Have you used citra hops as bittering hops? I have...

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planker101

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About 4 months ago I used tried citra for the first time. I thought my beer got infected. Had a distinctive off taste. Right now I am drinking my second citra beer and it has the exact same off taste. Either I have potent yeast/bacteria in my fermenting room or citra is to blame.

I used it as a bittering hop both times. Has anyone else had problems using citra as a bittering hop?
 
As far as i know, Citra is only meant to be used as a flavour/aroma hop and not a bittering hop because it produces those tastes. I would recomend dry hopping with it or maybe add with 5 mins or at flameout to get the real charecter of the hop.

Say a pale ale with cascade and citra dry hop?
 
I actually just got some citra to use in my next batch and the research I did all said that citra is to be used as a flavoring hop. I'll be using it at 15 min left in the boil and again during the dry hop. Could you try and describe the off taste? I'm interested in what to look out for.
 
I made a Citra Pale Ale (kit, extract w/ grains) that used only Citra hops; 2 oz total, 1/2 oz @ 60, 1 oz @ 15 and 1/2 @ 0. Still bottle conditioning however we did sample a bottle after just 5-days and I was very pleased with the flavor, slightly bitter and lots of citrus notes.
 
I just did a Citra SMaSH on a 90 minute boil. I'm not sure how it came out but it's on deck to be bottled in about a week.

I only did half an ounce on the 90 minute mark and then i started loading it up with flavorings from 30 minutes on and included a 60 minute flame out steep.
 
Yep, to me, Citra adds tropical fruit/mango/papaya flavors.

I like it, but others don't. I use it very sparingly as flavor hops or dry hops, in maybe a 0.5 oz addition.
 
Never used it as a bittering hop, but never been a fan when using it as a flavor/aroma hop. I've heard people get citrus and mango flavors, but all I get is stone fruit/peaches which I dislike to begin with.
 
Just tried my beer again and I really can't identify the flavor. A few a my friends who don't drink beer that much like it. One thought it tasted like apricots. The beer I just made only used citra. I have used made the same recipe in the past with chinook, cascade and cintennial and it was amazing, ruination status in fact so I was pretty disappointed when I tasted my all citra version.

Anyways, glad to hear that others have ended up with some "interesting" flavors when using citra. I was worried that I had some ongoing infection in the lab, and my sanitation techniques really can't get much better :p haha.
My cousin is going to brew an APA with chinook bittering and citra flavor/ aroma this weekend. I'll have to see if I like citra in that capacity I guess.

Thanks for the input.
 
We recently tried Citra too. I liked the aroma and fruity flavor for a nice finish but have since quit using it as a bittering hops. I prefer Cascade and then throw in some Citra at the 5 min. One thing you could be tasting is that the citra hops is 10% bitter compared with 5% for a lot of other hops. I decreased the amount the first time when I used it for all three hop times and it turned out pretty good. Dunno if that answered anyting but it's what I experienced with it. Didn't notice any off flavors, just prefer the cascade for the bittering.
 
Haven't used it for bittering, but have used it for aroma/flavor, more towards the aroma end of things. Haven't done a SMaSH, so couldn't pick out Citra specifically, but it blends well with Simcoe, Chinook, Amarillo and Centennial, as far as my experience goes.

Used it in 2 APAs, like so, with great results:

Beer 1:

Simcoe for bittering (FWH, though)
Centennial @30, 20 grams.
Citra @10, 27 grams.
Simcoe @0, 27 grams.

Beer 2:

Nelson Sauvin for bittering (also FWH)

Amarillo @10, 12 grams.
Citra @10, 10 grams.
Chinook @10, 8 grams.

Same again at 0 minutes, with those three hops.

Then dry hopped with those 3, 8 grams each for 19 days (I was in the middle of moving, usually dry hop for 7 days, but this worked out very tasty, not vegetal at all, but then the beer was around 50 F the whole time).

Both beers have a nice, strong, American hop character. Can't pick out Citra, like I said, but there's no weird flavor or anything off. Mixed very well with all of those hops.

Anyway, that's my limited experience thus far. Best of luck with your next Citra use.

Cheers.
 
I used Citra for the first time on my latest batch of Pale Ale and its an excellent aroma and flavoring hop! Its a much more complex piney/citrusy aroma than cascade. I wasn't sure about it at first, but now that I've sampled a few of these I am really liking it alot! I used 3/4 oz. at 15 mins and then dry hopped with 1 oz. Turned out VERY nice.
 
About 4 months ago I used tried citra for the first time. I thought my beer got infected. Had a distinctive off taste. Right now I am drinking my second citra beer and it has the exact same off taste. Either I have potent yeast/bacteria in my fermenting room or citra is to blame.

I used it as a bittering hop both times. Has anyone else had problems using citra as a bittering hop?

I don't know why exactly but I also used Citra as a bittering hop and have an off flavor I just can't describe exactly. I too thought it was an infection but now I am pretty sure it's the hops. I was thinking of trying to save it by dry hopping? What do you think?

Before that one, I made a Citra IPA and used it as a flavor and dry hop. It turned out very nice.
 
Lately I've tasted several commercial examples of pale ales and IPAs that use Citra for bittering - they tend to have a very unique, slightly off-putting flavor and an aroma similar to cat piss.
 
I made a citra ipa about month or so ago. I believe I used 4 oz of citra hops which includes 1 oz for dry hopping. I didn't use it for bittering because I felt it was defeating the purpose of that particular hop. Most people want the flavor and aroma of citra. Using citra at 60 minutes boils off all the aroma and flavor of the hop. I used citra for my ipa at 20 min, 15 min, flameout, and dry hop. I used warrior as my bittering for a clean bitter flavor. I never got an off flavor and I have to say this ipa turned out great and is easily my favorite.
 
I think the weird flavor is coming as a punishment from the beer gods for wasting citra on a buttering addition. Just think how infected your beer would taste if you bittered with a mic of citra, simcoe, and amarillo :)

Haven't used citra earlier than 30 min myself, but it was a Brett ipa so who knows what flavor to assign where. But zombie dust is all citra and not funky tasting.
 
Why not both?

I use citra as a bittering but since I hop burst...my first addition as at the 20 mark. Along with a massive flameout and dryhop, this was easily my strongest IPA in terms of flavor and aroma. It was like getting hit in the face with an orange/mango. One of my favorite batches to date. No off flavors or smells.
 
I am sure I didn't intend to use it as a bittering. I was surprised when I looked at my brew sheet and saw it there. I had made an IPA with Citra as finishing and dry hop and it's awesome.

I tried to save this keg that has the Citra as a bittering hop by dry hopping it with more Citra. I am going to try it today but I am not to optimistic. I am probably going to have to dump it.
 
Give it some time. I did an all citra IPA that had a very distinct onion flavor at first. This faded over time and it ended up being very good.

Is the off flavor you're tasting an onion flavor by chance?
 
Give it some time. I did an all citra IPA that had a very distinct onion flavor at first. This faded over time and it ended up being very good.

Is the off flavor you're tasting an onion flavor by chance?

I really can't describe the flavor but I am pretty sure it was from the hops. Without that taste the beer would have been very good it's just you get that strange taste. I tried it yesterday, after 6 days of dry hopping. It was worse. I dumped it.

That keg now has an Oatmeal Wheat Milk Stout in it and is conditioning.
 
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