After drinking Full Pint’s White Lighting I feel my Wit could use some more orange punch. So I’m wondering if dry spicing each keg with bitter orange peel would work or if fresh pith would be better.
The orange flavor comes from coriander. Bitter orange peel will give you bittering.
While you might get some orange flavor from orange peel, it will not be the punch you are looking for.
Crush up some fresh coriander and you should get orange aromatics. You could add it directly or soak it in vodka and add the vodka until you get the degree of orange flavor you are looking for.
Are you planning to make a wit or is it already done?
I make a tangerine wit which gets the zest (not peel, no white pith) and juice of 12 tangerines (per 5 gal) added with about 5 mins left in the boil. Also gets about a tsp of fresh ground Indian coriander. It’s nice and orangey. Not likely that you could do much with a finished beer but this is an option for a new batch.
Maybe its the variety, but I get lemon not orange from my coriander. You could boil more spices/peel in a little water, let it cool and add it to the beer. I think you’d get the best and fastest flavor extraction this way and boiling will sanitize and drive off oxygen.
Soaking in vodka is the best way to go, IMHO. And I would go the route of coriander plus fresh peels/zest as opposed to old dried peels alone. Soak in a little vodka for as little as a few hours to as long as a week, then pour the flavored vodka into your beer, and you’re good to go.
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