Citra in an ESB?

[Joakgust]

I've got about 20 batches of brewing experience and enjoy experimenting about as much as I like brewing classic beer styles.

ESB has always been a favorite of mine as I don't necessarily favour a hoppy beer over a malty one but instead prefer a balanced beer weither it's fruity, malty or very dry.

My question is if I am going overboard with a small late addition of Citra in an ESB to add a little bit of mango to the nose? Is 0.5 Oz too little to notice or perhaps even bother with?

I realize that using Styrian Goldings, Northern Brewer and Magnum are not classic hop examples for an ESB either, so already there I'm not really true to the style.

Recipe: East Stockholm Bitter (ESB)
Brewer: Sea Town Brewing
Style: Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 22,94 l
Post Boil Volume: 20,21 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 19,00 l
Bottling Volume: 17,50 l
Estimated OG: 1,059 SG
Estimated Color: 18,1 EBC
Estimated IBU: 46,9 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70,00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75,5 %
Boil Time: 80 Minutes

Fermentables:
------------
4,00 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5,9 EBC) 77,7 %
0,30 kg Corn, Flaked (2,6 EBC) 5,8 %
0,25 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (130,0 EBC) 4,9 %
0,25 kg Viking Carapale (8,0 EBC) 4,9 %
0,20 kg Biscuit Malt (45,3 EBC) 3,9 %
0,15 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (3,9 EBC) 2,9 %

Hops:
------------
15,00 g Magnum [14,00 %] - FWH 80,0 min 26,4 IBUs
15,00 g Northern Brewer [8,50 %] - Boil 60,0 min 13,8 IBUs
20,00 g Styrian Goldings [4,30 %] - Boil 15,0 min 4,2 IBUs
30,00 g Styrian Goldings [4,30 %] - Boil 5,0 min 2,5 IBUs
15,00 g Citra [12,90 %] - Boil 0 min Flame out 0,0 IBUs
30,00 g Styrian Goldings [4,30 %] - Dry Hop 6 days 0,0 IBUs

Yeast:
------------
1,0 pkg English Ale (White Labs #WLP002)

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body

These are all in metric units, but what I've done is added 0.5 Oz of Citra as a flame out addition in this brew.

Should I skip the Citra or keep it in?

Thanks in advance!

 

[kingwood-kid]

I realize that using Styrian Goldings, Northern Brewer and Magnum are not classic hop examples for an ESB either, so already there I'm not really true to the style.

Northern Brewer is typically English. Styrian Goldings are just Fuggles from somewhere else, so still pretty ESB-ish. Obviously Citra is not traditional in an ESB. Maybe instead of adding it at flameout, you could bottle half the batch without it and add the Citra as a dry-hop to the other half to see which version you prefer.

 

[Joakgust]

I suppose not all ESBs have to be EKG, challenger and fuggles and sure the other hops are generally both used in English styles as well as almost being English hops themselves.

Nowadays i don't bottle my beers that often anymore, keg has been my way to go.
Dry hopping in the keg and then bottling a few bottles for comparison could be a way to go, but I'm pretty sensitive to "cat piss" from Citra and try avoiding dry hopping big amounts of Citra.