Recipe Critique: All Citra IPA

I'm just learning how to develop my own recipes. I wanted to brew a few IPAs using one hop variety. The first hop on the list is Citra. Based upon looking at other recipes and reading Ray Daniels "Designing Great Beers", this is what I came up with:

Style: American IPA
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.30 gal
Estimated OG: 1.061 SG
Estimated Color: 8.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 58.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amount Item Type % or IBU
11.52 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 87.14 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 7.56 %
0.70 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 5.30 %
2.00 oz Citra [12.30 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Citra [12.30 %] (60 min) Hops 37.4 IBU
1.00 oz Citra [12.30 %] (10 min) Hops 13.6 IBU
1.00 oz Citra [12.30 %] (5 min) Hops 7.5 IBU
1.00 oz Citra [12.30 %] (0 min) Hops -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 13.22 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
75 min Mash In Add 16.53 qt of water at 161.4 F 150.0 F

Any comments or suggestions? Thanks in advance.

citra is very fruity, but not citrus... think more mango or tropical fruit. i use it in my rye IPA and brown IPA and love, i've never used it for a 60 min addition though. i would use a darker crystal, 60 works good for me in my IPA. i would also mash at 154 so you have some body, you will get a fairly high attentuation with all that basemalt. good luck!

thats a ot of Citra. i used it in a similar recipe to yours. at first i dident like it. but by week 4 of keg aging, i found it was damn good. i'm experimenting with Columbus right now, but I still have a bunch of Citra I'll use pretty soon

defenestrate said:

citra is very fruity, but not citrus... think more mango or tropical fruit. i use it in my rye IPA and brown IPA and love, i've never used it for a 60 min addition though. i would use a darker crystal, 60 works good for me in my IPA. i would also mash at 154 so you have some body, you will get a fairly high attentuation with all that basemalt. good luck!

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That sounds great, I love the tropical fruit flavor. I understand the mash temperature adjustment to give it more body, but what would the Crystal 60L do versus using the Crystal 40L? As the numbers go higher do they provide more flavor and color?

I made some adjustments to the recipe and have my revised one below. I dropped the crystal to .5 lb, upped the Munich and modified the base grain appropriately. I switched the 60 minute addition to one of my favorite bittering hops, Horizon, and added another ounce to dry hop.

Style: American IPA
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
---
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.30 gal
Estimated OG: 1.061 SG
Estimated Color: 7.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 66.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
---
Amount Item Type % or IBU
11 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 83.97 %
1 lbs 9.6 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 12.21 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 3.82 %
3.00 oz Citra [12.30 %] (Dry Hop 10 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Horizon [12.00 %] (60 min) Hops 48.2 IBU
1.00 oz Citra [12.30 %] (10 min) Hops 9.9 IBU
1.00 oz Citra [12.30 %] (5 min) Hops 8.2 IBU
1.00 oz Citra [12.30 %] (0 min) Hops -
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [Starter]

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 13.10 lb
---
Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 16.38 qt of water at 161.4 F 150.0 F

I just did a batch last night and used Columbus for my 60, 20 minutes additions. Citra was 15, 10 ,5, and dryhopped. Mine was not a traditional IPA though. More along the lines of a Black IPA.

I think you'll have a 'different' IPA, but different isn't always a bad thing! Try it dude, the worst that will happen is you have to scrap a batch.

I believe the higher the Lovibond the higher the malty sweetness becomes. Obviously the darker it becomes too. At first I didn't think a 60 Lovibond would differ from a 40 Lovibond in color, but after brewing two different brews with each being used, the difference is apparent.

i do an IPA with Citra and Centennial. Citra for bittering, Centennial for everything else. It is quite delicious. I would agree with the higher mash temp for more body and it will need more conditioning time than usual (but mine has a much higher SG and a much higher IBU). Also, the 60 Lovibond has a stronger caramel and sweeter flavor. Personally, I like 40 in my IPA's but to each their own. I think we are talking subtleties there.

defenestrate said:

i would use a darker crystal, 60 works good for me in my IPA. i would also mash at 154 so you have some body, you will get a fairly high attentuation with all that basemalt. good luck!

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Disagree with all of this.

Mash higher with a whole pound of crystal malt? I don't think body should be an issue with this one. This is an IPA - you are after good attenuation. Also I think C-60 would definitely make this to dark and caramelly. It doesn't look like you are going for an amber ale. I would actually cut the crystal malt in half and replace it with carapils. Also, less than a pound of munich isn't going to do anything for you. I use 2 pounds in my APA and it adds a nice subtle malt flavor.

NCBeernut said:

Disagree with all of this.

Mash higher with a whole pound of crystal malt? I don't think body should be an issue with this one. This is an IPA - you are after good attenuation. Also I think C-60 would definitely make this to dark and caramelly. It doesn't look like you are going for an amber ale. I would actually cut the crystal malt in half and replace it with carapils. Also, less than a pound of munich isn't going to do anything for you. I use 2 pounds in my APA and it adds a nice subtle malt flavor.

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thats fine, i prefere my IPAs with some malt flavor/sweetness to back it up, and i prefer 60 to 40 for the more caramel flavors vs the lighter sweetness of 40, especially in my rye IPA. even mashing @ 154 with 80-85% basemalt i still see close to 80% attenuation. just my .02 cents!

Isn't citra only good for aroma? Or vice versa? I've been wanting to try it for a while but I've stuck with cascade.

rexbanner said:

Isn't citra only good for aroma? Or vice versa? I've been wanting to try it for a while but I've stuck with cascade.

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i love it for flavor additions. the only negative i have read about it that i have not tried with personal experience is using it for bittering additions- some say that it too harsh but i have no input with that one.