I have a Holiday Beer recipe that states to add sweet orange peel at beginning of the boil. I have always read to add orange peel near the end of boil or even in secondary. Have you heard of this method and more importantly have you tried it? If so, was the effect pleasant?
hmmm… Like you, I have read/heard to add the orange peel in the last 5-10 minutes or so of the boil. I’ve made a few Belgian wits this way and they turned out well with plenty of flavor. I would think that the longer one leaves something like that in the boil, the more likely it would be to extract bitter elements from the peel, and the volatile oils would evaporate out.
I have never left anything like that in longer than a few minutes, so I can’t really speak to that.
I brewed a Belgian Wit last year and added the peel only during the last 5 min of boil. The 0.5oz added nice flavor and a touch of aroma. I would not change anything if I brewed it again.
If you add it to the boil, do it in the last 5-10 minutes and only add the orange zest, not the white pith. Alternatively, you can add the zest near the end of fermentation. Never use the pith.
A 60 minute orange peel boil is absurd.
I emailed the source of the recipe and received this reply:
“I don’t think the recipe you are reading is accurate. I, too, have never heard of anyone adding orange peel at the start of the boil. I think it was a typo. I would recommend 10-15 minutes before knock out (end of boil).”
Ok that’s good. But what about the pith? The pith of the citrus is the Devil. Never use the pith! Shave the orange colored zest off with a micro plane or something like it. The pith produces unpleasant bitterness and the aroma of rotting garbage. True story.
I was just about to start a thread on orange peel. I wasn’t sure when to add, either. This is great! One question I’d like to add to the mix is: fresh or dried orange peels? What if I go to the store and just buy some oranges and use those peels? Would it be better to dry them out over a couple days? Thanks!
I personally prefer to use fresh orange zest whether it is going into the end of the boil or fermenter. Lately I have really be liking the character from adding it to the fermenter like a dry hop addition.
The OP states that it is “sweet” orange peel. Otherwise known as candied orange peel. Different than zest. That process of candying the peel usually eliminates much of the pithy part. In many cases it is eliminated prior to the candying process.
I’m not sure it’s candied. It looked like this: Sweet Orange Peel, 1 oz., Herbs & Spices: Great Fermentations
Yeah, I think it’s sweet as opposed to bitter and not candied.
I also seem to recall that bitter orange peel was used less for citrus flavor and more for bitterness before the advent of hops. Coriander added the citrus flavor. Witbiers have morphed over time, but may have historically used orange peel in the boil. These days it’s usually a late addition for citrus flavor and aroma.
I find that boiled orange peel has a rotten fruit flavor.
I make a lemon-rosemary blonde ale every year or so and add the lemon zest to steep after the boil.
I also only add citrus peel for a post-boil steep. You don’t need to boil fruit peel to extract the desired oils. You’ll boil off most or all of the flavor throwing it in for a long boil.
Bitter orange is not a very good term for what is more accurately described as sour oranges. Seville oranges–what we’re talking about–are more acidic than the oranges we typically find in supermarkets. More like a mix of navel orange, grapefruit and lime.
The oranges we find in supermarkets are almost always sweet oranges which are less sour, sweeter and more uniformly the flavor we think of as orange. You generally don’t find these called sweet oranges in the US because your typical supermarket doesn’t carry anything different.
Both types of orange peels can be used for beers. I like the flavor of sour orange peel better but I have used plenty of sweet orange peel with good results.
As for citrus options, I use kumquats for my wit–not sweet at all, but they also can be difficult to find in the store: I only see them between Thanksgiving and Christmas (in Massachusetts). I just used 1.25 oz. in the last five minutes of the boil–had peeled and scraped the skins the week before, then froze them in a ziplock bag.
Another alternative that I’ve used with much success is to make an orange zest extract in vodka, and then add this to the keg/bottling bucket. To do this, I get 3 fresh, large-ish oranges, zest them, and put the zest in around 3 ounces of vodka. I’ve never tried it with store-bought fruit, but presume that they would do okay too (we live in SoCal, and fresh citrus is just a matter of walking to a neighborhood tree). The technique works great in my orange wheat beer! I’ll probably try something similar with a grapefruit wheat in a few weeks.
To me it’s similar to sweet vs sharp/bitter-sharp in apples. You wouldn’t eat a sharp/bitter apple but they are fine for cooking/cider making etc. I had read that the bitter oranges are used to make orange liqueurs like Gran Mariner and Blue Curacao, and probably flavorings and extracts as well.
I used sweet orange peel in my Belgian Wit (which usually calls for bitter orange) and it turned out fine to my tastes. For a holiday style beer like the OPs I would go with sweet over bitter. My wife makes a stout with chocolate and orange. Gonna brew that this weekend actually.
I’ll add to the consensus above and say that it only needs 5-15 minutes at the end of the boil.