cream ale - citra hop addition help

[Pyg]

I have a cream ale recipe I really like. I also have 1/2 oz of citra hops.
I figure for the summer I would make a citra cream ale.
I am looking to add a nice, slight citra flavor.
At what point do I add the hops? 60 min?
5 min? Flameout? Dry hop?
Should I up the amount to something more than 1/2 oz?
My other thought is to drop 1# of DME . Thinking my summer beer doesn't always need to be 5.5% ABV!
Recipe is as follows:
1# Flaked Maize (Corn),

1# Pilsner Malt

3.3# Pilsen LME,

2# Pilsen DME

1 oz Cascade hop pellets (60 min)

½ oz Cascade pellets (15)

½ oz Cascade pellets (5 min)

US-05 dry yeast.

 

[PrinceOfThePoint]

Absolutely dry hop.

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

Respectfully disagree. For flavor I would do a 5 minute addition or a hop stand. Adry hop is only going to get you aroma

 

[Pyg]

Spoke to one of my LHBS and the one whose opinion I value the most.
I talked over my concern that the recipe currently is more malty and I want the hops to come through.

It was suggested that I add the 1/2 OZ of Citra around 15 to 20 minute boil to add the flavor.

either that or drop 1# DME to cut back on ABV and allow the hops to come through a little more.

That might be my plan

 

[fishnwhistle]

You'll get more bitterness at 15 to 20 minutes than at 5. Bitterness and hop flavor aren't the same thing. That said, the only way to find out what you like best is to experiment. For example, brew your current recipe twice. Once replacing the 1/2 oz of cascade at 15 minutes with he citra and the second time replacing the 5 minute addition. I can say, only from my experience and to my palate, you can get a heck of a lot of flavor and aroma from citra at 5 minutes.

 

[Owly055]

Spoke to one of my LHBS and the one whose opinion I value the most.
I talked over my concern that the recipe currently is more malty and I want the hops to come through.

It was suggested that I add the 1/2 OZ of Citra around 15 to 20 minute boil to add the flavor.

either that or drop 1# DME to cut back on ABV and allow the hops to come through a little more.

That might be my plan

You can of course drop your pounds of DME (or more), and add corn sugar, invert, etc, to bring the ABV back up.

 

[Pyg]

You'll get more bitterness at 15 to 20 minutes than at 5. Bitterness and hop flavor aren't the same thing. That said, the only way to find out what you like best is to experiment. For example, brew your current recipe twice. Once replacing the 1/2 oz of cascade at 15 minutes with he citra and the second time replacing the 5 minute addition. I can say, only from my experience and to my palate, you can get a heck of a lot of flavor and aroma from citra at 5 minutes.

I was not going to replace 1/2 oz of cascade, I was going to add 1/2 oz of citra on top of it, either at 5 or 15 minutes.

The issue was at the currentl ABV using 2# of DME, it is a little malta and chokes out the hops.
But since it is summer time and I have 1/2 oz of Citra sitting about I figured I could balance out the hops vs malt flavor.

I will try the 5 min addition.
but if I add at 5 min and boil, is flavor still extracted from the hop as the wort cools?

 

[m00ps]

I was not going to replace 1/2 oz of cascade, I was going to add 1/2 oz of citra on top of it, either at 5 or 15 minutes.

The issue was at the currentl ABV using 2# of DME, it is a little malta and chokes out the hops.
But since it is summer time and I have 1/2 oz of Citra sitting about I figured I could balance out the hops vs malt flavor.

I will try the 5 min addition.
but if I add at 5 min and boil, is flavor still extracted from the hop as the wort cools?

yes, you get a good amount of flavor even from flameout hops if you toss them in and let it sit at just below boiling temps. I've heard anything above 180F or so will be enough to extract some IBUs

 

[Pyg]

You'll get more bitterness at 15 to 20 minutes than at 5. Bitterness and hop flavor aren't the same thing. That said, the only way to find out what you like best is to experiment. For example, brew your current recipe twice. Once replacing the 1/2 oz of cascade at 15 minutes with he citra and the second time replacing the 5 minute addition. I can say, only from my experience and to my palate, you can get a heck of a lot of flavor and aroma from citra at 5 minutes.

How much Citra do you tend to use at 5 mins?

 

[m00ps]

Im not that poster, but for 5min addition for a cream ale...I'd toss in 1-2oz assuming you weren't doing a flameout addition as well, and there were minimal other additions. That should get you a decent amount of flavor and aroma with little to no bitterness. Per style cream ales have very little hop character though so if you want something along the guidelines, this would be overdoing it.

 

[PrinceOfThePoint]

Adry hop is only going to get you aroma

Solid aroma can really only come from a dry hop, but the inverse is just not true, as you say it is

This fella wants "a slight flavor", and taste and smell are highly intertwined, the sensation of both comes mostly from hop oils, which are best preserved by dry hopping, not adding at 5, as you'll drive off most of the oils during the 5 minutes and the fermentation