Citra Session APA - Feedback Please

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dfborn

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I want to do a simple Citra Session APA. This is my first crack at recipe formation so I need some feedback. Initially, it's extract, but want to exchange the LME for Maris Otter once I switch to eBIAB in the new couple months. Here it is:

7 lbs Pale LME
1 lb Crystal 40L
.25 oz Citra @ 60 mins
.50 oz Citra @ 20 mins
.50 oz Citra @ 5 mins
US-05
1oz Citra Dry Hop for 5-7 days.

This is for a 5 gallon batch. Any feedback is appreciated.
 
I think the grain bill looks fine. Might want to cut the crystal if you want to feature the citra hops though since anything more than a few ounces clashes with hops IME.

Also on focusing on the citra, Id increase the hops and do a hopstand. My pale ale that ive been re-tooling uses 3oz at flameout and i let it steep for a bit before chilling. Gets a good deal of hop character with no detectable bitterness
 
I think the grain bill looks fine. Might want to cut the crystal if you want to feature the citra hops though since anything more than a few ounces clashes with hops IME.

So...dial the Crystal back to 3oz, then?

And are you saying increase all the hops, or follow your flameout addition and hopstand.

I should have explained earlier that I'm aiming for a more approachable pale ale for non-hopheads. I'll also have at least one IPA on tap most of the time.
 
I'd want to dry it out some. I'd cut 2 pounds of LME. Cut the crystal in half and add a 1/2 lb sugar. I'd use a lot more late hops pump up the flavor. I'd scrap the 5 minute and add 3 oz at flameout. And let it sit for 20 minutes.

What you have looks pretty malty.
 
Weezy, I realize you were typing out your response when the OP posted one, but look right above your post.

;)
 
I think 4-8oz of crystal would be fine. A touch fo wheat is always good to for apporachable beers
 
I'd say move those precious Citra from bittering to further towards the end of the boil. You can replace them with a small amount of a high alpha bittering hop like Magnum, Nugget (nugget goes well with citra), Horizon, Galena, any will do, really. If you can afford it, I'd bump up the entire hop schedule by at least double. Right now, by my software, you're recipe is around 18 IBU. That might be your target, and that's alright, but in my opinion you won't be satisfied with the hop intensity with that low of an amount of hops, and more importantly, the Citra won't truly sing.

For dry hopping, I've been playing with multi-stage dry hopping in the primary with fantastic results. I'd recommend adding 1 oz of Citra 5 days before bottling/kegging, then adding 1 oz of Citra 2 days before bottling. If money is no issue, I would add 1 oz Citra at 5 days before bottling/kegging, and 0.75 oz every day after that for 4 oz total dry hopping. I absolutely love Citra as a dry hop, and by loading it up, you get this awesomely intense, unrivaled passionfruit and lychee character.

Alternatively, you can stick with your initial 1 oz of Citra for 5 days, and it'll still be great, just not as nose-blastingly intense. Again, if you can afford it, at least toss in the extra ounce a couple days before packaging, you certainly won't regret it.

A hop schedule that I'd use for around 30ish IBU with the Rager formula (40 IBU using Tinseth) is:

0.25oz Nugget @60
0.5oz Citra @20
1oz Citra @10
1.5oz Citra @flameout (you could also go with Weezy or m00ps and double this to 3oz for a big flavor if you can afford the extra hops)
Dry Hop:
1oz Citra @5 days until bottling/kegging
1oz Citra @2 days until bottling/kegging

--Everything below this pertains mainly to all grain/BIAB, so feel free to disregard it for the current extract recipe--

Recipe formulation is one of the tougher aspects of brewing, and malt selection is probably the most difficult. Chewing up a few grains at the homebrew shop is going to be the fastest and most efficient way to get a good feel for different malts, and even taking a few different malts and mixing them together and smelling/tasting them can give you a good idea of how they'll play together in a beer.

I don't really know what I'd do about the malt side of things with extract, as I don't really have any experience with extract/steeping grains and recipe formulation, but once you go all grain, definitely add some other "malty" flavored malts to get your sweetness and malt complexity, in addition to a small amount of crystal. Actually, when I make session beers, I like to "layer" the base malts with at least 3 different malts: one pale, one dark, and wheat in a 3-3-1 ratio. So for example; 3lb Maris Otter, 3lb (dark) Munich, and 1lb wheat malt, plus 0.5 lb of some kind of highly kilned or crystal malt to back them up, and 0.25lb of carapils if you're feeling frisky.

Caramunich I or II, Cara-Vienne, UK crystal (below 50ish), even something like Victory or special roast, depending on how deep of a sweetness you want, are great options. Personally, I stay away from US crystal malts, as I find them to be too one-note, especially in hoppy beers. And I know this seems daunting, but you can google each of those malts and read the descriptions, and decide which ones fit the flavor profile you have in mind. Also remember, keep it simple. One crystal malt is usually enough when you're layering base malts, otherwise things can get real muddled real fast.

Good luck, and remember, no matter what recipe advice you take, you'll still end up with good beer! Citra is a great hop. :mug:
 
I did a citra light amber ale that was very yummy. The hops flavor was a bit strong to start with IMHO but after it aged for a couple weeks the hop flavor mellowed out a bit to my liking. :mug:
 
Right now, by my software, you're recipe is around 18 IBU.

That's odd. I built this in BeerSmith and get 30 IBU for a full boil which is what I was aiming for.

I must be doing something wrong there...

Thanks for the recipe formulation advice. It's certainly an area of brewing I want to learn and grow in.
 
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