So once I'm done with brewing this oatmeal stout I was thinking...?!
What would some of you home brewers say to substituting a gallon or two of water with OJ?
I’ll probably try it no matter what you say, that is the joy of doing yourself. Just want to know your thoughts.
Answers: An Orange Saison.
What would some of you home brewers say to substituting a gallon or two of water with OJ?
I’ll probably try it no matter what you say, that is the joy of doing yourself. Just want to know your thoughts.
As for the acidity question above, if it doesn't hurt the little critters when fermenting wine, why would it hurt them in beer? Also, sour beers never seem to have much of a problem fermenting out.
I would have never thought to add orange juice for homebrewing, but folks add cherry juice and other juice all the time for fruit beers. Are you adding the OJ to boil? Primary? or Secondary? Each will give you a different flavor profile. You also have the choice of OJ frozen concentrate, store bought OJ, fresh squeezed OJ, Pulp/Pulp-free OJ, orange puree. I'd probably go for whatever was easiest, and add it to primary in the most sanitary way possible.
This weekend I'm making a smoked strong ale, that i'm going to add chipotles to once I rack to secondary. That's my plan for crazy specialty beers. Good luck with the OJ Saison!
Edit (a day later): Thinking more about this...depending on how strong you want the BEER flavor to be, should depend on what type of juice you add. Adding 2 gallons of juice would definitely thin out your beer quite a bit, unless you have a pretty high concentrated 3 gallons (extra extract or strong first runnings of all-grain). So if you want to lighten up the beer flavor quite a bit, and have orange flavor too, 2 gallons of juice is the way to go. If you want strong beer and orange flavor, then frozen concentrate (should be sanitized already), pureed orange, and orange peal zest would be the route to go.
My thought is, keep on trying, but I would do in a smaller scale so I would not waste much if it does not work.
Hell yeah!
I haven't myself, but someone I was talking to the other day recommended substituting apple juice in place of some of the water for an apple ale... It's on my list... I don't think you'd have much of an issue, other than if OJ is like fresh pressed apple cider, then you'd have a ton of not only sediment, but top scum also... not krausen, but actual fruit scum floating on top after a week in primary...
My next is actually a honey weizen... my cream stout went into bottles this last weekend, and I figure (I'm hoping) warmer weather is right around the corner... so I'm thinking a lighter, crisper wheat would be nice...
If you do this, let me know how it turns out... it will be fall before I try it with my fresh pressed cider...
edit: Store bought juice is more than likely going to already be pastuerized. If it were me, I would add it to your primary in place of water. I'm not sure about OJ, but I know the problem with apple juice is if you boil it, you set the tannins, and the stuff will never clear.
Would the ph level be affected and thus the acidity level kill any enzimes in the mix and therfore any little creatures would nonchalantly think that their job on earth is complete giving you a satisfying taste but a rather lame alcohol content?
Excellent! That's an odd coincidence, since my next beer up to brew is a Mountain Dew Saison... similar methods.
I would substitute 2 gallons (assuming you're working with a 5 gal batch). I would boil it seperately from the wort, and add it to your primary as your bringing the wort up to 5 gallons. Or you may not even need to boil, if you're using organic...
I would really suggest some organic OJ, like from Whole Foods or something... you'd want it to be as pure as possible and relatively light mouthfeel (as opposed to the gritty, tangy stuff at the supermarket).
Cheers!
It sounds like a viable option. I'm actually thinking about doing a cider with some orange juice in it for acidity and a tweak on the flavor.
If you really want to get the orange flavor to come through, add some zest to your secondary...just be sure that you get just the orange part and none of the white pith underneath because it will give it a bitterness that would probably conflict with your hops.
Edit: I was wondering the same thing about the word "batch"
Good to know it's not just me.
I would treat the OJ like you are making wine. Crush a couple campden tablets into it 24 Hrs before making your beer to kill off all of the nasties, then add it to your wert just before you pitch your yeast. If you boil the OJ it will probably mess up the fresh fruit flavor that you are going for. Let me know how it turns out!
-and could you take a look at the question I posted a few minutes ago? I'm having some issues with my oatmeal stout.