Orange Peel in the Wort

[Upthewazzu]

I brewed up a Belgian Witbier 1.5 weeks ago and (as I usually do) dumped almost the entire contents of the boil into the fermenter. I generally try to leave the sludgy crap in the boil pot, but the rest go straight into the fermenter. Since I added orange peel and orange zest to the boil, a lot of that went into the fermenter as well. Did I do a bad thing? I transferred to secondary tonight, and it tasted a little more bitter than I was expecting (FG had been hit). Should I expect that heaviness to fade after the crap settles out in the secondary? Or was that due to the krausen never falling because of the belgian style yeast (wyeast liquid)?

 

[lem14]

I can't say that I have used orange peel in a beer before, however I do not suspect it would have significant affect on the overall flavor of your brew as I am assuming it was boiled for at least a couple min. I am more concerned that you transferred to secondary prior to the krauzen falling (at least mostly). I did see that you reached your FG, but did you give the yeast a chance to clean up any off flavors or unwanted byproducts? That is more of the question.

It should definitely clean up in flavor in the secondary and I hope that the bitterness cleans up as well. I am under the crowd that believes that yeast dictate the fermenting schedule and not the brewer.

My overall opinion is that your brew will turn out. Will it be as good as it could have been? We will never know, but we do know about the mistakes that we made and what we can do to fix them. I have better beer now thanks to my prior mistakes. Good luck.

 

[Upthewazzu]

I wasn't totally shocked by the krausen not falling since I brewed a kolsch before and the krausen never fell on that either. I was told that with certain yeasts, it may never fall and to just rack from underneath. It fermented for 12 days at 68°F and reached it's predicted FG.

 

[shawnbou]

I wouldn't worry. I haven't brewed a wit for a long time, but I've brewed with ginger, lemongrass, and other strong-flavored items from the produce aisle and I always get a little bit of "stuff" in the fermenter. There's a limit to how much essential oil and flavor is in those ingredients, and you will reach a limit even with long-term exposure. So I don't think it's going to affect your flavor that much. The bitterness could be due to any number of factors in a beer this green; most of those factors will fade over time as the beer ages.

As for the solid particles I'm sure you've have, most of those should settle out eventually. Some may float, but that's okay. Between racking to secondary, racking to bottling bucket, and bottling, you're going to have a lot of opportunities to separate the liquid from the solids. Some people recommend racking with a strainer bag over the tip of your racking cane, but I haven't done this so I can't attest to the proper method or its effectiveness.

Good luck, and RDWHAHB.

 

[xtian116]

I've noticed that if I zest too deep, picking up all if the white part, it does add to the bitterness. Took a couple of batches to get my process down. I lightly zest now, just very this layer. Then peel the fruit and slice it as thin as possible, then toss it all in.

 

[pkrath84]

I just made a Belgian Dubbel with fresh orange zest and crushed coriander.

I transferred EVERYTHING into the primary and left everything behind when going to secondary. I went to secondary after 2.5 weeks and wish I had time to do 3-4 in total. 2.5 weeks gave good flavor, but a bit more would be nice.

In my opinion, the overt bitterness you're experiencing is normal. It will age out through your bottle conditioning or if you give it some time to mellow in a keg if you go that way. As always, just give it some more time - it will work itself out

 

[peanasky]

I've noticed that if I zest too deep, picking up all if the white part, it does add to the bitterness. Took a couple of batches to get my process down. I lightly zest now, just very this layer. Then peel the fruit and slice it as thin as possible, then toss it all in.

+1 on this. I've read here and on food forums that the white part underneath the peel (the pith) can add some unwanted bitterness.

 

[Upthewazzu]

Thanks for the solid replies, all!

Next time, I'll be sure to zest more lightly. I did get quite a bit of the white part of the orange peel in the boil, that may account for some of the bitterness. Also, thanks for the reassurance, pkrath84! I'm really hoping this one will age out in the secondary and bottles as well.

 

[pkrath84]

No problem. Keep us updated with the results!

 

[xtian116]

I found that if you either zest lightly or add your hops later, it'll balance out. If it's too bitter, wait it out. In a keg, it takes about a month. That's after 4 weeks in primary and 2 in secondary, 3 days in the keg under pressure, then add a month to wait. It kinds balances it self out in the end.