Citra Pale Ale

looking into doing a Citra PA, This is the recipe I've formulated so far:


Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.52 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Est Original Gravity: 1.062 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.4 %
Bitterness: 50.3 IBUs
Est Color: 6.5 SRM


Ingredients:
Amt Name
11 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
1 lbs Munich Malt (12.0 SRM)
10.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)
0.50 oz Citra [12.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min
10.0 oz Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM)
0.30 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining
0.75 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min
0.50 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min
0.25 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 2.0 min
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 30.0 min
1.0 pkg London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968)
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 4.0 Days



Any feedback or advice you guys have would be great!

Needs more cowbell! I mean Citra!

No, not really. But you better damned well be sure you like--no, make that LOVE--Citra. I can't take the massively orange-oil-y, cantaloupe-y thing that Citra does to me unless it's a deeply "background" hop, like not more than maybe 1/8 to 1/4 the hop bill, and offset with something that's got a little piney / spicy note to it.

I love Citra and I would brew that recipe as is for sure. Interested in how it turns out!

Looks like a solid recipe. Only thing I would change is the 60 min/FWH; I would just use a neutral hop and save the extra Citra. Otherwise solid grain bill and hop schedule. Should be tasty.

Oh and make sure to make a starter with the 1968. If you pitch a healthy amount and mash on the low side you should get good attenuation. Some people complain about high fg but I regularly get 80%.

I agree with both of Tagz posts....

I would bitter with something else (magnum, columbus, etc.)

You have to treat 1968 right or you will get a sweet beer. I am trying to "fix" a very similar citra IPA right now. Stalled out at 1.020 with 1968. Good starter, watch temps, rouse the yeast a couple times...... I ended up putting a cup of actively fermenting 1056 starter into my keg of this recent citra IPA in hopes of getting at least 3-4 more gravity points out of it and take a bit of the sweetness off of it.

Thanks for all the input guys!
I was going to use the 1968 until I saw the attenuation %, so switched it up to 1272 which should be interesting to use
Ive thought about using Simcoe as the FWH addition, but i really wanted to only use Citra and see how it turns out. is it that bad as a bittering addition?

I think you get two opinions (as far as negative opinions) on using citra as a bittering hop -

*Some people don't like it. "Cat piss" flavor.
*Some people think it is just a waste to throw it in early, because you lose a lot of the flavor/aroma over the course of a 60 minute boil and it may just be better to bitter with something clean early.

However, there are also lots of people who like it as bittering. There is no "universal" sentiment in never bittering with citra. It is about preferences. So, if you want to try an all citra beer - go for it. Plenty of people love it and there is only one way to tell.

yeah I've heard a lot of the cat piss response, but i tend to like that passion fruit cat piss sauvignon blanc type thing so iim going to give it a try!

IBUs and dry hops look closer to an IPA.
If you really want an APA, skip the sugar and save a couple ounces of the citra for the next batch.

I have never used citra for bittering but I have an APA recipe w/ Amarillo that uses Citra for aroma and flavor.

jCOSbrew said:

IBUs and dry hops look closer to an IPA.
If you really want an APA, skip the sugar and save a couple ounces of the citra for the next batch.

I have never used citra for bittering but I have an APA recipe w/ Amarillo that uses Citra for aroma and flavor.

Click to expand...

I just made a beer like this

1oz Amarillo 60 min
.5 oz citra 10
.5 oz citra 0

1oz each citra Amarillo dry hop one week.

Fan freaking tastic.

Malt was
9# pale
1# c60

It's dark and ever so slightly sweet but oh so tasty!


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Citra goes along way. I can really taste the total of 2 oz I put in. But that may be a different story with your 6.5% abv vs my 5%


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I've never used Citra as a bittering hop, so I don't have any input there. But I did a Citra IPA with 5.5oz of Citra in the last 20 minutes plus 2.5 more dry hopped. I say go for it! That nose full of Citra and then the all out assault on your tastebuds is just great!!

It sounds very much like Flying Monkeys Smashbomb Atomic IPA:

http://www.theflyingmonkeys.ca/

It's been the only other decent beer I've been able to find when traveling to Winnipeg, MB. (The other was Little Scrapper IPA. For some reason Bud Light is on tap everywhere in Manitoba. Go figure. And their Alexander Keith's is actually worse!)

Recipe looks great. I've made 3 Citra Pale Ales in the past year trying to perfect it. I use US pale, Flaked wheat and Crystal 10. Like it light. ABV is identical. My IBU is a little lower. Only use Citra. Experimented with 3 different yeasts. 1056, 1028 and 1098. Liked the way 1056 came out best. Whirlpool and dry hop the **** out of it! Good luck!

To avoid the possible "cat piss" aromas I hear about I used Cascade for bittering and Centennial for flavor additions then finished with the Citra for aroma additions. I think I would rename this Citra IPA. Looks good!

bigdaddybrew said:

To avoid the possible "cat piss" aromas I hear about I used Cascade for bittering and Centennial for flavor additions then finished with the Citra for aroma additions. I think I would rename this Citra IPA. Looks good!

Click to expand...

+1 to rename it to Citra IPA


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Please let us know how it turns out btw!!!!


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Ok so after i changed a few things I brewed this bad boy up yesterday.

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
10 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
1 lbs Munich Malt (12.0 SRM)
10.5 oz T F & Sons Pale Crystal (24.0 SRM)
0.50 oz Citra [14.20 %] - First Wort 60.0 min
0.30 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins)
0.50 oz Citra [14.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min
0.25 oz Citra [14.20 %] - Boil 8.0 min
0.25 oz Citra [14.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min
1.00 oz Citra [14.20 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 15.0 min
1.00 oz Citra [14.20 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 30.0 min
0.50 oz Citra [14.20 %] - Boil 0.0 min
1.0 pkg American Ale II (Wyeast Labs #1272) [
10.5 oz Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM)
1.00 oz Citra [14.20 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days
1.00 oz Citra [14.20 %] - Dry Hop 4.0 Days

Est Original Gravity: 1.055 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.054 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.009 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.0 %
Bitterness: 62.3
Est Color: 6.7 SRM


Threw a .5oz in at flameout, brought it down to a hair below 180 and steeped an oz for 30min with an additional oz thrown in at 15min

Mashed at 149 for 70 mins, for some reason my efficiency was pretty low (65%) so I'm a little bit worried about the 1.15 bitterness ratio

Definitely an IPA

Smells great coming out of the fermenter right now but we'll see in a few weeks!