Pages: 1
Orange Zest an Honey
Im adding Orange Zest and Honey to my secondary. I've search for some good answers on the old forums but nothing definate. I'VE GOT 5 and a half gallons. How much honey and orange zest would you add and how would you add it. Im adding to the secondary.
Thanks for the help.
I did a session beer recently with lemon zest. I'm not sure I would do it again. I just kegged it and it was pretty strong. I used the zest of 1/2 of a lemon at flame out and the other half into the primary, once fermentation slowed. I soaked the zest in a shot glass filled with vodka and then dumped it into the primary, vodka and all. I have three weeks until I need this beer so I'm keeping my fingers crossed it will mellow.
As far as the orange zest, it really depends on the intensity you are looking for. My last 2 batches of M&J I put the zest of an entire orange into the keg, and thought it was just right. I also have a saison, that I put the zest of 1 lemon, 1 orange, and 1 lime into secondary, and it is nice and fruity. It will mellow some.
I just scrub the fruit, let soak in some starsanfor a minute or so, and use a potato peeler to remove the zest and leave the white pith behind. I zest it into a sanitized bowl, then just dump it all in.
for the honey I'd say try 2-3 lbs. To get it to mix well you would probably need to mix it with warm water. I wouldn't boil it, unless you need to to get it mixed, and then just long enough to do it. This is all stuff I've read about from other people's experiences, but seems like it is what most people have done. Here's a link to a different forum about doing zests http://www.brew-wineforum.com/shwmessag … eID=113048
I'll second what Thirsty said about the zest.
As for the honey...That's not something that I would add to the secondary. Honey is pretty fermentable, so I usually add during the last few minutes of the boil, or at flameout just to be sure that it's sanitized. If you add it into the secondary, you might want to have a blow off tube ready because fermentation is likely to kick off again. I'd go with maybe a pound or so of honey to start and then tweak the amount in future batches if you want more or less honey character. You could also try priming with honey, but I don't think that it will produce that much of an added honey kick. Just my $.02
I'll kinda second Mort, I use honey quite a bit, adding it at flameout if I want a lot of honey taste, or at 30min, if I'm after a lighter body, with just a bit of honey twang.
If you are adding to secondary, though, maybe put it in a bowl in the microwave to heat & sanitize. You'll want it heated for easier mixing. It'll boil real fast, so watch it.
Probably want to take a SG reading before adding the honey, and after, cause you'll need to figure the current ABV%, and then add the amount from your secondary fermentation to get the ending ABV%.
You'll get a lot of honey flavor this way.
Honey doesn't get bacteria, so it's sanitized already. They actually dug up honey from inside the ancient pyramids in Egypt, and it was still good, several thousands of years later.
I think another important factor in the amount of zest to use, is the method of extraction. I used a micro planner/ zester. It makes a very fine pulp and exposes all of the oil. I would think if you use bigger pieces of zest you would need to use more.
I'll let you know in a week or so how mine is aging. I was going for a "is that hops or lemons?" flavor, but it smells closer to Mike's Hard lemonade right now. I'm sure it will mellow.
Hogarthe wrote:
Honey doesn't get bacteria, so it's sanitized already. They actually dug up honey from inside the ancient pyramids in Egypt, and it was still good, several thousands of years later.
True but I have a point of contention.
You can't just add honey to secondary directly right. It will just sink to the bottom and most of it will just sit there and not dissolve in really well. So you need to dilute it with a little water to help get it in with the beer. Aside from diluting the beer a bit with the added volume, you stand the chance of picking up some contamination either in the water or when stirring it into the water.... Not to mention maybe picking up a little O2 in there while stirring maybe oxidizing the beer a bit in secondary.
So adding it to the boil at or near flameout would be how I'd do it too.
Could always add it to a sealed secondary, or keg, purge off the headspace with a blanket of CO2, then shake the crap out of it.
You guys are great. What about diluting it with boiling water than rack the beer on it in the secondary.
I was just saying from what I've heard you don't want to boil it long, because the flavor will boil off, and you really only need to sanitize the water you are adding it to. So you could boil the water, then turn off the heat and stir in the honey and add it to the wort, thereby sanitizing the water and preserving the honey flavor. Or as you said, add the honey straight to the wort at the end of the wort boil.
If I add the zest to the secondary than filter it out during kegging with it affect it?
BK wrote:
If I add the zest to the secondary than filter it out during kegging with it affect it?
If you are kegging, I strongly suggest you try just putting the zest in the keg. It will probably be a liitle strong at first, then cruise through a period of mellowing, then be subtle at the end.
This does a couple things. First it tells you the intensity of the fruit level that you enjoy. Second it gives you the ability to try all levels of intensity, so next time you brew the recipe you can narrow down your flavor. Who cares what others think? Your own tastes are what matters, this is an opportunity to judge for yourself.
Pages: 1
Search Home Brewing Knowledge Base
Custom Search
|