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Author Topic: HELP with adding Orange zest  (Read 1852 times)

Offline mtnfuzz

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HELP with adding Orange zest
« on: May 19, 2016, 09:47:41 am »
I'm brewing an Orange Honey Wheat Beer from a recipe I found. After the initial fermentation,  I transfered to secondary fermentation and added 2# Orange Blossom Honey and 4oz Orange Zest (fresh organic oranges, zested and cleaned). It has been 13 days and it's still bubbling. I've never used orange zest before, is this common?

Offline mainebrewer

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Re: HELP with adding Orange zest
« Reply #1 on: May 19, 2016, 09:51:37 am »
I suspect the fermentation you see if from the honey not the orange zest.
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Offline brewinhard

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Re: HELP with adding Orange zest
« Reply #2 on: May 19, 2016, 09:55:56 am »
How often is your airlock bubbling?  How long ago did you add the honey? The zest will not ferment so no worries there. My guess is you are coming to the tail end of fermentation and what you are observing is simply outgassing of CO2 from the fermentation ending. Give it a few more days prior to taking a gravity reading before packaging.

Offline mtnfuzz

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Re: HELP with adding Orange zest
« Reply #3 on: May 19, 2016, 10:03:15 am »
It has been bubbling 3-4 times per minute consistently for a while now. I added the honey on 5/6, so about 13 days ago.

Offline kramerog

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Re: HELP with adding Orange zest
« Reply #4 on: May 19, 2016, 10:03:33 am »
The beer could be infected by the zest, but the likelihood of this is low.  I've added orange zest to fermentation without any special precautions and without problems before.  I agree with the previous posters that it is most likely fermentation of honey and subsequent offgassing that you are seeing.

Online pete b

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Re: HELP with adding Orange zest
« Reply #5 on: May 19, 2016, 10:06:44 am »
So 13 days since adding honey. I would check gravity today and Saturday. If they are the same I would say there is just a lot of CO2 that hasn't made it from the headspace through the airlock yet. My guess is if you take the cover/bung off to check gravity today it will stop bubbling.
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Offline mtnfuzz

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Re: HELP with adding Orange zest
« Reply #6 on: May 19, 2016, 10:32:46 am »
Thanks,  I'll give that a try. Brewing it for my wife's surprise 50th birthday party in a month.

Offline brewinhard

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Re: HELP with adding Orange zest
« Reply #7 on: May 19, 2016, 11:50:33 am »
Yep.  At 3-4 bubbles/minute, your beer is totally done fermenting. Take a gravity reading and get ready to start packaging it up. Nice work!  Let us know how the finished product tastes.

Offline PAYCHECK

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Re: HELP with adding Orange zest
« Reply #8 on: May 29, 2016, 09:30:53 am »
I suspect the fermentation you see if from the honey not the orange zest.
I would agree with this comment but I would also say of you adding any fresh fruit soak it first in a small amount of whiskey or bourbon to purify it.  You mentioned you washed it?  In what, how?
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