"Adjuncts"

[antwerp]

Can anyone point me toward a good resource for use of orange peel and other adjuncts used to make Belgian ales? In addition to the more technical questions below, I’d like to know what each adjunct contributes in terms of flavor.

In particular, I’m trying to determine how to deal with wet versus dry weights – as in orange peel, ginger root, etc. Also, how to gauge how much, for example, coriander seed to use in lightly crushed versus powdered form. I realize that there are different types of coriander seed and that one type is preferred.

Finally, has anyone used Meyer’s lemon peels in brewing. They are supposedly a cross between a lemon and tangerine which, it seems to me, might be a very interesting spice in beer.

I’ve been learning the basics about Belgian Ales (malts, yeasts, water, etc.), and am now looking to get a better sense of how to use the adjuncts.

Thanks!

[mabus]

I’m still a newbie brewer, but I like that NB posts their recipes. Some other similar sites make the recipes available as well and some post amounts. There are also sites like Brew Toad and Home Brew Talk where you can browse other peoples recipes. I look at all these for an idea and try to decide on my own what/if I add to a kit or recipe. Sometimes you can try to wing it too. I added fresh rosemary (along with clementine zest, coriander & honey) to an american wheat kit that turned out really nice.

Maybe this isn’t as much help as you were looking for but it’s something that has helped me. Hopefully other more experience brewers will chime in.

[krudler]

I’ve used Meyer lemons before, in an excellent (and annual!) summer ale. I’m not sure about the tangerine part (although that may be true, just don’t know), but they definitely taste like lemons. The thing with them as I understand it is that there is supposed to be more aroma/zest/whatever it is in the actual zest(peel) of the lemon as opposed to other varieties. I know this because my wife was instructed to use peels from them to make her homemade limoncello (which is AWESOME, btw). Oftentimes there are leftover lemons, so that’s how I wound up with them in the summer ale.

I think for a beer it’s possible that regular lemons are just as good without paying the slight premium for the Meyer.