Citra hops for IPA

[JohnSmith]

Hi there guys,

I have read a previous thread on hop additions for an IPA and it was very informative. I do have one query about Citra though.

My recent batch of a total of 29L has the following for additions during a 60 minute boil.

60Min to go: 15 grams cascade, 20 grams Citra.

40 min to go: 15 grams Citra

20 Min to go: 20 grams Citra

7 Minutes to go 20 Grams Citra and flame out

Then pour the hot liquor through a strainer with another 20 grams Citra and cool down and top up.

The wort tasted pretty good at inoculation time and it smells very fruity and floral at the airlock during fermentation so i have high hopes as I am looking for a very full bodied and citrus/floral beer.

I am new to using Citra so my question is have I over done the hops do you think? and would you recommend dry hopping on top of this? I noticed some recipes do ask for a lot of Citra for American style IPA etc.

Cheers

 

[Microscopist]

I'm new to citra as well, I don't think you've over done it but I wouldn't have used citra at the 60min as I'd have thought most of its aroma would come off so a cheaper bittering hop might do. I'm planning on a light dry hopping.
One thing I've found with citra beers is they can taste great on the first few sips but get a bit much half way down the glass so i reckon on caution and a lot of tasting

 

[joshesmusica]

Hi there guys,

I have read a previous thread on hop additions for an IPA and it was very informative. I do have one query about Citra though.

My recent batch of a total of 29L has the following for additions during a 60 minute boil.

60Min to go: 15 grams cascade, 20 grams Citra.

40 min to go: 15 grams Citra

20 Min to go: 20 grams Citra

7 Minutes to go 20 Grams Citra and flame out

Then pour the hot liquor through a strainer with another 20 grams Citra and cool down and top up.

The wort tasted pretty good at inoculation time and it smells very fruity and floral at the airlock during fermentation so i have high hopes as I am looking for a very full bodied and citrus/floral beer.

I am new to using Citra so my question is have I over done the hops do you think? and would you recommend dry hopping on top of this? I noticed some recipes do ask for a lot of Citra for American style IPA etc.

Cheers

Those are some pretty random addition times. I would suggest to simplify it a bit if you're new to homebrewing.

I would find a free online calculator and aim for your initial 60 minute addition to give you most of the IBUs that you're aiming for. Then round up or down to the nearest 5 or 10 gram numeral (so if it's 37 grams, just round it up to 40 or down to 35 to make it easier for yourself). Also, in an IPA, the 60 min addition is mostly just for bitterness, so having two different hops at that addition, but at no other addition, is kinda pointless. I would just use citra there, because it has the highest amount of alpha acids, so you'll get more use out of them.

Then I would get rid of your 40 min addition, and your 20 min addition. If you wanted to do one that's more of a "traditional flavor" addition, you could add something like 30 grams at 15 mins.

Then I would do something like 50 grams at 5 mins (or maybe 20 grams each of citra and cascade), and then 50 grams in a hopstand (cool down to around 70C, and let it sit there with the hopstand addition hops for like 30 mins), then I would dry hop about 50 grams. Skip that whole part about pouring the wort over a strainer with hops in it. You're almost wasting those hops, but especially if you're doing a hopstand.

Cascade and Citra are a GREAT combination in an IPA, I usually just split those late additions in half and use both of those hops.

For this one, since you've already brewed it, I would most definitely dry hop it. At this point, I would probably use upwards of 60 grams, possibly more. You have not overdone it at all. I have a pale ale recipe (slightly lower on IBUs than an IPA and slightly more balanced between hops and malt) that I use 200 grams of hops in! Again, you're gonna love citra! If you have more cascade use those in the dry hop as well.

Lastly, the gases that come out of the airlock have practically no use in telling you what the final aroma will be like.

 

[JohnSmith]

Thanks for the info guys. Much appreciated.

 

[JohnSmith]

Thanks guys. Thats good advice.

Cheers

 

[Calder]

2 ozs Citra in the last 20 mins for 7.5 gallons, is not over-doing it. Many, including me, would say that is not very much. Make sure you dry hop with at least 3 ozs, 85 grams.