Brewing a Grapefruit IPA with dried Grapefruit Zest

I picked up a grapefruit IPA recipe over at Home Brew Talk several months back. What made it interesting is that it used dried grapefruit zest. I had never considered using that. I hadn’t actually heard of it till I came across the recipe.

My full brew day video is available here: The Juice is worth the Squeeze - Imperial Grapefruit IPA - YouTube

With the complete recipe on my website: https://brewingaroundtherealm.com/the-juice-is-worth-the-squeeze-imperial-grapefruit-ipa/

The only major issue I had was with the zest clogging the dip tube on the keg several times. I had to remove and clean the out post several times during the time this was being served. Has anyone else brewed with any
kind of dried zest and had issues?

The original recipe thread from Home Brew Talk is here: "The Juice Is Worth The Squeeze" Imperial IPA | Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum for anyone that is interested.

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I’ve used zest in the keg it works great. I’ll put it in a strainer bag though and let it float

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I hadn’t intended to let the zest in to the keg at all. I didn’t realize just how much was floating around in suspension.

I will definitely be using a bag next time to filter that out to to put the zest directly in to the keg.

Nice website.

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Thank you!

Do you strain the wort into the fermenter?

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I just remembere something. The first time I used tangerine zest I used a floppy hop sock and it got sucked up the dip tube. The next time I used a paint strainer bag worked much better. Maybe put the zest in with the dry hops in a bag together

I usually filter in to a bucket with a spigot on it then run that in to the keg. For some reason I did not so that this time out. I will not be skipping that again in cases where I’ve put hops or other adjuncts in to the fermenter.

I’ve had the recommendation that I should have put the zest in a fine mesh bag first. Which is then suspended in the keg. I’ll try this the next time I hop in the keg.

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Sounds like a nice beer got me thinking about my tangerine IPA which I haven’t done in awhile. Why do you feel the need for the yeast nutrient?

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I feel that it helps with a faster start to fermentation. Though I have no scientific proof to back that up.

I believe Brulosophy did an experiment at one point that proved the faster start time with Cider. Not the same as beer but it’s close enough.

Yes I use the nutrient with wine and cider but not beer. Can’t hurt

Wanna share that tangerine IPA recipe?

I’m not a huge fan of the grapefruit leaning IPAs…not a big fan of grapefruit…when I was a kid my dad made me eat it half one a couple times a week…I’d wait til he wasn’t watching and put sugar on it.

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I’ll have to look for it. But I remember it had citra Cascade and tangerine zest in a dry hops bag.

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hmmmm…see citra gives me more grapefruit, and when I think cascade, which I haven’t used in years, I think piney…Am i wrong? Maybe I should start another thread on this…

Well I was not trying to not get grapefruit. I was working on a NEIPA.

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