IPA with Cascade, Citra and... ?

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worstbrewing

worstbrewing

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I've been searching around quite a bit and find a few similar ideas but haven't quite nailed down a recipe I'm firm with.

Here's some background, I have 1oz of Citra pellets I was able to grab before they all disappeared, along with a ton of whole-leaf Cascades (probably 8oz or so last I checked) that I use for various pale ales, etc. I want to brew an IPA this weekend, using a lot of Cascades and the 1oz of Citra I have, but can't decide what will be the best use/combination for them, as well as whether I should throw one more hop into the mix (if so, what kind?).

Here's the recipe so far, feel free to critique the grain bill too. I'm aiming for something a hophead will enjoy, so the hoppier the better. (For the record, AA of Cascades is 8.7%, Citra 13.4%)

9.5lb 2-row
1lb Munich
1lb Vienna
0.5lb Crystal 60

1oz Cascade 60min
0.5oz Cascade 20min
0.5oz Cascade 15min
0.5oz Citra 15min
0.5oz Cascade 10min
0.5oz Cascade 5min
0.5oz Citra 5min

10z Dry hop Citra 7 days (any other suggestions?)

Estimated IBUs: 71.50 (but I'm flexible going up more)

The hop schedule may be a bit unnecessarily complicated, so please, any help is appreciated! I'm unfamiliar with using Citra, only having tasted a few beers with it, so any additional hops I can add to the mix or change would be helpful too.

Thanks!
 
I typically don't care for Cascade as a bittering hop - maybe use some Chinook or Columbus ofor your 60 minute addition.

What other hops do you have on hand?
 
Yeah, that's actually the big one I was debating swapping out. I don't have anything else that goes to style, just some liberty and fuggles I think, but I'm going to run to the homebrew store today or tomorrow. I like chinook but can't say I'm too familiar with columbus, so maybe it's a chance to try something new. Any thoughts on the rest of the hop schedule?
 
I recently made an IPA bittered with Columbus, with Cascade @ 15 mins, and Cascade/Columbus/Citra during the last 5 and dry hop. I really like the aroma. Columbus is very pungent.

It seems that Columbus is one of the few hops right now that is still abundant and cheap leading into the 2011 harvest time.
 
Excellent, definitely good to know! I'm looking for something that my homebrew shop will likely have in stock, since they're a bit small so its hard to get a huge variety there sometimes. I'm a little bummed I don't have more citra available but I'm figuring if I play my cards right with the schedule I should be able to make use out of the ounce
 
Yeah, I think C-bus would be better than Chinook for this one - I find it cleaner for bittering which would be good since I assume you are trying to showcase the Citra more in the flavor of this batch
 
Yeah, I was hoping to have more citra to make it a sort of "citra IPA" but since that's not happening I'd at least like it to have as much citra come through as possible, and still have some other citrusy notes. How's this hop schedule look?

1oz Columbus @ 60min
0.5oz Cascade @ 15min
0.5oz Citra @ 15min
0.5oz Cascade @ 10min
0.5oz Cascade @ 5min
0.5oz Citra @ 5min
1oz Cascade Dry Hop @ 7 days

Any other thoughts? Anything else I should throw in with the dry hoping, or up it to 2oz maybe?
 
Amarillo would work well for the bittering here too, or even Centennial. I love Citra as a dry hop addition.
 
Yeah, I actually was originally playing around with the idea of using Centennial for the bittering... I suppose any of the three could be good. I'd really like to dry hop with the citra but with only an ounce of pellets, I don't know if there's a good way to include it in the recipe AND dry hop still
 
I've done some more thinking/tweaking and here's what I've got so far. Any feedback is appreciated!

11lb 2-row
1lb Munich
1lb Vienna
0.5lb Crystal 60

1oz Columbus 60min
1oz Centennial 30min
0.5oz Cascade 20min
0.5oz Cascade 10min
0.5oz Cascade 5min
0.5oz Citra 5min

1oz Dry hop Cascade 7 days
0.5oz Dry hop Citra 7 days

Estimated IBUs: 92
Estimated ABV: 8.65%
 
Citra/Cascade is my favorite IPA hop combo. Your hop schedule looks mighty tasty there. You may have just talked me into brewing an IPA this weekend...
 
Thanks, here's to hoping! I was afraid just using Cascade and what little Citra I have would end up pretty boring, so I'm hoping the addition of the Columbus and Centennial help some. Hopefully I'll get my hands on more Citra next time, but this should be interesting either way!
 
worstbrewing said:
I've done some more thinking/tweaking and here's what I've got so far. Any feedback is appreciated!

