Local Brewery Honey Citra recipe

So I asked a local brewery in my area for a recipe for their Honey Citra they used to make. It was amazing and I miss it so bad. They replied and gave me the recipe and I wanted to share : )

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Here are the percentages of the malts we used for the regular Honey Citra Ale. The Percentages should be easier for you to scale back to 5 or 10 gallon batches.

Drop some by once they are ready.

Cheers

56% Montana grown 2-row pale malt
29% Gambrinus Honey malt
7.5% Munich 10L malt
7.5% Vienna malt

47 IBU's
CTZ-90 min.,Cascade-30 min., Citra-0 min., Citra dry hop. We used 1/2lb/bbl.

Mash at 150, OG is around 1.065.
How long to dry hop depends on the temp of your fermenter.
The best temp to get the job done in 1 week would 55 deg.

Wow that's a lot of honey malt! Was this beer really sweet, or does it ferment out decently? What brewery is this?

daksin said:

Wow that's a lot of honey malt! Was this beer really sweet, or does it ferment out decently? What brewery is this?

Click to expand...

Bitterroot brewing in Hamilton, MT. It's not too sweet at all believe it or not it is incredibly balanced with a huge hop aroma & flavor. FG must be around 1.012 with the ABV being up there at 6.89%. I think keeping the mash temp down at 150 or less and the hops & Alcohol help balance it out. Really hope mine is 1/2 as good as theirs was. I actually made a pale ale before with 30% honey malt and took 2nd in a comp (the brewer tony had told me they use alot and said don't be afraid to use 30% but i didn't have the full recipe at that point) I sent one of them to Keywestbrewing and he said he really enjoyed it. I'm going to give it a go.

http://www.bitterrootbrewing.com/email/03_22_12.html


Edit: This was all the info I could google and find on the original Honey Citra they did in 2008, 2009, and 2010. (The have since made it into an imperial which isn't nearly as good imo)

Brewing this up tomorrow. Here is my plan:

Recipe: Bitterroot Brewery's Honey Citra Recipe
Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: All Grain


Recipe Specifications
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Boil Size: 7.25 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.5 gal
Estimated OG: 1.068 SG
Estimated FG: 1.012 FG
Estimated Color: 12.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 47 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amt Name
8 lbs 12.0 oz Pale Malt Montana 2 Row
4 lbs 8.0 oz Honey Malt
1 lbs 3.2 oz Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)
1 lbs 3.2 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)
1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [13.00 %] - Boil 90 44.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min 9.6 IBUs
2.50 oz Citra [13.00 %] - Whirlpool Steep 30.0 0.0 IBUs
1.50 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days 0.0 IBUs

Single Infusion Mash @ 150, No Mash Out, Fly Sparge to collect pre-boil Volume

Wyeast 1056 with Starter (gonna get the starter going right now)

Was in the brewery this weekend and talking with the brewer again. A bit more info and advice that I gathered from him:

1. Ferment temp start at 70 to get it going then drop to 68 and hold for the primary.

2. Once FG is reached Cold crash the primary at 35 degress and rack to secondary.

3. Add dry hops and raise secondary temp up to 55-65 for a week for dry hopping.

4. After a couple of days the hops all settle on the bottom (pellet hops) pump in co2 twice daily to bring the pellet material back into suspension.

5. When your week of dry hopping is done cold crash again and rack off of the hop materiel into keg or bottles.

6. Enjoy

Update: I bottled on March 24th

Actual OG was 1.070
Actual FG was 1.015

Hydrometer taste test was smooth and sweet as expected from the honey malt. I wish my FG would have dropped a bit more but it's close and it's not way too sweet or anything. The Citra is noticeable in both the aroma and the taste. It is probably too early to tell from just one small hydrometer reading so I'm not making my finally adjustments yet but I think I may be upping both the flame out and the dry hopping citra additions next time as well as the Cascade at 30 minutes. Will report back (to myself or maybe someone else is following this thread too) in 2-3 weeks when I crack the first bottle open.

I took 2nd place in a Local Homebrew comp with this beer last weekend. Scored a new plate chiller, and a bag of 2-row

Wow, awesome prizes and congrats on the medal!

How long did you end up keep this brew in the primary and secondary?

Brewed on the 2nd of march. Stayed in the primary for 2 weeks. Cold crashed for 24 hours and then Racked to secondary for another week then bottled. 22 days from grain to bottles and then another 3 weeks to carb.