Ingredient question

[Brownbeard]

Making a batch tonight, the recipe calls for two ounces of crushed coriander. I am thinking that is a lot. Coriander has such a strong flavor, I would think in a 5 gal batch of a lighter brew, that would be overwhelming. I am thinking of cutting to one ounce. Anyone else use coriander in their brews and have advice or comments? The recipe I am using is from BYO Mag, it is below.

Orange Blossom Special
(5 gallons)

"This light, effervescent beer has a lovely honey color with a fluffy, white head. We like to
drink it chilled during warm-weather months. The fresh orange peel and coriander produce a
flavor reminiscent of a fine orange liqueur, and the sweet, Belgian-yeast taste comes
through strongly. It is based on a recipe in The Complete Joy of Homebrewing."

Ingredients:

5 lbs. extra-light dried malt extract
3 lbs. honey
2 oz. Hallertauer hops (4-6% alpha)
2 oz. freshly crushed coriander seeds
1 oz. freshly grated orange peel
Wyeast 1214 Belgian ale yeast (I am substituting Witbier yeast 3944)
1 1/4 cup dried malt extract

Step by Step:
Prepare yeast starter culture in advance. On brew day add malt extract, honey, and 1 oz. hops
to 1.5 gallons water and boil for one hour. Add 1 oz. crushed coriander and 0.5 oz. hops and
boil for 10 minutes. Add remaining coriander and orange peel and boil for three minutes. Add
remaining hops and boil for two minutes.

Pour two gallons of cold water into fermenter and sparge wort into fermenter. Top off with
water to equal five gallons. Follow normal fermentation procedures (five days in primary, a
week in secondary), prime, and bottle as usual. Age two weeks.

[Tom C]

bY BOILING IT YOU WILL BE LOSING SOME OF THE FLACOR. i SAY USE ALL TWO OUNCES THIS TIME tHE CORIANDER DDS SUCH A NICE FLAVOR TO A WIT. iF YOU THINK IT IS TO MUCH THEN NEXT TIME DECREASE IT...BUT i HTINK YOIU WILL FIND IT TO BE FINE.

tOM c

[YamahaXS]

Originally posted by Tom C
bY BOILING IT YOU WILL BE LOSING SOME OF THE FLACOR. i SAY USE ALL TWO OUNCES THIS TIME tHE CORIANDER DDS SUCH A NICE FLAVOR TO A WIT. iF YOU THINK IT IS TO MUCH THEN NEXT TIME DECREASE IT...BUT i HTINK YOIU WILL FIND IT TO BE FINE.

tOM c

Tom, have another beer and turn off your cap lock. :D


I concur, use 2 oz.. Just give this beer time to mellow if it doesn't taste good at first.

[Tom C]

sorry about the caps. I did not realize it was on. I typed my reply quickly and submitted it without realizing. Sorry...

Tom C

[YamahaXS]

Originally posted by Tom C
sorry about the caps. I did not realize it was on. I typed my reply quickly and submitted it without realizing. Sorry...

Tom C

noproblems, Tom, I was actually laughing thinking that maybe you had consumed 1 too many homebrews. ;)

[Redbird Fan]

I looked up 3 Wit beers in More Homebrew Favorites (p.124 - 127) and they varied in their use of Coriander, using:

3/4 oz
7/10 oz
and 2 oz

so, I would say use the 2 oz (unless you just don't care for the coriander "taste" - I have a friend who thinks coriander delivers a vegitable soup taste.

[brewmonkey]

Fermentation will also scrub some of the components away, same as it does to hops.

[paul84043]

That's the beauty of beer!!! It's going to be good no matter what, and next time, you can make it even better!!!

My arrogant vertical epic 020202 clone only had one ounce, I bottled it last week and can barely detect it. 2 oz. ought to be just fine!

[Brownbeard]

OK, this has been in primary since monday night. I noticed that if you sniff the fermentor lock, it has a very pungeant aroma. Is this from the corriander or oranges? I did not strain it before going to the fermentor. Did I screw up? I suppose it could be infected, but I used extreme care to make sure the process was sanitary. I suppose it could just take time to mellow those spices out.

[YamahaXS]

Beers always smell 'harsh' out of the airlock. I would think that in time, that pungent smell will equal a very fine beer flavor.

[Brownbeard]

Yeah, I am probably being paranoid. Only the second batch though, so I am entitled to be a little skittish.

[Brownbeard]

I transferred this to secondary after a week in primary last night. I left the coriander and the orange peel in the primary. They did not go into the secondary. I tasted after moving, it was not bad. The orange was pretty strong, and the corriander was noticable, I am confident those will mellow rather quickly with the solids removed. I think it is gonna turn out good. I'm only gonna get three weeks in the bottle before my party though. Should be enough time to properly carbonate.

[paul84043]

THe beer always smells Very yeasty fron the airlock. No worries.

Your's is going to be just fine.

The orange peel and coriander will definitely mellow out, mine did a bit too much, I kind of wish it had stayed a bit stronger! But my wit is fantastic!! We've already began drinking them...mmmmmmm....

Three weeks in the bottle should be just fine...

[brewmonkey]

A quick thought on special ingrediants...

I have in the past used this method with much luck.

If you are not sure of how much you should use, shoot for the low side. If you are not pleased with it at packaging time, you can make a quick "tea" from it and add it slowly until the desired taste/aroma is achieved.

We had a wit that had a bunch of corriander in it during the boil, none of it showed post fermentation. We ended up making a "tea bag" of some crushed corriander and added it to a small volume of near boiling water. let it step for 20-30 minutes and then add.

[paul84043]

That's a great Idea, I would never have though of it...
I did notice that the Coriander basically vanished after the primary.
I just dropped it in with about a minute left in the boil. THe same with the orange peel.
The wit has a grapefruity taste to it, probably from the bitter peel. It sure tastes good.
It's the Arrogant Vertical Epic ale clone from AHS, I highly recommend it.