Wit beer Fermenting with orange peel

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Tswanton, Oct 8, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Tswanton

    Tswanton Initiate (0) Oct 8, 2018

    I nearly completed my all grain wit beer yesterday. By nearly I'm saying that I missed a step. During the boil I was to add the orange peel for the last ten minutes or so. This did not happen. The beer is now at day one in the primary fermenter. Can I add the orange peel to this? If so what day is best?
     
  2. NeroFiddled

    NeroFiddled Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,276) Jul 8, 2002 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I think that should work but I'd wait until after fermentation is complete as there could be bacteria/wild yeast on the orange peel. Another option would be to use fresh orange zest after sanitizing the skin. Or a flavoring agent. OR, just skip it unless you feel the taste is off without it. You've got a lot of options, add whatever you think might work.
     
    hopsputin likes this.
  3. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,348) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Fresh zest after fermentation works well.
     
  4. wasatchback

    wasatchback Pooh-Bah (1,574) Jan 12, 2014 Tajikistan
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Adding it to the boil and adding it after fermentation give you kind of different results. If you're adding it after fermentation it doesn't take a whole lot of zest.
     
  5. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    What type of orange peel? The traditional dried curacao (bitter) orange peel?

    Cheers!
     
  6. EvenMoreJesus

    EvenMoreJesus Initiate (0) Jun 8, 2017 Pennsylvania

    You could also use this. A little goes a long way, however.

    [​IMG]
     
  7. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    Or he could try making his own with some zest and vodka
     
    donspublic likes this.
  8. Bryan12345

    Bryan12345 Initiate (0) Mar 17, 2016 Texas

    I always add orange peel to my witbier during secondary fermentation anyway. FWIW :slight_smile:
     
    pweis909 likes this.
  9. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    I'm curious. Do you have a rule of thumb like X amount of peel added to secondary for Y days is equivalent to Z amount of peel added to the boil at time T?
     
    SFACRKnight likes this.
  10. Bryan12345

    Bryan12345 Initiate (0) Mar 17, 2016 Texas

    Negative. The first recipe I tried was 3 gal, and added the peel of 1 orange (and 1 lemon) to the secondary for 7 days. It came out fantastic, so I’ve never seen a reason to mess with it. FWIW :slight_smile:
     
    VikeMan likes this.
  11. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,348) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Sounds like a job for Brewcipher IJS.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.