Citra Recipe of mine

[JackSmash]

I know the Citra/Maris SMaSH brews are played out, but I've never done a single hop beer before and wanted something easy drinking for the summer. When I went to my LHBS, they only had 5lbs of Maris, so I subbed in some Simpsons Golden Promise to make up for it.

I added Carapils for head retention and Honey Malt to balance out the hops a bit.

13lb grain bill
60 min boil
155 mash for 60 min, batch sparge after first runnings
OG 1.059
Efficiency - calculated to around 70-75%

7lb Golden Promise
5lb Maris
0.5lb Carapils
0.5lb Honey Malt

Citra 1oz @60min
Citra 1oz @15min
Irish Moss @15 min
Citra 1oz @ Flameout/rest
Citra 1oz Dry Hop

We'll see how it turns out. I was shooting for something in the 70-80IBU range and around 6% ABV.

 

[Redlantern]

Honest question - how does Honey Malt balance out hops? What does it add to the beer?

I have seen it used and never used it myself. I am curious to try, but I do not know what exactly is offers.

 

[grassfeeder]

Here is what I would do. If you need/want to use Honey Malt in this I'd drop it to a 1/4# - you don't want much of it.

I would FWH that 1oz at Citra at 60 minutes. I'd move the 15 minute Citra to 5 minutes, I'd move the FO to Whirlpool at 170 degrees. I'd also dry hop with 3oz.

You've got 4oz total in your recipe, that's not going to go far especially with using Honey Malt, I think you'll be too sweet and overpower what little Citra you have in there.

 

[douglasbarbin]

The brumalt/honey malt is going to be too sweet. Golden Promise is slightly sweet on its own. You don't need the honey malt.

 

[JackSmash]

Here is what I would do. If you need/want to use Honey Malt in this I'd drop it to a 1/4# - you don't want much of it.

I would FWH that 1oz at Citra at 60 minutes. I'd move the 15 minute Citra to 5 minutes, I'd move the FO to Whirlpool at 170 degrees. I'd also dry hop with 3oz.

You've got 4oz total in your recipe, that's not going to go far especially with using Honey Malt, I think you'll be too sweet and overpower what little Citra you have in there.

Good to know. Maybe I'll pick up a few more ounces of Citra before I dry hop.

 

[JackSmash]

The brumalt/honey malt is going to be too sweet. Golden Promise is slightly sweet on its own. You don't need the honey malt.

Well, I was hoping to have a pretty hop-forward profile, but with enough balance. I didn't get the sweetness from the Golden Promise...to me it was a less "biscuity" Maris. That's why I added the Honey Malt.

So, I already brewed this over the weekend. It's bubbling away in my basement right now. I haven't dry hopped it yet, so maybe I'll increase from a 1oz dry hop to a 2-3 oz session.

 

[grassfeeder]

If you've already brewed it with 1/2# honey, I'd increase the dry hop to more than 3oz easily

 

[scallopking]

If you've already brewed it with 1/2# honey, I'd increase the dry hop to more than 3oz easily

I would do somewhere between 4 to 6 ounces of dry hop.

 

[JackSmash]

If you've already brewed it with 1/2# honey, I'd increase the dry hop to more than 3oz easily

I would do somewhere between 4 to 6 ounces of dry hop.

That much?

That seems excessive.

 

[303Dan]

That much?

That seems excessive.

It depends on how prominent you want the hop aroma. 1oz per gallon in the dry hop is pretty much my baseline for beers that I really want the hop aroma to shine - IPAs, APAs, etc. I'll usually do that in two stages, though.

I agree with some of the comments above that a 1oz dry hop in that beer might disappoint you if you're expecting a big hop nose on it.

 

[douglasbarbin]

That much?

That seems excessive.

It depends on the hop variety. If you are using Citra, 6 oz. is way too much for a 5-gallon batch, and 4 oz. is probably pushing it. I would think maybe 3-4 oz. would be more than sufficient.

