Citra Pale Ale

[SailorJerry]

Looking for input

Shooting for a bright colored, a bit hazy, pale ale.
Should I steep some grains? Crystal or Caramel 20L? Flaked wheat?

Then...
3# Extra Light DME - 60 min
1 oz Citra Hop - 60 min
3# Extra Light DME - 15 min
2 oz Citra Hop - 5 min
2 oz Citra Hop - flameout

3 oz Citra Hop - dry hop
S-04 for yeast
Saw an all grain recipe (PsuedoSue clone) that used 2-row instead of DME, but since we do extract, I just substituted that with Extra Golden Light DME.
Assuming splitting the additions up will help keep a lighter color than all 6#'s being a 60 minute addition, is my thinking correct there?
Also, not looking for something over 6% abv - I thought about upping the DME a bit, but I think this should almost be 5% or sub 5%, which I think is ok. Thoughts on that?

Hoping for very little bitterness, just a big smell and bright color....

 

[SailorJerry]

Is there a hop that pairs well with Citra? I don't want any piney flavor or aroma...

 

[VagueSkunk]

Is there a hop that pairs well with Citra? I don't want any piney flavor or aroma...

Mosaic...Galaxy...El Dorado...

 

[SailorJerry]

Would you recommend that one uses multiple hops?
Are any of those options going to be less bitter for the 60 minute addition? And, do I even need a 60 minute addition?

 

[jurgenph]

Would you recommend that one uses multiple hops?
Are any of those options going to be less bitter for the 60 minute addition? And, do I even need a 60 minute addition?

personal preference really.
let your tastebuds decide what works for you.

brew it multiple times. make little changes every time until you get what you want.


J.

 

[SailorJerry]

I might have to send the wife to the store to get me some PsuedoSue. Feeling thirsty!

 

[Chrispy92]

I just made one that I will bottle this weekend. Wanted to try hop bursting for the first time so I had no 60min addition, all the IBU 's came from 20-15-10-5 and flameout additions. I took a hydro and the aroma was out of this world. I since dry hopped with citra and a little bit of simcoe to add a bit of complexity on the nose. I kept the bill simple with all base and 4% flaked oats.

I'll report back in a week with how it tastes!

 

[RM-MN]

When I brewed with just Citra for a dry hopping the flavor I got was mango. Pair Citra with Cascade and I got grapefruit. pair Citra with Amarillo and I got orange. Your taste will vary from mine and you may get something entirely different.

 

[SailorJerry]

Interesting - I have no need to use any bittering hops, as I'm not looking to push the line between Pale Ale and IPA. Chrispy, I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of your beer, and maybe see the recipe? I'm just debating whether to use one hop to help define the hops characteristics, or include something else with it. Hoping for a hazier look as well...

 

[stz]

Try 80% pale, 8% rye and 6% each torrified wheat and dextrine. Shoot for 40-50IBU from whatever high alpha bittering hop you've got and make a healthy (1g/L) aroma addition at 15-20 to knock out and another (2.5g/L) at knock out of citra. Dry hop 2 points off FG with another 2.5g/L citra for no more than 3 days.

 

[SailorJerry]

I like that idea, I really don't want any residual bitterness in the finish, at least not much. I have limited knowledge of hops, besides doing the Dead Ringer IPA clone from Northern Brewer, which is all centennial hops, which I know I don't want to use as bittering for this beer.

 

[seabrew8]

Are you calculating IBUs? Why safale 04? Mosaic is a powerful hop has is citra. I'm drinking a red ale now that was a citra/cascade combo its not a hop bomb but very balanced. Mosaic is very fruity, i made a basic blonde ale and some mosaic recently to only 15 IBU and the taste was very hop forward and fruity. I was surprised.

 

[SailorJerry]

Should be Safale 05. Ibus showed sub 50 for the hop schedule per beer smith.
Not looking for a hop bomb either. Looking for very little, if any, bitterness.

 

[Lefou]

If you'd like a lower perceived bitterness in a blonde ale, I'd recommend using a low alpha acid bittering hop like Saaz or Hallertau for the 60min. boil. Citra has a higher alpha acid rating (AAU) and an ale with low perceived bitterness would benefit more using Citra as a finishing hop, while adding the needed aroma and oils for foam retention. In my early extract brews, I noticed carbing was fine but head retention was poor ... so I added malted wheat and adjusted the hops. It made a huge difference.
My last wheat beer was a foam monster, carbed properly, and balanced taste and aroma perfectly - for me.

There's something called a BU/GU ratio which calculates a style's perceived bitterness.
Hops, residual sweetness, and yeast choices make a big taste and aroma difference in your beer, so have a look at this when planning your next craft homebrew. Not everyone likes brewing to BJCP standards, but those standards can be tweaked to taste. This cool chart is one of my bookmarks - check it out!
http://www.madalchemist.com/chart_bitterness_ratio.html

 

[Lefou]

Just for funsies, I was working on a blonde ale/American pale wheat ale myself when this thread popped up. All the ingredients I have on-hand except the Vienna.
Here's my 5gal. all grain low-hop version using Hallertau and Citra.

5lb. Dingemans Pilsner
3lb. Briess Red Wheat
2lb. Briess Vienna
1oz. Saaz or Hallertau YCH hops @ 60min for bittering (2.2 and 2.5 AAU, respectively)
1oz. Citra YCH hops @ 10-15min for taste and aroma (13AAU)

BU/GU: .39 SG: 1.050 FG: 1.012 SRM: 4.3 Morey
IBU for 5gal: 19.5 (lower end of BJCP style using Brewer's Friend)
Ferment 2-3 weeks using WLP001 California ale yeast, bottle or keg

 

[bkboiler]

i'd try a diff hop for the bittering charge, maybe warrior.
either s-04 or s-05 will flocculate pretty well, so dont expect a lot of haze to stick around unless you throw in a bunch of steeping oats and wheat (flaked and pale).
otherwise your recipe sounds delicious!! let us know how it turns out!

bear in mind your big flameout addition will still add bitterness during the chill. i did a NEIPA recently with a huge flameout and giant hopstand and it came out much more bitter than beersmith said it would.

 

[SailorJerry]

Personally, I'm fine with bitterness, but I'm trying to make a lighter beer that will be drinkable for the my friends and family, but something that will still stand out a bit.

And thanks LeFou for the input!

 

[marjen]

Try using Columbus to bitter. It pairs very well when using citra for flavor/aroma. I use .25 oz at 60 mins and .75 oz at 10 mins. Then use an oz in the dry hop with other flavor hops like citra.