest from red grapefruits. And a little goes a long way, like 1-1.5 ounce in 5 gallons was plenty. EDIT: I added a few ounces of juice too, pulp and all, but no white pith.

That sounds really good. At what point did you add the juice?

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[ArcLight]

I "dry zested" by adding the zest from 4 oranges to an ounce of Everclear. I let it sit a week ... and got no Orange flavor what so ever.


Maybe the zest was too dried out (several months), and I should have been saving the zest directly in the EverClear so it never directly dried out.

 

[rlonardo]

I "dry zested" by adding the zest from 4 oranges to an ounce of Everclear. I let it sit a week ... and got no Orange flavor what so ever.


Maybe the zest was too dried out (several months), and I should have been saving the zest directly in the EverClear so it never directly dried out.

Zest flavor fades very quickly. Typically if I am using zest I will zest my citrus of choice about 10 minutes before I throw it in the boil. I would imagine that after several months there would be little to no aroma/flavor value.


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[vsusinga]

Hey everyone!. So i went ahead amd used dried orange peel at the end of the boil. I also added fresh orange and vanilla bean after primary.. i think its fine but looks a bit.. different. This is a wheat beer and ive used to same ingredients (minus orange and vanilla) before , but it looks different. Check out the picture. The top half has cleared out... Anyone know how this happens? Should i be worried?

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[boydster]

Looks fine to me, they clear from the top down so they haze should continue to get lower and lower.

 

[sweetcell]

but it looks different. Check out the picture. The top half has cleared out... Anyone know how this happens? Should i be worried?

nope, that's the yeast settling out. yeast are white and light bounced off them, so beer mixed with yeast = lighter/brighter. the top portion of your beer has cleared (yeast has dropped out), so it's darker.

 

[vsusinga]

Yeah thats what Im trying to figure out. Its all wheat.. ive used the same ingredients before. I didnt put in any clearing agents.. i wonder why its clearing. I hope nothing is wrong

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[sweetcell]

Yeah thats what Im trying to figure out. Its all wheat.. ive used the same ingredients before. I didnt put in any clearing agents.. i wonder why its clearing. I hope nothing is wrong

with time, any beer will clear. dropping the temps will further accelerate that.

the yeast have done their job, there is nothing left to eat, so they're hibernating.

 

[vsusinga]

Hi!. Yesterday it was strange... Got home and it was hazy again. I gave it a taste and it does have that creamsicle flavor i was looking for so i guess that is great.. another week amd a half will be bottling time

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