 

[elburrogrande]

I have a 3.5 gallon citra IPA brewing right now. I used 2.5 oz citra after day 3 in the primary and left it for 5 days. I just added another 3oz citra yesterday. I would second those that are suggesting you increase the dry hops.

 

[grassfeeder]

I just did a full citra beer.

1oz FWH
6oz Hopback @ 170 for 30 minutes
6oz dry hop at very end of fermentation for 5 days.

Was it too much? In my opinion, not at all. Make sure to transfer under a closed system for best results to not oxygenate.

 

[douglasbarbin]

Maybe I should rephrase. I don't think that dry-hopping with 6 oz. of Citra will make a bad beer; just that it won't be a significantly better beer than dry-hopping with 3 or 4 oz. of Citra.

I do agree that 1 oz. isn't enough to dry-hop an IPA. I would at least triple that.

 

[JackSmash]

Alright. I'll pick up another 3 ounces for dry hop (totaling 4).

 

[Joker_on_Jack]

On the Honey Malt: Golden promise + Maris and a bit of crystal is a great combination. Some base malts with a bit of character but nothing that would stand in the way of the Citra. IMO drop the Honey.

What yeast are you using and why mash so high?

 

[JackSmash]

On the Honey Malt: Golden promise + Maris and a bit of crystal is a great combination. Some base malts with a bit of character but nothing that would stand in the way of the Citra. IMO drop the Honey.

What yeast are you using and why mash so high?

Pacific Ale yeast. Wanted something that would be pretty dry, clean mouthfeel.

I normally mash between 151-155. There is always debate for mashing temps, but I've not had any problems with mashing at those temps. You don't really start getting tannin until 160+.

 

[Joker_on_Jack]

Pacific Ale yeast. Wanted something that would be pretty dry, clean mouthfeel.

I normally mash between 151-155. There is always debate for mashing temps, but I've not had any problems with mashing at those temps. You don't really start getting tannin until 160+.

The issue isn't tannins, it's complex sugars. The higher the mash the more complex sugars, the harder it is on the yeast and the higher FG. Why not mash at 151? Unless you are going for sweet.

 

[grassfeeder]

yep, IPA's I always mash between 148-151

 

[Jimbodaman]

Looks good, I personally like the higher mash temp although it's not necessarily to style. I would tone down the honey malt to 1/4#, and maybe bump up the dry hops to 2-4 oz. It will be good regardless I'm sure. Cheers

 

[JackSmash]

The issue isn't tannins, it's complex sugars. The higher the mash the more complex sugars, the harder it is on the yeast and the higher FG. Why not mash at 151? Unless you are going for sweet.

yep, IPA's I always mash between 148-151

Next one I do I'll keep it around 150.


So for something like a stout, would you go with a higher mash temp?

 

[Joker_on_Jack]

As stated a bit here, most styles of beer have a mash temp range that is suggested for them. These are just that, suggestions. Really the mash temp should reflect the taste and body of the beer. Your final gravity is going to be substantially affected by your mash temp. If you are looking for a light to almost astringent mouth feel with little to no sweetness in the taste, mash low, 148 - 151. If you are looking for heavy syrupy mouth feel and sweetness running through the beer, mash higher.

To answer your question more directly, stouts can be dry (mashed low) or sweet (mashed high), see the BJCP guidelines: http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style13.php.

I love a good dry IPA but one of my favorites is Lagunitas Sucks and they mash that one high and the sweetness really works for it.

 

[JackSmash]

So, I just poured my first pint. It's not fully carbed up yet, but I'm very pleased with it. Has that clean, dry mouthfeel I was looking for with the pacific ale yeast. A little warmth after swallowing, but I was only aiming for around 6% ABV, so it's just right.

I'm glad some of you suggested upping the dry hops. I ended up dry hopping with 4oz of Citra pellets rather than 1. Citra aroma is definitely there.

Believe it or not, I think the 1/2lb of honey malt was spot on. There is a subtle sweetness to the finish and it's not overpowering at all.