Tweaking a recipe

[redrocker652002]

Greetings to all. My last homebrew was a Citra only Pale ale kit that I got from Morebeer and I really liked it. My brother brought over a single hop Mosaic IPA that was also very good. So I started thinking, is there a way I can meld both these hops into a really tasty IPA? Here is what I have in the Citra Ale that I bought:

10lbs 2 row
12oz Crystal 15L
8oz White Wheat
8oz Carapils

.5oz Magnum at 60
1oz Citra at 15
1oz Citra at 5
1oz Citra dry hopped post fermentation and 3 to 7 days prior to kegging (I think I hit the middle and did it after 5 days)

My thought is to half the Citra and add the Mosaic. But, I am also wondering what would happen if I just add the Mosaic in with the Citra? Maybe at the 15 and 5 minute marks an ounce each. Would that just make it way too hoppy?

My other thought was to just to the same recipe and substitute the Mosaic for the Citra just to see what happens.

Any thoughts on this would be most appreciated.

Dino

 

[micraftbeer]

Whenever creating a recipe, or modifying it, I always try to be specific about every step- why I'm doing it. So in this case, I'd think about what aspect of the mosaic hops you wanted to add.

It's probably the aroma, so I would add some at your 5 minute mark and your dry hop. If you want to keep the same hippiness level of your paddle ale, just do 0.5 oz of each at your 5 minute and dry hop. If you want to bring up the hop bitterness, use a full ounce of each of those, bump up your 15 minute citra to 2 oz, and bump up the magnum to like 0.75

 

[AlexKay]

I think you could safely double the hop dose across the board.

I personally find Citra to be very pungent, and like to use it in a 1:2 ratio with other hops.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

A stupid question maybe but why do you guys use ounces for hop additions when grams are more precise, is it that there are no metric scales on sale in the US?

 

[redrocker652002]

Whenever creating a recipe, or modifying it, I always try to be specific about every step- why I'm doing it. So in this case, I'd think about what aspect of the mosaic hops you wanted to add.

It's probably the aroma, so I would add some at your 5 minute mark and your dry hop. If you want to keep the same hippiness level of your paddle ale, just do 0.5 oz of each at your 5 minute and dry hop. If you want to bring up the hop bitterness, use a full ounce of each of those, bump up your 15 minute citra to 2 oz, and bump up the magnum to like 0.75

I just really liked the Mosaic hop flavor in the beer my brother got me. So I was thinking if I could bring the two together it might make for a nice beer. So, in keeping with your question, I am guessing my end goal is to have it be a nice combo of Citra and Mosaic in the aroma and taste. The bitterness was good too, but I think the bitterness of the all Citra one was pretty spot on. Anyway, I might try and reduce the citra by half and add Mosaic at a 2 to 1 ratio that was posted before. Or heck, I might just go 1 to 1 and see what happens. LOL.

 

[mac_1103]

A stupid question maybe but why do you guys use ounces for hop additions when grams are more precise, is it that there are no metric scales on sale in the US?

Seriously? My cheap kitchen scale weighs in either grams or ounces with the touch of a button. My cheap digital thermometers switches from F to C just as easily. But people in the US are used to thinking in ounces. Jimmy Carter tried but it just wouldn't take (and it wasn't even about politics - people all across the spectrum refused to switch).

I spent my entire working life in microbiology labs thinking in metric all the time, but after being retired for a little over a year I've already lost my intuitive feel for those units and have to use a calculator to convert back and forth. It's like learning a foreign language - you lose it very quickly when you stop using it.

But anyway, there is nothing inherently more precise about grams just because they're smaller than ounces. There's this thing called fractions.

edit - one could just as easily ask why anyone uses celsius when fahrenheit is more precise; after all, one degree F is smaller than one degree C.

 

[kevin58]

A stupid question maybe but why do you guys use ounces for hop additions when grams are more precise, is it that there are no metric scales on sale in the US?

Look at the new guy getting all snarky. Nice start blighter.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Look at the new guy getting all snarky. Nice start blighter.

What does snarky mean?

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

A stupid question maybe but why do you guys use ounces for hop additions when grams are more precise, is it that there are no metric scales on sale in the US?

Purely tradition, I suppose. Grams are indeed way more precise. That said, my brain hurts when I see recipes listing malts in kilograms.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Purely tradition, I suppose. Grams are indeed way more precise. That said, my brain hurts when I see recipes listing malts in kilograms.

Although I’m 70 years old and brought up on Imperial units but for brewing I think only in metric, I.e. kilograms, grams, litres and Centigrade.

 

[mac_1103]

My scale is only as accurate as it is, whether I set it to read ounces or grams. False precision isn't going to make my beer any better, although I suppose it's possible that a better scale might.

OTOH, I think that when it comes to using hops (for instance) process differences are a lot more important than the difference between weighing to the gram and weighing to the tenth of an ounce.

 

[Kent88]

Why are we discussing units of measure when there are free apps and websites that convert one to the other as fast as you can input the numbers and select the units?

This isn't even a volume to weight kind of issue like I sometimes run into when I multiply cups of flour by 5 to get ounces when I bake.

Can we get back to the OPs question?

 

[redrocker652002]

Thanks. I enjoy the exchange of info, so it's all good. Any input on adding or changing my recipe to include the Mosaic is appreciated. If not, heck I might just add a bit to the 15, 5 and dry hop additions. Rock On!!!!!!!!