Citra Amarillo Pale Ale feedback

I've been wanting to brew a beer with some ingredients I haven't used before and either found or randomly created this recipe a couple of months ago. I don't quite remember how I came about this, but I think I saw a beer I liked and tried to imitate it. Anyway, I wanted to experiment with honey and wheat malt, as well as these hops which I have not used in any of my beers before. I think my goal was to try making a more complex beer vs. the simple delicious beers I've been making. Just trying to shake things up. I'm looking for some good hop flavor and aroma and was curious if there would be any adjustments you would make to this. Thanks for the feedback in advance!


Type: All Grain
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50
Boil Size: 6.50 gal

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.052
Est Final Gravity: 1.011
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.4 %
Bitterness: 35.9 IBUs
Est Color: 5.1 SRM


Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 76.2 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 2 14.3 %
8.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.8 %
8.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 4 4.8 %

0.35 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 16.7 IBUs

0.25 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 6 3.6 IBUs
0.25 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 5.1 IBUs

0.25 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 2.6 IBUs
0.25 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 3.7 IBUs

0.25 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 1.4 IBUs
0.25 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 11 2.0 IBUs

0.25 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 12 0.3 IBUs
0.25 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 13 0.4 IBUs

1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 14 -

1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days

It is an awesome combo of hops. As far as hops go, the only difference is I used Warrior for bittering. You will not regret your decision to make this beer.

Thanks, I think I might strongly consider warrior now that you mention it. I guess I'll just see what I can get.

This looks great! I'd possibly up the 5 and 1 minute additions to a half ounce each. I used the same hop schedule as you for my last few pales, 60, 15, 10, 5, and 1. It works well for me, though I usually do an ounce at each interval.

oujens said:

1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days

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I am planning on making Midwest's Amarillo Pale Ale ALL-GRAIN Kit and I am intrigued by your hop additions. Will the Citra blend well with that kit?

There is a possibility that I may dry hop this batch, for the first time. I'm curious as to when you would suggest that I add the dry hops. Is it in the primary ferment? I like hopiness but most of my friends don't. Do I risk the chance that this batch wont fly with that crowd?

altimate_one said:

I am planning on making Midwest's Amarillo Pale Ale ALL-GRAIN Kit and I am intrigued by your hop additions. Will the Citra blend well with that kit?

There is a possibility that I may dry hop this batch, for the first time. I'm curious as to when you would suggest that I add the dry hops. Is it in the primary ferment? I like hopiness but most of my friends don't. Do I risk the chance that this batch wont fly with that crowd?

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Citra and Amarillo play very nicely together. Dry hopping should be done after fermentation is complete, or at least the primary fermentation. It can be done in the primary or secondary vessel. Give it a good 7-10 days of dry hopping and then bottle or keg.

I was about to brew something very similar using Yooper's Summer Pale https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/summer-pale-ale-413790/ as a base. I'm working out the hop variety & schedule; so I'll be watching for your results and opinions here.

Right now I'm thinking:

Chinook for bittering
Amarillo, Citra, & Willamette flavor/aroma

I'm aiming for a crisp, very balanced, beer with very little noticeable bitterness and lots of hop flavor and aroma.

This will be my 5th beer, so I'm still somewhat of a noob. I welcome any advice and I hope I'm not hijacking this thread!

altimate_one said:

I like hopiness but most of my friends don't. Do I risk the chance that this batch wont fly with that crowd?

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When most people say they don't like "hoppy beers" they are talking about the bitterness. Dry hopping adds aroma, but not bitterness. Dry hopping with amarillo and citra, in particular, makes your beer smell like tropical fruit juice. It's pretty great. Your friends will like it.

benflath said:

When most people say they don't like "hoppy beers" they are talking about the bitterness. Dry hopping adds aroma, but not bitterness. Dry hopping with amarillo and citra, in particular, makes your beer smell like tropical fruit juice. It's pretty great. Your friends will like it.

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Thanks Ben, I feel much better going into with that knowledge. Does it have to be leaf? Or can it be pellets?

Thanks for all the help.

I prefer pellets. Some people prefer leaf. Whatever you want to do. I avoid leaf because they soak up so much beer, and pellet gunk is easy to get out of my carboy (I don't use a bucket).

Also, fear not that your beer will be too hoppy. The kit you are brewing doesn't call for much!

According to "science" (aka Oregon State researchers), pellet add more flavor per oz than leaf when used for dry hopping. I don't have a link to the study right now, but you could probably find it pretty easily. That said, you'll find many people who swear by leaf. I always use pellet because the selection is bigger than the leaf at my LHBS.

Thanks for the help guys. I think I'm going with the pellets for my first dry hopping run. I picked up the hops last night and may be brewing this tomorrow.