Citra Hops...crazy!

So this is kind of strange. I went to brew an Irish Red for the summer because it quenches. I decided to experiment a little bit and toss in some Citra hops at the end of the boil. So the last 15 minutes, I tossed in an ounce of them. Sat in the carbouy for 3 weeks (maybe 4?) Transfered to a keg (my first keg! YES!) and tried a little bit. I could not believe the very strong citrus finish. It was seriously like drinking a beer, and then chasing it with a bite from a grapefruit. Now, I'm not complaining, but it was crazy!! I'll keep you posted on if it changes, but its pretty neat. This could be a good one to make for the ladies

Yepp citra is awesome! Until you use too much and get the cat piss. Ladies dont love that so much...

Try blending it with Amarillo or Centennial. It's even better mixed with other hops. Citra and Amarillo together are fantastic

I don't get citrus at all from citra- I get tropical fruit. I mean, it screams MANGO! to me so I'm not a fan. The last all citra beer I did tasted like Juicy Fruit gum.

Right now I'm drinking an all-chinook beer with .5 ounce citra in the dryhopping. It's better, and I like it. I think it needs to be balanced with a citrusy or piney hop to not taste so darn fruity.

Just ride this one out. I made an all-Citra beer a while back and the flavor changed really dramatically over the course of two months. It started out all mango, juicyfruit, etc., then morphed into mango and fruit mixed with cumin, peppery, musty, and all sorts of weird stuff, and then at the two month mark, everything mellowed out into this wonderful unique flavor and stabilized that way. Cheers!

Yooper said:

I don't get citrus at all from citra- I get tropical fruit. I mean, it screams MANGO! to me so I'm not a fan. The last all citra beer I did tasted like Juicy Fruit gum.

Right now I'm drinking an all-chinook beer with .5 ounce citra in the dryhopping. It's better, and I like it. I think it needs to be balanced with a citrusy or piney hop to not taste so darn fruity.

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I don't think I've ever tasted an all Chinook beer. I tasted an IPA at a Brewfest 2 weeks ago and he threw in some Chinook for flavor and aroma additions. It was an Amarillo and some other hop combo. It was funky and really good.

Three Floyd's Zombie Dust is all Citra and it is freaking awesome. I am attempting a clone tomorrow...hopefully I don't ass it up.

I made the zombie dust clone and for the first 3 weeks in the keg it tasted like straight mango juice. Once it finally mellowed it was very nice. Was kind of cool drinking a beer that tasted like mangos too though. Everyone thought I added fruit to it.

scottland said:

Citra and Amarillo together are fantastic

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I second this. I'm drinking a Citra Amarillo IPA right now with both in the boil at various points, and dry hopped with each, and it's seriously one of the best beers I've ever made. Really rockin' combination.

Grinnan5150 said:

Three Floyd's Zombie Dust is all Citra and it is freaking awesome. I am attempting a clone tomorrow...hopefully I don't ass it up.

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Yes, I'm waiting my keg to carb of Zombie Dust and have to admit I take samples, 100% Citra and its definatelly more tropical than citrus. Love it

I agree with the tropical fruit but I'm drinking a straight Citra IPA right at this moment that I made about three months ago and I am getting much more citrus and bittering than I did when it was fresh. I have an IPA with Simcoe bittering with Citra/Centennial for flavor and dry hop that is fermenting right now that I am really looking forward to.

I've brewed a Citra IPA that was bittered with Chinook and then Citra the rest of the way, including a healthy dry hopping. Fantastic mango nose.

JonM said:

Just ride this one out. I made an all-Citra beer a while back and the flavor changed really dramatically over the course of two months. It started out all mango, juicyfruit, etc., then morphed into mango and fruit mixed with cumin, peppery, musty, and all sorts of weird stuff, and then at the two month mark, everything mellowed out into this wonderful unique flavor and stabilized that way. Cheers!

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I never realy thought about it that way, but the musty, geerty old taste does come out, and goes away just a fast to a nice finish.

kpr121 said:

Yepp citra is awesome! Until you use too much and get the cat piss. Ladies dont love that so much...

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I seem to keep dating ones that do, however.

Citra though, awesome aroma hop. I wish I had more of it.

Tomorrow I'll be brewing an APA that will be MO & C40 and hopped with Amarillo and Citra. I'm going to FWH with Amarillo to get to the IBU I want and then hop burst the last 15 minutes alternating Amarillo and Citra additions. Then a mix of the two in dry hop. I'm really looking forward to this one.

Slow Boat: Do you get any piney from your Chinook addition? How much did you use for bittering and in what volume of beer?

