Weird smell from APA Citra and Centennial dry hop

[rwing7486]

So after 10 days in the primary I transfered my APA to the secondary and added my dry hop additions of Citra and centennial hops. Before adding the dry hops the sample I had was very tasty but definitely lacked aroma. I just went downstairs to nudge my fermenter to get the saturated dry hop pellets to drop to the bottom. Afterwards I smelled the beer and the smell was not what I expected. It Def smells spicy and floral but the combo with Citra is kind of off putting can't really describe the smell, but if I had to try to describe it maybe a funky melon smell. Has anyone else had this type of aroma with this hop combo? Not sure if I should try adding some Amarillo hops to try and balance the aroma. Below is my recipe for reference

Boil Size: 8.40 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.50 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.10 gal
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 6.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 47.7 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 86.4 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8 lbs 12.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 81.4 %
12.0 oz Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.0 %
12.0 oz Rye Malt (3.7 SRM) Grain 3 7.0 %
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.3 %
4.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 5 2.3 %
0.75 oz Centennial [9.30 %] - First Wort 90.0 mi Hop 6 27.3 IBUs
1.03 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 7 -
0.50 oz Citra [12.80 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 8 10.6 IBUs
0.50 oz Centennial [9.30 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 5.6 IBUs
0.50 oz Citra [12.80 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 4.2 IBUs
0.75 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
0.25 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 12 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 13 -
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 14 0.0 IBUs
0.75 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 15 0.0 IBUs

 

[Quaker]

I'm not a fan of Citra unless lightly used as an accent to other hops. I relate the smell to a warm rainy night where the nightcrawlers are up or an ice box with fish in it. I'll pass on a Zombie Dust or Pseudo Sue any day. I can understand funky melon as a descriptor.

 

[m1k3]

I'm not a fan of Citra unless lightly used as an accent to other hops. I relate the smell to a warm rainy night where the nightcrawlers are up or an ice box with fish in it. I'll pass on a Zombie Dust or Pseudo Sue any day. I can understand funky melon as a descriptor.

I made a beer with 1 pound of Citra wet hops and it was great.... If you like Citra. But was a bit weird.

I also just made a Red IPA with 50/50 Simcoe and Citra beer. I hope it mellows... Right now it's garlic/onion/cat pee.

As far as Citra and Centennial, I haven't had a problem with that and even Columbus plays nice.

Many people say to use the Citra very late in the boil or dry... So I have done that.

The recipe could be a session IPA even more than an APA,
If there is a difference these days.

 

[MaryB]

garlic/onion/cat pee... okay think I will pass on Citra...

 

[cannman]

While I've used citra with success, a lot of people say it reminds them of cat pee. Perhaps only use fresh? Or whole cone?
There's also the fact that you stirred up some trub and yeast from the addition. Did you wrap your hops in a sack and weigh it so it sunk to the bottom?

 

[rwing7486]

While I've used citra with success, a lot of people say it reminds them of cat pee. Perhaps only use fresh? Or whole cone?
There's also the fact that you stirred up some trub and yeast from the addition. Did you wrap your hops in a sack and weigh it so it sunk to the bottom?

I defintely dont get a "cat piss" smell but i guess you could say it might smell like a hint of garlic/onion. I have made some good beers using Citra in the past with a Chinook/Citra pale ale and a columbus/citra/simcoe/amarillo IPA and never had this type of aroma. Since I have had good results in the past with Citra I thought I would try it with centennial. Maybe these two dont pair that well together? I do have 0.75oz one month old Amarillo hops in a zip lock back that I have in my fridge. Should i try adding 0.5 ounces to try and get some citrus notes to help balance out the "off putting" melon aroma? or just let it ride out? Normally I would just let it ride out but since I am planning on taking this beer on a golf trip the weekend of may 13th I am contemplating on adding the Amarillo hops I have.

