How to add orange peel after fermentation is done

[homebrewjapan]

I was thinking to dry hop my wheat beer with cascade, but I've read that wont give me the fruity flavour I want and that orange peel might be a better option as a dry hop.

Searching on Google I can see a lot about orange peel being added to the boil, but less about using it as a dry hop. Specifically I can't find any info on whether I should boil / sanitize the peel when adding it after fermentation stops.

Any ideas?

 

[Pappers_]

How about infusing the dried bitter orange peel in a little vodka (for maybe one week) and then adding the vodka to the secondary? The vodka would sanitize the orange peel and infusing the vodka with the orange peel would mellow out the fruit.

I've never done this, its just an idea.

Jim

 

[homebrewjapan]

Hmm, interesting idea!

I've found a number of sites where people mention adding peel to the secondary, including posts on this forum, but can't find a single mention of whether anyone did any prep on the peel before adding.

 

[danorocks17]

How about infusing the dried bitter orange peel in a little vodka (for maybe one week) and then adding the vodka to the secondary? The vodka would sanitize the orange peel and infusing the vodka with the orange peel would mellow out the fruit.

I've never done this, its just an idea.

Jim

the only other thing i would suggest is using organic oranges because of pesticides

 

[hardrain]

I looked into using a fruit sanitizer and concluded it's way too much of a process to be worth it. I've always just added it in the boil, someone in another thread mentioned boiling 1c water, adding the zest for 5-10 min, letting that cool and then adding the whole thing to the secondary. Just a thought...

 

[DuckAssassin]

+1 to what hardrain said. I did that with the wit I am currently drinking. Couple of cups of water and half an ounce of dried bitter orange peel. You could even do the same thing at bottling time. Depending on how light the flavor of your beer is, be careful with the bitter orange, a little goes a long way in a light flavored beer.

That said, the result of a cascade dry hop, and bitter orange peel aren't really in the same ballpark. But, I think you are headed in the right direction as bitter orange is probably the better fit for a wheat.