Best Sub for Centennial Dry Hop - Simcoe or Citra?

[ExpatPete]

I brewed a hoppy West Coast IPA which is currently fermenting. The recipe calls for Centennial as one of the dry hop additions. I have unopened Simcoe and Citra hop pellets. Which would be the best sub for dry hop?

Hop Schedule:
.70 oz Magnum 12.5% at 60 minutes
.24 oz Summit 14% at 60 minutes
.85 oz Willamette 5.3% at 15 minutes
.50 oz Cascade 5.6% at 15 minutes
1.5 oz Cascade 5.6% at flameout

1.0 oz Cascade 5.6% Dry Hop 5 days before kegging
1.0 oz Simcoe 12.7% OR 1.0 Citra 12.6% Dry Hop 5 days before kegging

 

[worlddivides]

Cascade would be a good substitute since Cascade and Centennial have pretty similar characteristics, but if the choice is between Simcoe and Citra, you couldn't go wrong with either since they both go nicely together. I use Citra with Centennial much more often than I use Simcoe with Centennial, but I think Simcoe might be a bit more similar to Centennial than Citra. But why not just get some Centennial? It's a pretty awesome hop. Definitely one of the ones I use the most often.

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

As mentioned, both are great hops and will go well with what you have. So it really comes down to personal preference, I would use simcoe just cause I like the touch of dankness I get from it and this being a west coast style I think it would fit well.

Cheers

 

[tracer bullet]

I'd give a slight edge to Simcoe with Centennial. I get very little dank from it, but yes there is some. Lots of "Red" fruitiness for me. I think it goes really well.

Citra would be fine as well. More than fine, it works really well as well. I think it'd go more towards orange-y flavors.

 

[worlddivides]

Citra would be fine as well. More than fine, it works really well as well. I think it'd go more towards orange-y flavors.

Yeah, personally I think of Citra as more "orange" citrus, while I think of Centennial and Cascade as more "grapefruit" citrus (maybe even a little "lemon" citrus in there). Simcoe is a bit more "berry," but part of what I think Centennial and Simcoe have in common is the pine characteristic, which Citra does not have any of. Simcoe has some earthy characteristics, which I don't really associate with Citra at all. Combining Centennial and Simcoe can kind of boost that piney character, which I personally really like in a West Coast IPA. Citra also has a slight tropical fruit character to it, but I see grapefruit as the dominant flavor there. There are just my personal impressions, but they're mostly in line with the general impression of the flavor and aroma.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I would say this shows Citra to be the closer match, though tbh neither is all that close IRL...

https://beermaverick.com/hops/hop-comparison-tool/

Cheers!

 

[dmtaylor]

Neither.

 

[sibelman]

Second the Cascade suggestion.

 

[MicroMickey]

Cascade is great for dry hopping but don't forget about Amarillo.

 

[ExpatPete]

Thanks for the input everyone! The hop comparison tool is great, plus I found out that BeerSmith 3 has a hop aging tool.

I may not have been clear enough on the real question - should I use Simcoe or Citra to pair with Cascade (which I do have in house) for the dry hop? The other dry hop was supposed to be Centennial but I cannot get that in time, so I want to use either Simcoe or Citra from my hop inventory in place of Centennial.

I am leaning to the Simcoe because it is not used in my regular brews so it would be nice to use it up rather than my go to citra which i use in my usual IPA and pale ale.

 

[worlddivides]

Sounds like you should go with Simcoe, then. Any of those 4 is guaranteed to be tasty, though.

 

[PCABrewing]

Thanks for the input everyone! The hop comparison tool is great, plus I found out that BeerSmith 3 has a hop aging tool.

I may not have been clear enough on the real question - should I use Simcoe or Citra to pair with Cascade (which I do have in house) for the dry hop? The other dry hop was supposed to be Centennial but I cannot get that in time, so I want to use either Simcoe or Citra from my hop inventory in place of Centennial.

I am leaning to the Simcoe because it is not used in my regular brews so it would be nice to use it up rather than my go to citra which i use in my usual IPA and pale ale.

Of the two (Simcoe/Citra) I'd go with Simcoe if you ruled out Cascade.
Simcoe seems to age better (more aroma/flavor) over time than Citra.
That's just my experience and could be batch related.