Citra Hop Burst IPA Recipe Up For Review

Hey fellas. So I recently experienced the utter joy that occurs in my glass when citra gets with amarillo. I am trying to formulate a solid hop burst double IPA recipie that borders on the asinine with late boil additons.I want to smell this thing through the keg. Any comments on this recipe would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Wyeast 1056 American Ale
Yeast Starter: Yeast Cake
Batch Size: 12 gal
Target Original Gravity: 1.077
Target Final: 1.016
Target ABV: 8.1%
IBU: 76
Boiling Time: 60 min.
Color: 9.4

Citra Double IPA
18.75 lbs 2-Row
2 lbs Munich 10L
1.5 lbs of Crystal 40L
1 lbs Honey Malt
1 lbs Carapills
6 lbs Golden DME (due to mash tun limits)


Mash 60 minutes at 154 F

1 oz of Amarillo (9.3%) at 25 min
1 oz of Citra (13.4%) at 25 min
1 oz of Amarillo (9.3%) at 20 min
1 oz of Citra (13.4%) at 20 min
1.5 oz of Amarillo (9.3%) at 15 min
1.5 oz of Citra (13.4%) at 15 min
1.25 oz of Amarillo (9.3%) at 10 min
1.25 oz of Citra (13.4%) at 10 min
1.25 oz of Amarillo (9.3%) at 5 min
1.25 oz of Citra (13.4%) at 5 min
1.25 oz of Amarillo (9.3%) at 2 min
1.25 oz of Citra (13.4%) at 2 min
1 oz of Amarillo (9.3%) at 0 min
1 oz of Citra (13.4%) at 0 min
3 oz of Amarillo (9.3%) Dry hop 14 days
3 oz of Citra (13.4%) Dry hop 14 days

1 Whirlfloc at 10 min of

Ferment at 68 F 2 weeks. Then rack to secondary to dryhop.

I count 22.5oz of hops!!!! My god, that should be an incredibly pugant and flavorful beer, although I'm glad to not be the one paying for all those hops.

My only question is why there are no full boil hops. I suppose using that large of an amount of hops, and all as mid-late additions, would still add more than enough bitterness and adding any significant amount early on would just make the IBU's insane. At this point it almost seems to me, like a fruit beer. You don't want any cloying bitterness getting in the way of the, in this case intense citrus, fruit flavor.

Awesome idea. I'd love to try it but would never brew it because of the $$$.

So are you actually going to brew this, or are you just rubbing in our faces the fact that you're sitting on nearly a pound of Citra, while the rest of us have none?

Overkill, wasted hops.

Looks complicated with so many additions. Could probably go for some 60 minute hops to to reduce the total amount of hops used. I don't really see the point in having six hop additions from 25 min.
Late hops are great, but they have worked best for me at the 5 - 0 minute range. YMMV

I don't see how you're going to get any wort in the carboy, it's going to be a kettle full of liquid expanded hops.

23+ lbs of grain, plus 6 of DME and you are shooting for 1.077? That seems VERY low. You should easily get 1.100+! All those hops sound good but I have to agree that it would be overkill. The trub would be crazy

GuldTuborg said:

So are you actually going to brew this, or are you just rubbing in our faces the fact that you're sitting on nearly a pound of Citra, while the rest of us have none?

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Yes sir! I wiped out the LHBS of their very last bit of citra yesterday. Believe me, I had a little spring in my step on the way out the door. It felt like I had jus robbed a bank. :rockin:

southerngroove said:

23+ lbs of grain, plus 6 of DME and you are shooting for 1.077? That seems VERY low. You should easily get 1.100+! All those hops sound good but I have to agree that it would be overkill. The trub would be crazy

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This is a 12 gallon batch.

usfmikeb said:

I don't see how you're going to get any wort in the carboy, it's going to be a kettle full of liquid expanded hops.

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I was planning on using my hop bag and strangling the wort out of it after I chill. I was thinking I would add the 2 minute and flameout additons outside of the bag to really maximize the contact. I'm still planning on a gratuitous amount of trub but I think the hop bag will hold onto the majority of it.

damisnguy2000 said:

Looks complicated with so many additions. Could probably go for some 60 minute hops to to reduce the total amount of hops used. I don't really see the point in having six hop additions from 25 min.
Late hops are great, but they have worked best for me at the 5 - 0 minute range. YMMV

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I hear ya. I really wanted to play around with the hop burst technique, so that's why my first addition isnt until 25 minutes from knockout. Getting 76 IBU's out of it kind of required an agressive approach. Plus, I am a big fan of continuous hopping in general!

Well I just wrapped up my brew day. I ended up brewing the recipe as was originally posted. The aromas during the boil were amazing. I hit 88% efficiency so my OG was higher than I was shooting for. I hit 1.082 which makes it 8.5% estimated ABV. Definitely a solid imperial. I used a hop bag for everything but the flameout addition so trub wasn't too out of control. We shall see in about a month how she turned out. Judging by the smell alone, I'd say I have a winner. My only concern is that i might not be bitter enough with the extra gravity points. Oh well. RDWHAHB!