11lb 2-row
1lb Munich
1lb Vienna
0.5lb Crystal 60

1oz Columbus 60min
1oz Centennial 30min
0.5oz Cascade 20min
0.5oz Cascade 10min
0.5oz Cascade 5min
0.5oz Citra 5min

1oz Dry hop Cascade 7 days
0.5oz Dry hop Citra 7 days

Estimated IBUs: 92
Estimated ABV: 8.65%
Click to expand...

Looks good and I'm sure it will be tasty but you can simplify a bit. 30 minute additions are typically unnecessary as it's too early for a flavoring addition and you don't get the full bittering potential.

I would combine the 30, 20, and 10 minute additions all into one. Then adjust IBUs as necessary.

For a good IPA I typically do something like 60 (bittering), 15 (flavor), 2 (aroma), DH (more aroma).

How about something like:

1oz Columbus 60min
0.5oz Centennial 60min

0.5oz Cascade 15min
0.5oz Centennial 15min

0.5oz Cascade 2min
0.5oz Citra 2min

0.5oz Dry hop Centennial 7 days
0.5oz Dry hop Cascade 7 days
0.5oz Dry hop Citra 7 days


Of course if you only have an oz. of Centennial just leave it out at 60 and up the Columbus.

I typically get more orange-y citrus from Centennial, and Cascade is pure grapefruit. Citra is typically tropical/stone fruits. All together that would make for some killer aroma.

Sorry, not trying to steal your thunder, just offering up some ideas. :mug:
 
Not at all, I appreciate it! The simpler the better. I popped that into my software and I think I'm going to try this instead, partly cause I'm targeting 90 IBUs and partly cause it'll be easy to use 2 full ounces of centennial instead of having half sit around. Give me your thoughts though, I could be just doing something pointless!

1oz Columbus 60min
0.75oz Centennial 60min

0.5oz Cascade 15min
0.75oz Centennial 15min

0.5oz Cascade 2min
0.5oz Citra 2min

0.5oz Dry hop Centennial 7 days
0.5oz Dry hop Cascade 7 days
0.5oz Dry hop Citra 7 days
 
worstbrewing said:
Not at all, I appreciate it! The simpler the better. I popped that into my software and I think I'm going to try this instead, partly cause I'm targeting 90 IBUs and partly cause it'll be easy to use 2 full ounces of centennial instead of having half sit around. Give me your thoughts though, I could be just doing something pointless!

1oz Columbus 60min
0.75oz Centennial 60min

0.5oz Cascade 15min
0.75oz Centennial 15min

0.5oz Cascade 2min
0.5oz Citra 2min

0.5oz Dry hop Centennial 7 days
0.5oz Dry hop Cascade 7 days
0.5oz Dry hop Citra 7 days
Click to expand...

Looks awesome to me! Grainbill should be tasty too.

What's the OG/FG, mash temp, and yeast strain?
 
I'm keeping it all pretty standard unless there's any advice on that end too... mash temp 154F, US-05 yeast, OG 1.078, expected FG 1.012 giving an expected ABV of 8.65%. This is definitely shaping up to be something I'll probably do again and again though, so who knows, maybe I'll experiment with some of those factors down the road too. Thanks everyone for the advice and help, I'll definitely be posting details on how this turns out too.
 
Looks good. Might drop the mash temp a degree or two - you're looking at 85% attenuation to get down to 1.012 so you may need to mash a bit lower. If you can hold a steady 152 for an hour you will be set.
 
Ahh good point, that's easy enough to change. Thanks again, I'm getting pretty excited to brew this!
 
No prob, have a great brew day! I'm brewing my Black IPA tomorrow - it's been too long and it's always a hit.
 
Thanks, you too! I'm hoping to put together a Black IPA before too long as well, so I may be asking for some more advice :)
 
Lo and behold, to my surprise, I go to my LHBS and it turns out he was lucky enough to get in just a few more Citra hops! So I'm still proceeding with the recipe as listed but upping the Citra to 1oz on both the 2 min addition and dry hopping, woot!
 
I've done a warrior, simcoe and citra IPA that was amazing. Dry hopped with 2oz of whole leaf citra in the secondary. Citra is a great hop!!
 
Just wanted to post a quick update on this one. It's kegged and carbed and very tasty! One of the better IPAs I've had to be honest, thanks for all the help!
 

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