Help me jazz up my next brew

[car421]

OK, so with 2 brews under my belt I am ready to mix it up a little. I have 2 kits from Northern Brewer, a Petite Saison Extract w/specialty grains and a Cream Ale Extract w/specialty grains. I will be making 5 gal batches. I would like the Saison to be ready for the 4th of July and will probably brew that first.

I was thinking of adding the peel of 1 orange to the last 5 min of the Saison along with the juice.

And I was thinking of adding fresh blueberries to the Cream Ale. Just not sure when and how much.

Any advice on this?
Also, how do you feel about the recipies from Norther Brewer? I have 2 friends who brew and both say they are good. Just looking for some more info.

 

[bumstigedy]

I have brewed Northern Brewer kits before and they are pretty good. I would get a can of blueberry puree and use that rather than fresh blueberries. The puree is already sanitized so you can add it to the secondary and rack the beer on top of it.

 

[blakelyc]

I just did the petite Saison kit, myself. I went with orange peel (1 oz, fresh and fragrant) along with .5 oz coriander and .25 oz grains of paradise. Opened the first one this afternoon, and it was wonderful. Wit-ish, but not too much that you can't tell it is a Saison.

 

[ashplub]

Some other ideas for the Sasion are dry hopping with a "C" hop or adding black pepper at the end of boil. I would do one or the other...not both.