acetylcholine
Active Member
After being inundated with Mr. Zainasheff's commercials for Heretic's Evil Twin and all the other hoppy beers, I finally got around to trying a technique that he talks about, specifically brewing a beer with no true bittering addition at the start or early on in the boil. And I've been wanting to mess around with Maris Otter for a while. And I've never put Citra in any beer to date, so off I went to a newer HBS that's right around the corner from my house.
The owner just moved his shop, and while the brewing section is small, he's got a decent grain selection and a nice little mini fridge full of hops and dry yeast, so i got a bunch of Maris Otter malt and way too much Citra for a pale ale. I already had some US-05 at home, so that was that. This was also a bit of an experiment on the malt side of things, because this shop owner is trying out milling his grain and putting it in the bins like that. I'll be interested to hear what you guys think of this. It works for me bc i still don't have a mill.
I jumped on BeerSmith and started screwing around with the hop additions with the alpha acid numbers from my citra. I planned to boil for 60 minutes and reference the American Pale Ale category. Here is what i came up with:
Citra SMASH
American Pale Ale (10 A)
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 2.50 gal
Boil Size: 3.64 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 3.12 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 2.00 gal
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage
Date: 28 Dec 2015
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Equipment: Ryan's Brewery
Efficiency: 62.40 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 74.9 %
Taste Rating: 30.0
7.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 100.0 %
0.50 oz Citra [12.80 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 2 17.3 IBUs
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 3 -
1.00 oz Citra [12.80 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 30.0 min Hop 4 29.8 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 5 -
2.00 oz Citra [12.80 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 6 0.0 IBUs
Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color
Est Original Gravity: 1.066 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.9 %
Bitterness: 47.1 IBUs
Est Color: 5.7 SRM
Measured Original Gravity: 1.056 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.5 %
Calories: 187.7 kcal/12oz
Total Grain Weight: 7.00 lb
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Mash PH: 5.20
Mashed at 152 for 60 min. Fermented at 68 for a week, then bumped to about 71 over the course of about 4 or 5 days. Used properly rehydrated Safale US-05, one packet. Dry hops sat longer than I intended, 7 days at 71F, but holy crap, I'm doing that again the next time I use Citra. I kegged it and forced carbonated it on 30 psi with about a 90 second to 2 minute shake.
Note that I brew on my countertop, Brew In a Bag, with an Induction burner. My batch size is 2.5 - 3 gallons.
Tasting notes: Are we allowed to swear on this forum? If not, i cannot really accurately convey what this beer tastes like. I totally swore the first time I smelled it. Prior to this, the favorite recipe was my Bells Two-Hearted clone with Simcoe/Amarillo/Centennial dry hop. Not anymore.
This beer has the most amazing citrusy aroma that i've ever smelled, including bottled stuff, draft, and beerfests. The lack of a bittering addition makes what bitterness that IS in the beer REAAAALLY different from a normal Pale ale or IPA. Its much more background, but still in balance, if i can try to describe it that way. If you want more bitterness, I would just up the 20 minute addition, and that will give you even more hop flavor to boot. As is, I think i'm just barely inside of the APA style guideliines.
The flavor and aroma from the citra are heavenly. One taster declared herself NOT a beer drinker, but she would drink this one. Even my mom liked the aroma, and she doesn't even drink. Everyone who's had it has really liked it. I want to show this one off, i'm really proud, and the recipe is dead simple.
I have extensive notes on this one in my brew log, so hollar with any questions. Its kegged and still cloudy, and I straight dont care on this one! The annoying thing is I'm on call for the next few days, so I can't even touch it.
Please brew this one, guys! And let me know how it turns out!
The owner just moved his shop, and while the brewing section is small, he's got a decent grain selection and a nice little mini fridge full of hops and dry yeast, so i got a bunch of Maris Otter malt and way too much Citra for a pale ale. I already had some US-05 at home, so that was that. This was also a bit of an experiment on the malt side of things, because this shop owner is trying out milling his grain and putting it in the bins like that. I'll be interested to hear what you guys think of this. It works for me bc i still don't have a mill.
I jumped on BeerSmith and started screwing around with the hop additions with the alpha acid numbers from my citra. I planned to boil for 60 minutes and reference the American Pale Ale category. Here is what i came up with:
Citra SMASH
American Pale Ale (10 A)
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 2.50 gal
Boil Size: 3.64 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 3.12 gal
Final Bottling Vol: 2.00 gal
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage
Date: 28 Dec 2015
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Equipment: Ryan's Brewery
Efficiency: 62.40 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 74.9 %
Taste Rating: 30.0
7.00 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 100.0 %
0.50 oz Citra [12.80 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 2 17.3 IBUs
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 3 -
1.00 oz Citra [12.80 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 30.0 min Hop 4 29.8 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 5 -
2.00 oz Citra [12.80 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 6 0.0 IBUs
Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color
Est Original Gravity: 1.066 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.9 %
Bitterness: 47.1 IBUs
Est Color: 5.7 SRM
Measured Original Gravity: 1.056 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.014 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.5 %
Calories: 187.7 kcal/12oz
Total Grain Weight: 7.00 lb
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Mash PH: 5.20
Mashed at 152 for 60 min. Fermented at 68 for a week, then bumped to about 71 over the course of about 4 or 5 days. Used properly rehydrated Safale US-05, one packet. Dry hops sat longer than I intended, 7 days at 71F, but holy crap, I'm doing that again the next time I use Citra. I kegged it and forced carbonated it on 30 psi with about a 90 second to 2 minute shake.
Note that I brew on my countertop, Brew In a Bag, with an Induction burner. My batch size is 2.5 - 3 gallons.
Tasting notes: Are we allowed to swear on this forum? If not, i cannot really accurately convey what this beer tastes like. I totally swore the first time I smelled it. Prior to this, the favorite recipe was my Bells Two-Hearted clone with Simcoe/Amarillo/Centennial dry hop. Not anymore.
This beer has the most amazing citrusy aroma that i've ever smelled, including bottled stuff, draft, and beerfests. The lack of a bittering addition makes what bitterness that IS in the beer REAAAALLY different from a normal Pale ale or IPA. Its much more background, but still in balance, if i can try to describe it that way. If you want more bitterness, I would just up the 20 minute addition, and that will give you even more hop flavor to boot. As is, I think i'm just barely inside of the APA style guideliines.
The flavor and aroma from the citra are heavenly. One taster declared herself NOT a beer drinker, but she would drink this one. Even my mom liked the aroma, and she doesn't even drink. Everyone who's had it has really liked it. I want to show this one off, i'm really proud, and the recipe is dead simple.
I have extensive notes on this one in my brew log, so hollar with any questions. Its kegged and still cloudy, and I straight dont care on this one! The annoying thing is I'm on call for the next few days, so I can't even touch it.
Please brew this one, guys! And let me know how it turns out!