LAKEFRONT FIXED GEAR AMERICAN RED ALE-Beginner Questions

Hello all,

I have been reading the forums for awhile now, but this is my first time posting. I am a very "green" brewer as I am only on my second 5 gal batch. However I like to think I have a good understanding of the basics.

On to the point... I began brewing the LAKEFRONT FIXED GEAR AMERICAN RED ALE from NB on Friday 1/31. The day before I made a yeast starter using WLP001 California Ale yeast. After attaching the blow off tube, I was reading the instructions for dry hopping and noticed that instead of the 1oz citra hops that the recipe calls for, I was given an additional 1oz cascade. Should I contact NB and try to get the 1oz citra hops, or are the cascade hops similar enough.

Secondly, I had some questions about fermentation temps. I was storing the bucket in my basement which was right around 60F. The blow off assembly was active when I woke up the next morning. My questions here is, on White Labs website it says the optimum temperature is 68F to 70F for the California ale yeast. Should I move my bucket to a warmer area, or leave it at 60F and let it sit in the Primary for longer.

Link for recipe (http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/FixedGear_Pro_Lakefront.pdf)

Are you certain you were given an additional oz of cascade or is there a chance you might have accidentally used the Citra where the Cascade was supposed to be? That would be an easy mistake to make.

As far as subbing Cascade for Citra, they aren't really comparable in my opinion. Cascade will get you aromas of grapefruit and some floral qualities. Citra imparts a more tropical fruit flavor to me. Dry hopping with the Cascade will still get you a great beer, it'll just be different than the original recipe. Up to you, proceed with the cascade, or try and get the citra and save the cascade for later use. You'll have a tasty brew either way.

As far as the temp goes, I wouldn't move it. Ferm temps can be 5 to 10 degrees warmer than ambient so you'll be right where you need to be. Once fermentation slows down after a week or so, then maybe consider moving it to a warmer spot to help the yeast stay active to clean up any off flavors.

+1 to the above. Being the citra whore that i've become, Citra is pretty unique in it's flavor and aroma, it will differ from Cascade, but like said above if it's a hassle to get the citra the cascade will still get you a good aroma.

as for the 001 60F is fine for fermentaion for the first 5-7 days then i'd try and get it up closer to the 68-70 to help it finish out. Sounds like things are moving right along for you tho!!

Thank you for the replies! I thought I may have mixed them up, but I kept the empty packages to make sure I did not mess this up. Also incase NB needed a picture. Unless they mislabeled the hop packs, then who knows. I really want that citrus aroma, so I will contact NB. As for the Temp, I will plan on moving the bucket on Friday to a warmer spot. Thank you for the input!

if you've got the time to wait for the citra, it is well worth it IMO. Chinook and Citra is becoming my new favorite combo. That stuff makes beer smell like heaven

Fixed Gear has Citra in it? I have had the original before, and did not detect anything even remotely close to Citra.

Yeah didn't think so either but northern brewer calls for it and the brewery worked with them formulating the recipe

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I ended up calling NB and the Citra hops are on the way!