Question about orange zest

Well next time cut that white stuff off and taste it. Bitter as hell. When did you add the orange, after fermentation. If so did you break the orange up?

 

What did you do with the zest then? Throw it away? Yeah, that's the part you want to keep. I'm pretty sure you'll be fine, but I doubt you'll get much orange flavor. Next time try zesting and soak in vodka, then add after fermentation.

 

I do think it will add flavor and bitterness. Unfortunately more bitterness than flavor, and not all bitterness is equal. Hop bitterness and citrus pith bitterness are different an I find the citrus pith to be unpalatable. I hope you find that I am wrong and your beer is awesome. Adding the zest without pith is how I think you want to go. Adding the juice could be nice too. Or even adding to the fermenter orange chunks that have been supremed, i.e., cut from the membrane, might be a good way to get the flavor (and acid) from the orange without that bitterness.

 

Most add the zest during the boil, the zest (outer, no white pith) oils will survive the boil and add citrus flavor to the beer, the actual fruit (juice part, pulp, whatever you want to call it) are best added after primary fermentation, the yeast will break down the sugars and the resulting juice will go into the beer without having the citrus flavor boiled off. Good luck, hope what you did pans out.
I do want to note that some beers that have a big citrus (orange or grapefruit) profile sometimes finish with a bitterness that reminds me of the pith off of the fruit. I don't mind this as much as @pweis909 does

 

Citrus oil will volatilize in the boil, just like hop oil will. Best time to add zest is in your fermenter and the best way to add it is by using the peel (without the pith) and not zest, UNLESS you have a way to filter your beer. Small zest particles are a pain in the ass to get out of your beer.

Would certainly agree with this, as vigorous primary fermentation will blow off a lot of the character from the fruit.

As it is, the "worst" thing that could happen is that he gets a beer that has a little more in the sugar and acid departments than it normally would have and will probably not even be noticeable having only added 3 oranges to what I assume is a 5.5 gallon batch of beer.

 

Not to compare Oranges to Grapefruits here...

FWIW - I dry hopped a grapefruit IPA with the zest of 3 grapefruits in a hop bag. 5 days later took a taste and it was WAY to much. It mellowed out in time, and the ones that I put in bottles turned out to be actually quite nice. It was harsh initially out of the kegerator though.

 

Like you said, though, grapefruit are usually much larger than are oranges.

 

Yup. I also think they have a more powerful flavor than oranges. Sharper and more potent.

Just a more delicate situation because I think the OP might bottle and not keg.

 

Agreed Hogue2112, you're not getting the same thing you're getting out of an orange with a grapefruit. Totally different. More bitterness and less bright oils as well.

 

I think what I meant and didn't say was to add it at flameout when the wort is still hot to somewhat pasteurize it. Some also make a tincture out of it and add it at bottling, guess you have to figure out what works for you

 

Flame out would certainly be a better option than during the boil.