I think I may have made a mistake...Help?

[Lazersgopewpew]

Hey everyone,
So I'm pretty new at this (my second brew) and I decided to try out a Belgian Wit recipe at my local brew shop with some slight modifications.
Recipe I used as follows:

6 lbs Wheat Malt extract
0.5 lbs adjuct sugar

Grain:
7 oz. CaraPils
1 oz. Belgian Aromatic

Hops:
0.45 oz. Perle (7.9%) (60 min)
0.5 oz. Saaz (5 min)
0.25 oz. Cascade (5 min)

WLP400 Belgian Wit ale Yeast

Now here's where I might have (probably) gone wrong.
I'm not sure if the mistake was on the shop owners side or maybe I just misheard him, but I added a large handful of Blood Orange zest and 0.5 oz. of crushed coriander for about 60 min of the boil.
After having read several threads on the subject after placing in primary fermenter (which 24 hours later is going crazy fermenting at 73F with none of the bad smell I've heard is associated with this strain of yeast) I'm now quite worried I've ruined this batch as I can't stand bitter beers (IPA etc)

Is there any hope?

 

[FarmBoy530]

I'm not sure what orange zest in the boil would do. I wouldn't guess it pleasant. I have used it in the 2ndary but also got bitter orange. in a week (or a few days after fermentation is done) rack it to a 2ndary and taste it. Even if its not great give it some time. Sometime time is all it takes!

 

[rl1373]

Corriander and zest is typically added at flameout or shortly before. I don't think your going to have the same effect as a 60 minute boil of hops. I think if anything you might have eliminated those flavors altogether. I wouldn't stress to much about it. Even if you have created a zest monster, a little time should cure it. Bottle it up, it might be great.

73 is a little warm fermentation for that strain of yeast. You'll probably wind up with strong banana/clove flavors. 74 is the max recommended by the manufacturer.

Good luck!

 

[JesseRC]

I think your fine when it comes to the zest and coriander. It should have been done at flameout out or last 5min. At worst, you may end up with a bit more bitterness because of the long boil of the zest. Its usually done at flameout/5min to release the oils from the zest. You end up with a nice aroma on the nose more than anything.

The high ferm temps will produce the flavors rl1373 suggested. It might be what you were looking for. Some people ferment high to get them, others ferment low to avoid them. Either way it will be beer and it will be good.

 

[Lazersgopewpew]

thanks for the replies everyone.
I was lead to believe Belgian wits didn't require secondary ferm. Would the time in the secondary serve to mellow out any bitterness that might have come from the orange?

also if I find the orange flavor lacking after primary ferm, would orange pulp in the secondary help that out or would that be a bit overkill?

 

[JesseRC]

I would not secondary. Part of most begian wheat style is the yeast. You probably want to drink it young while the yeast is in suspension.

 

[Lazersgopewpew]

So just wanted to update anyone who was interested on what happened.
It was pretty bitter when I checked it about 1.5 weeks ago (2 weeks into primary ferm).
But when I bottled today (after 3.5 weeks) most of the bitterness seems to have gone away.
There still is a little bit of bitterness to it, but I'm hoping that will also go away after a 2 week bottle conditioning.

On a side note, I bottle it with a few tsp (about 10 tsp/4.5 gal) of distilled orange blossom water. Gave the beer a nice aroma.

I've decided to call the beer my Bloody Blossom Blunder, although the blood oranges didn't seem to make much of an appearance...

 

[FarmBoy530]

Glad to hear it, I would leave em in the bottles for at least a month. I normally do 6 weeks before I start drinking. With most beers it makes all the difference in the world!

 

[BigRob]

If it was actually zest from a blood orange, and not dried peel, you're not in any danger, there's not really any bitterness in the zest, all of that comes from the white pitch underneath the zest.

 

[Lazersgopewpew]

unfortunately, some of the pith was added. Probably where all the bitterness came from.

 

[AdamPag]

I just did a blue moon clone where I added .5oz dried bitter orange and .5oz coriander for the last 15 mins of boil, Im likely to zest up an orange or 2 and add it to the primary for about 10 days, im hoping the boil wasnt too long to impart that bitterness

 

[Lazersgopewpew]

I don't think you're in too much trouble, as I boiled zest with some pith for a full hour, and a large majority of the bitterness was gone by the end of a month in primary.
You might have lost some of the coriander though.

 

[AdamPag]

just to update on that, I tasted the BM clone... Its almost spot on, I added 2 zest's of naval oranges to up the orange flavor other wise its damn close. Without the zest there's a noticeable after taste of citrus, im happy with it

 

[rmyurick]

You might end up noticing different aromas come to the front when it's carbonated or after a couple months (if you have any left!).

 

[Brewmenn]

You might end up noticing different aromas come to the front when it's carbonated or after a couple months (if you have any left!).

doubtful after 2 years.