Orange zest kills head ??

[Wheelspin]

I Make a really delicious "Cream" Ale (my name not true to style) in which I use the zest of about 4 oranges in the last 10 mins of the boil.

While it tastes delicious and everybody loves it, I've noticed that it does negatively affect head retention. I understand that that is a result of all the oils in the orange zest.

Is there anyone else "orangey" that i could use to give that flavour without affecting the head ?

All suggestions welcome.

 

[Braumeise]

I use the peel of 5 fresh Oranges in my wit beer in the last 10 min. of the boil. I have a very good head retention every single time I make that beer.
I noticed that in my last brew of the same wit beer, I used a little more priming sugar resulting in more carbonation and even better head retention (it really looked like a commercial german wheat beer when poured).

I do a step mash with protein rest and use flaked oats in the brew (which contributes to the head retention as far as I understand - correct me if I am wrong here)

maybe use dried orange peel instead?

 

[Wheelspin]

I wonder if I dried the orange peel myself if it would taste the same as fresh orange peel ?

 

[Dixon9717]

I use dried orange peel. An ounce for 5 gallons. Hardly
any extra cost and so much easier then using fresh orange peel. Never had head retention problem.

 

[RM-MN]

I Make a really delicious "Cream" Ale (my name not true to style) in which I use the zest of about 4 oranges in the last 10 mins of the boil.

While it tastes delicious and everybody loves it, I've noticed that it does negatively affect head retention. I understand that that is a result of all the oils in the orange zest.

Is there anyone else "orangey" that i could use to give that flavour without affecting the head ?

All suggestions welcome.

Crushed coriander seeds will give you an orangey flavor. I'd suggest about an ounce in 5 gallons for the start, then adjust for your taste from there on the next batch.

 

[Braumeise]

I wonder if I dried the orange peel myself if it would taste the same as fresh orange peel ?

I never used dried orange peel. I would assume it doesn't make too much of a difference.

Also, I do use fresh crushed Coriander seed and Orange peel in my brew.
Since my head retention is awesome, I suspect it isn't the oil that is killing yours.

 

[Wheelspin]

I do use crushed coriander (and ground pepper corns) in thew recipe. I wonder if the dried orange peels would lessen the "fresh" zesty taste it has ?

 

[Wreck99]

I have a somewhat related question to this. I have this Kolsch recipe I'm getting ready to brew, which includes bitter and sweet orange peels. I could only find the bitter ones in my LHBS. Can I substitute orange zest from sweet oranges like Halos in their place?

Here's the recipe I was going for:
--------------------------------------
Recipe: Orange Kolsch
Style: Kölsch
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0) light crisp and refreshing with a hint of orange

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.50 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.50 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.75 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 4.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 21.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 78.1 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 76.2 %
1 lbs Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 9.5 %
1 lbs Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 3 9.5 %
8.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.8 %
0.67 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 10.6 IBUs
0.67 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 6 6.4 IBUs
0.67 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 4.4 IBUs
0.50 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 10.0 mins) Spice 8 -
0.50 oz Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 10.0 mins) Spice 9 -
0.50 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 10.0 mins) Spice 10 -
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 11 -

 

[Braumeise]

I have a somewhat related question to this. I have this Kolsch recipe I'm getting ready to brew, which includes bitter and sweet orange peels. I could only find the bitter ones in my LHBS. Can I substitute orange zest from sweet oranges like Halos in their place?

OMG... you shop in the same HBS I shop at...
check Wegmans in Warrington for sweet orange peel... they happen to have a lot of stuff no one else has...

from baking I can tell you that sweet orange peel is a huge difference to bitter orange peel.

by definition all the Oranges we buy for consumption are sweet oranges.
If I were you I'd look for

at wegmans. I am almost 100% positive they will have that!

 

[Wreck99]

Sweet thanks! I'm in Warminster. Wow, haven't met a fellow brewer in the area yet! Nice!

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

I Make a really delicious "Cream" Ale (my name not true to style) in which I use the zest of about 4 oranges in the last 10 mins of the boil.

While it tastes delicious and everybody loves it, I've noticed that it does negatively affect head retention. I understand that that is a result of all the oils in the orange zest.

Is there anyone else "orangey" that i could use to give that flavour without affecting the head ?

All suggestions welcome.

When brewing a 10 gallon batch of Belgian Witbier I add the zest from a dozen oranges to the last 10 minutes of the boil. There is never an issue with head retention or lacing in any batch that I've brewed so I would have to disagree with the idea of zest diminishing head retention, in my experience.

Coriander does add additional citrus flavor to beer, but unless you really love the taste in your beer my advice would be to take it easy on how much you add. For me .5 teaspoon of freshly ground coriander is plenty when brewing a 10 gallon batch, along with using a good Belgian yeast and .5 teaspoon of ground cardamom for spice.

 

[Braumeise]

Sweet thanks! I'm in Warminster. Wow, haven't met a fellow brewer in the area yet! Nice!

that's what I though when seeing the very familiar price tag from Keystone Homebrew

 

[tagz]

As someone said above, bitter orange is very different from orange zest/peel. I'm not a fan of the bitter orange flavor; it does not add a bright, fresh character.