Citra hops are starting to let me down

[jcorn]

Did another ipa today with both Mosaic and Citra. Added some homegrown Cascade as well. In a few days I'll dry hop with the remaining Mosaic and Citra.

I'll be reporting back here once they are ready to taste.

Sounds wonderful! Please do

 

[jcorn]

I just did a basic all grain pale ale bodied beer with magnum bittering and all flavor hops of Mosaic. Came out very good! The hops have an extremely distinct flavor profile but are pretty complex. Definitely citrusy and somewhat danky. Some of the dank flavor could be from a little over bittering. Very good hop! Just not citra

 

[Crazytwoknobs]

Sounds wonderful! Please do

Let's just say that I won't be using my homegrown hops any more. I think they gave it a grape drink (yes, "grape drank") flavor I don't really like.

 

[HopHound12]

I also just brewed a pale ale with citra, mosaic and cascade.

.5 cascade bittering 60
1 oz citra 20
1 oz mosaic 10
1 oz citra 0

dry hop 1 oz citra and 1 oz mosaic

dry hopping sometime next week, hoping for the perfect blend of hop goodness, will report back when it's finished!

 

[jcorn]

Grape drank!! Haha. I am definitely noticing that grape flavor. It is so weird haha.

Hop hound, that sounds like a wonderful brew! Im not sure the mosaic will complement the citra though. It may be too much because both of those are so so strong and bold. I use citra so much that I cannot even taste anything from centennial or cascade nowadays.

 

[jcorn]

After brewing alot with Mosaic (especially dry hop and keg hopping) I definitely continue to get that "danky flavor". Its almost sort of grassy. Very good hop though. Shines in alot of citrus character but nothing even close to citra. Thanks for chiming in on the mosaic.

 

[elproducto]

I just brewed my first Mosaic Pale Ale. I did add some Columbus to offset the fruitiness of the Mosaic, but oh boy it's like drinking candy. Not sure I like it, and if I brew it again the Mosaic will definitely be in the background.

 

[jcorn]

It seems like the bitterness (dry hopping I dont seem much of it) from the Mosaic gives that fruit and dank flavor. I have started using Magnum in my citra pales to try and conserve my citra hops. Magnum gives a slight aftertaste on its bitterness if you used too highly on ibu so I am trying to find another "clean bittering hop" to replace it with

 

[m3n00b]

Magnum is a great battering hop. Have you tried nugget or warrior? Those are the 3 I use in my pa/IPA/IIPAs.

 

[jcorn]

I may give Warrior or Columbus a shot. It is really hard to find a hop you can use alot of bitterness from without imparting those bad after tastes from. I think that is the biggest struggle in beer making. It is not easy to perfect without an after taste. I definitely struggled with it more when I did extract brewing though.

 

[RonPopeil]

i'm having a hard time using citra as well. i like the flavor but it's kind of intense. i'm trying to find a way to mix it in small doses with another hop thinking it would create a unique flavor. right now i'm looking at centennial. i get a deep fruity flavor from citra and a slightly brighter fruit flavor from centennial. if i could stick those together and add a third hop to give some dimension/complexity like ctz, palisade or nugget i think it could work.

 

[jcorn]

Try a small amount of Centennial and Citra and top it off with some Nelson Sauvin. Sauvin gives a killer tropical fruit taste. It gives a pineapple like flavor

 

[619Brewer]

Try a small amount of Centennial and Citra and top it off with some Nelson Sauvin. Sauvin gives a killer tropical fruit taste. It gives a pineapple like flavor

I agree with this as well. I just brewed a citra IPA with all citra late additions but dry hopped with centennial and citra combined. IMO, beers with citra are best drank fresh. I would put a 2 month limit on this beer or it'll lose its desirable citra aroma.

 

[jcorn]

I started doing a little less aromatic additions since I dry hop anyways. It really is incredible how potent citra is in flavor (extremely high alpha % is definitely a plus). Everyone around this area seems to love Zombie Dust. Brewing a good citra beer will give you that same exact taste. It really is the most unique hop in my opinion.

 

[The Soft Underbelly]

I made an IPA recently with Galaxy and Pacific Jade, i popped the first bottle last night after only a week (and after just finishing a zombie dust fwiw) and you get a nice fruitiness out of the paring of those hops that is at once bitter, lingers and develops on the pallet a bit but finishes with a bit too much bitterness. I'm thinking a downward adjustment in one of the two is required but this is definitely a combo I'm using again. Compared to the ZD and an all Citra IPA i've made in the past this is a lil more complex without lessening the impact you want from an IPA.

 

[NervousDad]

I made a Citra pale ale last month and I just dumped it I love hops, but this thing was an unbelievable grapefruit bomb. I really like Citra, but by itself is just too much for me.

 

[jcorn]

I made an IPA recently with Galaxy and Pacific Jade, i popped the first bottle last night after only a week (and after just finishing a zombie dust fwiw) and you get a nice fruitiness out of the paring of those hops that is at once bitter, lingers and develops on the pallet a bit but finishes with a bit too much bitterness. I'm thinking a downward adjustment in one of the two is required but this is definitely a combo I'm using again. Compared to the ZD and an all Citra IPA i've made in the past this is a lil more complex without lessening the impact you want from an IPA.

I am not familiar with Pacific Jade and Galaxy. Is it clean bitterness? Just made a bit too much of it? I am trying to find a good pairing for citra. My cascade I have is so weak it doesnt contribute and anything citrusy high in alpha gives too much dirty bitterness or adds floral flavor.

 

[The Soft Underbelly]

I am not familiar with Pacific Jade and Galaxy. Is it clean bitterness? Just made a bit too much of it? I am trying to find a good pairing for citra. My cascade I have is so weak it doesnt contribute and anything citrusy high in alpha gives too much dirty bitterness or adds floral flavor.

Galaxy is Australian and Pacific Jade is from New Zealand. Both were an impulse buy over the summer.

I used too much... I think the pacific jade is what lends the tropical fruitiness which hit me in the middle. The initially bitterness is good, the lingering bitterness is rather dry, I wouldn't call it dirty but it's definitely dry. I started with a half oz of galaxy at 60 min and followed up much too soon with a half oz of the pac jade at 30 min. Both were roughly 14% AA. I split the other half ozs over the last 15 min. I don't have the recipe at hand but I'd definitely brew with this combo again and switch up the hop schedule.

I have some homegrown cascade which aren't very bitter or citrusy. The lend a nice herbal flavor to a honey pale ale I brewed though.

 

[jcorn]

Galaxy is Australian and Pacific Jade is from New Zealand. Both were an impulse buy over the summer.

I used too much... I think the pacific jade is what lends the tropical fruitiness which hit me in the middle. The initially bitterness is good, the lingering bitterness is rather dry, I wouldn't call it dirty but it's definitely dry. I started with a half oz of galaxy at 60 min and followed up much too soon with a half oz of the pac jade at 30 min. Both were roughly 14% AA. I split the other half ozs over the last 15 min. I don't have the recipe at hand but I'd definitely brew with this combo again and switch up the hop schedule.

I have some homegrown cascade which aren't very bitter or citrusy. The lend a nice herbal flavor to a honey pale ale I brewed though.

That would be out of my comfort zone for pale ales. Sounds like it would be past 50 ibu. I love taking a small amount of hops (.5 oz magnum) at 60 mins. and follow up with a bunch of late additions (normally around 2ozs of 14% Citra @ 15mins. to hit my ibu's around 50 so I get way more flavor than bitterness.