Can imagine it would've smelt amazing. Will be interested to hear about the final product

Nice. Post back when it's all finished. I'll be curious to see how it turned out.

i am very interested. i was kicking myself because the LHBS had ~14 oz of citra two days ago and I didnt need it for the batch i was making... changed my mind the next day to find them completely cleaned out there was also amarillo abounding. At least I loaded up on simcoe.

I did a similar recipe with Amarillo, Simcoe and Citra awhile back. Turned out excellent.

I'd say you could cut out about two of the additions though, you don't quite need that many hops.

I'd drop the 20min and 5min addtions, so it would go, 25, 15, 10, 2.

Ranger said:

3 oz of Amarillo (9.3%) Dry hop 14 days
3 oz of Citra (13.4%) Dry hop 14 days

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Seems like a long time to dry hop. Aren't you concearned about a possible grassy off taste? Are you spacing out dry hop additions as well?

brtisbuck said:

Seems like a long time to dry hop. Aren't you concearned about a possible grassy off taste? Are you spacing out dry hop additions as well?

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Yes that crossed my mind. I decided that I am going to take it 10 days instead of the full 2 weeks. I just put it on dry hop today and bumped it up to 3 oz amarillo and 5 oz citra. The hydro sample was extremely pungent. I think I am going to end up with exactly what I was going for.

I made one alteration to the recipe. I was really concerned about not having enough IBU's from my unexpectedly high efficiency. I made a small .5 gallon batch of 1.060 wort and boiled 1.5 oz of centennial for 90 minutes. This "hop concentrate" was calculated to be around 250 IBU's. Calculating the dilution to the 12 gallons of fermenting wort, it should be a 15-20 IBU bump. I might be oversimplifying some of the hop extraction science, but that second wort was unbelievably bitter! I think it will do the trick. The hydro samples have tasted right on the nose as far as bitterness goes. I pulled this crazy maneuver about 24 hours after fermentation began. I would probably add a small 60 minute addition to the original recipe if I was going to do it again.

bhondorp said:

i am very interested. i was kicking myself because the LHBS had ~14 oz of citra two days ago and I didnt need it for the batch i was making... changed my mind the next day to find them completely cleaned out there was also amarillo abounding. At least I loaded up on simcoe.

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I think as more and more homebrewers discover this amazing hop, we are going to keep running into that problem. It has only been in existence for 3 years after all. I got a feeling that the supply will take a while to finally meet the growing demand. What excites me is that this hop strain might improve more and more in the next few years as the original root stock approached its 4 year mark. As I understand it, that is the sweet spot!

scottland said:

I did a similar recipe with Amarillo, Simcoe and Citra awhile back. Turned out excellent.

I'd say you could cut out about two of the additions though, you don't quite need that many hops.

I'd drop the 20min and 5min addtions, so it would go, 25, 15, 10, 2.

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I would have to agree with you on that one! The flood of hops was intended to give me all my bittering IBU's late in the boil (hop burst). Next time, I would probably give it a 60 min addition and cut out a few late boil additions like you mentioned. The hop burst technique for a beer this big really borders on the ridiculous.

Okay, an update on what I am dubbing "Overkill IPA". It...is...incredible! I have a few recipie modifications that I can post if anyone expresses interest. I purchased a surescreen and it is curently on its third dry hop on 2oz of Citra leaf in the serving keg. The aroma clings to the air and the balance (and i hate that word) is perfectly in tune. It might be the unparalleled freshness, but this is the best IPA I've ever had... and I've had ALOT. As far as a waste of hops, I'm not sure I can confirm or deny that, however, if i were to make this again, I would absolutely keep my overkill hop schedule intact.

This looks like fun and may be adopted here. You state you have some modifications you'd make to the recipe. What would you change?

All I can say is CHEERS.

I love massive late additions and overkill dry hopping as well. I like a beer that tastes like I'm rubbing my nose in a pile of fresh hops. I also believe this style benefits from a controlled, early kettle bittering addition. It really needs it to "balance" everything out.

Let me know when you're up for homebrew swap sometime.

Ranger said:

Okay, an update on what I am dubbing "Overkill IPA". It...is...incredible! I have a few recipie modifications that I can post if anyone expresses interest. I purchased a surescreen and it is curently on its third dry hop on 2oz of Citra leaf in the serving keg. The aroma clings to the air and the balance (and i hate that word) is perfectly in tune. It might be the unparalleled freshness, but this is the best IPA I've ever had... and I've had ALOT. As far as a waste of hops, I'm not sure I can confirm or deny that, however, if i were to make this again, I would absolutely keep my overkill hop schedule intact.

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do you mind posting the new recipe. I've been thinking about making a knock your socks off hoppy beer.

usfmikeb said:

Overkill, wasted hops.

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I couldn't disagree more with this statement. Sure, if you don't like super aromatic, hop forward beers that are more about the flavor and aroma than the bitterness, but if you do like this style, it's perfect. I recently used over 2 pounds of hops in a 12 gal batch, with no additions until flame out. It's one of best beers I've ever tasted.

Expensive? Yes. Inefficient? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely.