I am about to start another Extra Pale Ale and would like to include oranges for a little flavor for a nice fall beer. I am just unsure of where to add them, do they still need to be sanitized using the boil if it is purchased dried from my local brew store or can i add them to the primary or secondary fermentation. Would just like some info on oranges and the effects. Also is there a way to get the flavor in the front of the taste or the end or a hint Ect.
In wits, I’ve added either orange peel or fresh orange zest to the boil with 5 minutes remaining with good results. The fresh orange zest is way better than straight orange peel or even the dried orange peels you can pick up at your LHBS.
Just grate the colorful portion off the skin of an orange, and stop grating when you hit the white part (which is bitter and nasty).
I’ve “dry-hopped” with orange peel but only in the keg once it was chilled. For wits I add right at the end of the boil and you get good orange oil flavor.
I would be careful adding the dried orange peels to fermenter. I brewed a wit a couple weeks ago and noticed things other than orange peel in there. One thing appeared to be a part of a nylon tarp. Not something I would want to just “add.”
[quote=“KISS Brew”]In wits, I’ve added either orange peel or fresh orange zest to the boil with 5 minutes remaining with good results. The fresh orange zest is way better than straight orange peel or even the dried orange peels you can pick up at your LHBS.
Just grate the colorful portion off the skin of an orange, and stop grating when you hit the white part (which is bitter and nasty).[/quote]
For wits I use a mix of fresh orange zest, and peel from seville oranges, available at many online spice places. I’ve also added grapefruit zest (again mixed with orange) with good results. The bitter orange you get from homebrew shops is curacao, and I’m not a fan, but many people like it.
Experiment, do whatever you want, just write it down.
Pierre Celis liked to say (in regard to spices) that anything more than 10 minutes boil is just “for the neighbors”. In other words, don’t boil too long or there will be no flavor/aroma left in your beer.
