Beer With Orange Slice: Why Do We Add Them to Beer?

Beer with orange slice is a common way to garnish your favorite brews, but many beer lovers don’t know why they should do this. Oranges have had a special place in the brewing world for a long time, with either subtle or strong impacts on your beer. 

Oranges are usually used to garnish wheat beers, but there are other types of brews that you can add this fruit to. In this article, we cover all you need to know about beer with orange slice, down to the types of oranges you should use in garnishing your beer. 

Why Do People Drink Beer With Orange Slices? 

People drink their beer with an orange slice to make it taste better. The orange is usually used to accentuate the citrusy, light flavor of the beer. Most of the time, orange wedges are placed on beers that have citrusy notes, like those made with citrus peels or Citra hops. 

With the orange used to garnish your beer, you can balance out the bitterness and improve the refreshing flavor. It also makes the beer sweeter and more enjoyable. You can add the orange to the beer to reduce the alcoholic effects and slow the absorption of alcohol down. At the same time, you can place it as a wedge on the rim of the glass for garnishing. 

What Wheat Beers Do You Add an Orange Slice To? 

The wheat beers that you add an orange slice to include Belgian-style beers, wheat beers, witbiers, and white beers. These kinds of beers have diverse flavors that will complement the orange. Since oranges are juicy and sweet, they match the light and refreshing character of most wheat beers. 

The most popular wheat beer for adding an orange to is the Blue Moon Belgian White Ale. The Blue Moon has been flavored with oranges and coriander. It is an unfiltered wheat ale and has slight citrus notes. Other top beers to garnish with orange include:

• Hoegaarden Witbier: This is a wheat ale that has a vibrant lemon flavor, and this will go great with orange. 
• Shock Top Belgian White: This is a Belgian wheat ale with citrusy and spicy hops. The beer is made with real peels from orange, lime, and lemon. 

Any other wheat beer and white ale you are drinking can be garnished with an orange. If you have a Mexican lager, lime works better, and if it’s an ale, you can go for a very thin lemon slice. But for wheat beers, orange is the best kind of garnish. 

– Other Beers That Match With Orange Flavors

Other beers that match orange flavors include pale ales, citrus-flavored lagers, and IPAs. If you don’t enjoy drinking wheat beers, you can still enjoy the benefits of a juicy orange. There are a few orange-flavored IPAs and lagers that you can consider.

• Sierra Nevada Pale Ale: This is a West Coast pale ale with a balance of piney hops, grapefruit, and orange. 
• Coors Slice: This is a drinkable and refreshing lager that features orange notes. 
• New Belgium Citradelic: This is a hoppy IPA that is made with Citra hops and real tangerine peel for a citrusy taste. 
• Bud Light Orange: This is an easy-sipping light lager made with real orange and lime peels. 

Keep in mind that even if a beer is made with orange or any other citrus peel, this doesn’t mean that the beer taste will be orange juice. Instead, it will be subtle, and the orange will complement the flavor. If you want an orangey drink instead, go for a Radler or shandy with orange flavors. 

How To Serve Beer With an Orange Slice?

You can have your beer served with orange inside, although it can end up dispersing the foamy head before time and upsetting the balance of the flavors. But you can add a very thin orange wedge to the beer.

It is much better to place the orange on the rim of the glass so that the juices slowly seep in. 

What Is the Best Orange for Garnishing Beer? 

The best orange for garnishing beer is any ripe and sweet orange. Valencia oranges are usually used to garnish the Blue Moon wheat ale because they are very sweet and juicy. You are recommended to use a Valencia orange, as these are the sweetest type. 

Another type of orange that you can use is the Curacao orange, mostly used to garnish different kinds of Belgian witbiers. These kinds of oranges have very zesty peels, so they contribute orange notes to the beer. By using this kind of orange, you also bring out the coriander and citrus notes in a Belgian-style ale. 

– Effects of Orange in Beer

Oranges soak up the alcohol in beer. Oranges are high in sugar, and this will slow down the alcohol absorption in your bloodstream. You can add an orange wedge or even mix your beer with orange to reduce the absorption of alcohol. 

What other fruits can help with slowing down alcohol absorption? Aside from oranges, fruits like watermelon and bananas will help in absorbing alcohol. You can’t garnish your beer with these kinds of fruits, but you can eat them while drinking beer. 

Do You Squeeze Your Orange When Drinking Beer? 

You can either squeeze your orange when drinking beer or not. When you have an orange garnishing on your glass, you might be wondering if you should squeeze it into the beer. Well, this is up to you. This is all up to your preference.

Keep in mind that if you squeeze the juice out of the slice and into your beer, you will get a more intense citrusy flavor than normal. But, if you simply want to taste subtle orange notes in your beer, leave the slice at the edge of the glass, and it will drop juices into your beer. You can also float the slice on your beer. 

Are You Allowed To Eat the Orange on Your Beer?

Yes, you are allowed to eat the orange on your beer if you want. If you don’t squeeze your orange or drop it into the beer, then you might end up drinking your beer with the orange perfectly intact. This orange slice is perfectly fine to eat.

It is okay to take a bite out of your orange after drinking it as long as it is intact. In fact, most bars and restaurants put sweet, juicy, and ripe oranges on the rim of your glass so that you can eat it while drinking your beer. You can decide to do so before or after you drink your beer. 

Conclusion 

Now that you know how to enjoy your beer with orange slice, you can have a juicy beverage at your disposal every time you have sweet oranges.

Here’s a summary of what we looked at in our article:

• Beer is garnished with orange slices to make it taste better and add citrusy notes to it.
• The best beers to garnish with oranges are Belgian-style beers, wheat beers, witbier, and white beers like Blue Moon beer.
• Any beer that has orangey notes or is made with Citra hops can be garnished with oranges.
• You can decide to eat your orange wedge or squeeze the juice into your beer.
• The best orange for beer is a Valencia orange.

The next time you have a flavorful wheat beer in front of you, ask for a juicy orange and this will definitely change your experience!