 

[drewmarkwith]

I would grab some simcoe and add .5 oz. I got a strong melon flavor from a galaxy/centennial IPA but after adding an ounce of simcoe as a keg dry hop it was saved and had a great piney/citrus flavor. If you want to stick with the Amarillo you have I would say add that now rather than waiting a week or two to see if the off flavor clears. Good luck

 

[rwing7486]

I would grab some simcoe and add .5 oz. I got a strong melon flavor from a galaxy/centennial IPA but after adding an ounce of simcoe as a keg dry hop it was saved and had a great piney/citrus flavor. If you want to stick with the Amarillo you have I would say add that now rather than waiting a week or two to see if the off flavor clears. Good luck

Ya i was between adding amarillo, simcoe or chinoook hops to try and balance the dominating "melon" smell. I only said amarillo because those are the only hops I have on hand. I could run to my LHBS today to grab simcoe hops today - and they would be fresher. Thinking 0.5oz at 5 days should be good enough?

 

[drewmarkwith]

Yeah I personally think simcoe has better chance to overpower the melon taste in a good way and as it mellows hopefully the melon taste will fade and will all blend together nicely. .5 oz of simcoe for 5 days sound like a good plan.

The melon taste I got was so strong on that batch, and I'm impatient, so went with the whole ounce of simcoe into keg and within 24 hours it was great

 

[rwing7486]

Yeah I personally think simcoe has better chance to overpower the melon taste in a good way and as it mellows hopefully the melon taste will fade and will all blend together nicely. .5 oz of simcoe for 5 days sound like a good plan.

The melon taste I got was so strong on that batch, and I'm impatient, so went with the whole ounce of simcoe into keg and within 24 hours it was great

Awesome, good to know it helped solved that "off putting / dominant" melon smell. I loveeeee Simcoe hops - I use them in all my IPA's. I only didnt use them in this pale ale because some of my buddies (who arent hop heads like me) might think the beer was too dank. But at this point i would rather it smell really good as allot of the flavor of the beer come from the aroma itself. thanks for your input

 

[drewmarkwith]

For sure! Keep us posted on how it goes

 

[m1k3]

garlic/onion/cat pee... okay think I will pass on Citra...

Sorry to confuse the two... The onion and garlic are from the Simcoe that I have.

The wonderful tropical/cat pee is from the Citra.

Its the two together in massive quantities that have me worried.

Citra with Columbus (pine) or Centennial (Grapefruit) have worked better for me in the past.

 

[JJ900]

Well I'll give one vote for citra and centennial going well together. There is a beer from VT called citrennial that I have tried to clone several times and I've been using those two hops only, a great combo. I would be tempted to let it ride and assume that the aroma will smooth out by the time you bottle and drink.

 

[cannman]

I defintely dont get a "cat piss" smell but i guess you could say it might smell like a hint of garlic/onion. I have made some good beers using Citra in the past with a Chinook/Citra pale ale and a columbus/citra/simcoe/amarillo IPA and never had this type of aroma. Since I have had good results in the past with Citra I thought I would try it with centennial. Maybe these two dont pair that well together? I do have 0.75oz one month old Amarillo hops in a zip lock back that I have in my fridge. Should i try adding 0.5 ounces to try and get some citrus notes to help balance out the "off putting" melon aroma? or just let it ride out? Normally I would just let it ride out but since I am planning on taking this beer on a golf trip the weekend of may 13th I am contemplating on adding the Amarillo hops I have.

Whatever you have or decide to do, your aromas and flavors will improve after proper conditioning :_)

 

[rwing7486]

Well I ended up adding a 0.5 ounce of simcoe for the final 4 days of the 5 day dry hop. I just kegged it last night and the aroma was outstanding - spicey, floral, citrusy, mango and hint of pine. Beer had great flavor with maybe being just a tad to dry on the finish , but im ok with this as that is how i like my IPA's. think that is because of my mash temp at 150 instead of 152 because after mashing i noticed my thermometer was not calibrated correctly. Also the rye i use is also contributing to the dryness/spicy finish