Brewitt: I'd like to know how your Simcoe/Centennial/Citra IPA turns out. I'm curious if you get much of a piney taste from the Simcoe in bittering.

I plan to brew an Imperial IPA tomorrow. Here's a link to the recipe.

http://beersmithrecipes.com/viewrecipe/11363/imperial-ipa

I want to use Citra, Amarillo & Simcoe in the brew. However, I've never used Citra or Simcoe, so I don't know how much or when to add them. I just took a guess when I created my recipe. Does anyone think I need to change my hops schedule? I could substitute with Cascade, if you think that would work better. The last thing I want is a beer that tastes like cat piss! LOL!

Also, what should I dry hop with?

Citra is definitely fruity, whereas Simcoe is piney. I have done all Citra and all Simcoe IPAs, but have never mixed them before. Not to say that you can't mix them. I might separate the Citra into the flavoring addition along with the Amarillo, and use the Simcoe for aroma and possibly dry hop. Also, your body and color seem a little light for an IPA, perhaps a little crystal malt and a medium-light body.

slow_boat said:

Citra is definitely fruity, whereas Simcoe is piney. I have done all Citra and all Simcoe IPAs, but have never mixed them before. Not to say that you can't mix them. I might separate the Citra into the flavoring addition along with the Amarillo, and use the Simcoe for aroma and possibly dry hop. Also, your body and color seem a little light for an IPA, perhaps a little crystal malt and a medium-light body.

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Thanks! I was actually thinking of adding some more color to it.

A lot of people say they get the cat-piss from bittering with Simcoe or Citra. But some say they do it all the time with no problems. I tend to think it depends on the actual crop more than anything. But if you have some other clean bittering hop to use at 60 min I would do that just to be safe (and I also think it’s a waste to get no aroma/flavor out of great/expensive hops like simcoe/citra.)

With that being said, Id adjust the hop schedule something like this:

1 oz simcoe 60 min (substitute this for a clean bittering hop like magnum if you have it)
0.5 oz amarillo 60 min (you could move this to an aroma/flavor addition if you are happy with the IBUs)
0.5 oz citra 15 min
0.5 oz amarillo 15 min
0.5 oz simcoe 15 min
0.5 oz simcoe 0 min
0.5 oz citra 0 min

I didn’t check the ibu’s but they should be within range. If they end up a little high you could move that 60 min Amarillo to an aroma/flavor addition.

For dry hopping Id suggest combining all three hops, maybe an oz or so of each?

I agree with slow_boat, you might want to get some crystal in there. Maybe say ½ lb Crystal 40 or 60? If you don’t have Crystal you could mash a little higher to get a little bit of residual sweetness.

+1 on the citra hops!

We do an American Red Ale with citra and calypso. It's a match made in heaven.

I second kpr121, it seems that crop matters greatly when using Citra or Simcoe to bitter. I've had mixed results myself.

Ive got 5oz of citra and 1 and a half oz of Columbus. Thinking of a hop Scheduel like 60 with the Columbus then say citra at 1.5oz at 45, 30, 15 and flame out?

jonnyp1980 said:

Ive got 5oz of citra and 1 and a half oz of Columbus. Thinking of a hop Scheduel like 60 with the Columbus then say citra at 1.5oz at 45, 30, 15 and flame out?

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1/2 oz. columbus to bitter
1/2 oz. columbus at 30
Citra from 15 or 10, 5-0 min., then dryhop

bobbrews said:

1/2 oz. columbus to bitter
1/2 oz. columbus at 30
Citra from 15 or 10, 5-0 min., then dryhop

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I have 1 oz whole leaf to dry hop with. Agree with toning down the Columbus its pretty potent stuff. So you think I should only use 3 oz of the citra pellets for taste and aroma during boil or would using all 5 be too much?

I love me some citra hops. I have heard about the cat piss is using them as bittering or using too much but i have never experienced this. I did a citra hop burst ipa with good results, lots of mango/appricot flavors. I have enjoyed combining them with other citus hops.

For a 5 gallon batch of regular IPA, I would shoot for about 6 oz. total boil hops and then dryhop with 0.50 oz. PER GALLON of beer.

bobbrews said:

For a 5 gallon batch of regular IPA, I would shoot for about 6 oz. total boil hops and then dryhop with 0.50 oz. PER GALLON of beer.

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Ok I will try this out. But only 1oz of whole leave because that all I got

I did an all-Citra IPA w/ half a pound, and wasn't a fan. I've taken now to using my Citra for bittering instead. I still have 6 oz... Maybe I should trade it for something I like a bit better.