# Citra Summer Ale



## Bada Bing Brewery (8/4/11)

Hello all

I've done Ross's Nelson Savin Summer Ale and it was a beauty. I now want to try some citra hops. Never having used or even tasted them I was looking for some input on the brew. This is the same recipe but substituting NS for Citra. Should I go more/less or stay the same with the same schedule? And while I'm at it, can someone give me a one fruit answer - what does citra mostly taste like ????

any comments welcomed
Cheers
BBB 

OCD Citra Ale (BIAB)
American IPA

*Recipe Specs*
----------------
Batch Size (L): 20.0
Total Grain (kg): 4.000
Total Hops (g): 65.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.049 (P): 12.1
Final Gravity (FG): 1.012 (P): 3.1
Colour (SRM): 5.3 (EBC): 10.4
Bitterness (IBU): 33.6 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 77
Boil Time (Minutes): 90

*Grain Bill*
----------------
3.600 kg Maris Otter Malt (90%)
0.400 kg Wheat Malt (10%)

*Hop Bill*
----------------
15.0 g Citra Pellet (11.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.8 g/L)
10.0 g Citra Pellet (11.5% Alpha) @ 20 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
10.0 g Citra Pellet (11.5% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil) (0.5 g/L)
30.0 g Citra Pellet (11.5% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil) (1.5 g/L)

*Misc Bill*
----------------

Single step Infusion at 66C for 65 Minutes.
Fermented at 18C with Safale US-05


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## brendo (8/4/11)

I recently used a heap of Citra in an APA, finally dry hopping it at 1.5g per litre so it packs a real punch. 

Initial hit is lemon, but I find that there is quite a bit of depth to it and secondary flavored suggest passionfruit and grapefruit. Tasty!!


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## Nick JD (8/4/11)

It's a cross between rose water and lychee with a hint of blood orange.

If you're kegging, put the 30g in the keg.


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## Bada Bing Brewery (8/4/11)

Thanks brendo - I won't be shy then and stick to the above schedule. I really liked the NS so Citra should be a winner too.
Cheers
BBB


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## Bada Bing Brewery (8/4/11)

Thanks NickJD - Jesus you are not shy - 30g in a keg. Never done that before - how do you do that ? Just chuck it in the keg freestyle or in a ??????
Cheers
BBB


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## Nick JD (8/4/11)

Bada Bing Brewery said:


> Thanks NickJD - Jesus you are not shy - 30g in a keg. Never done that before - how do you do that ? Just chuck it in the keg freestyle or in a ??????
> Cheers
> BBB



I get a square of new swiss voile and dowse it in Starsan along with a bit of cotton string - shake out the excess and then make a little swag of hops and chuck it in.

My last Citra Ale had 20g in the keg and 35 IBUs of Citra at 15 minutes only. Citra kicks Nelson's ass.


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## Bada Bing Brewery (8/4/11)

Nice - Thanks for that Nick. I'll have a crack at that.
Cheers
BBB


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## mika (8/4/11)

So it's the sort of hop that when used in late additions comes thru heavier than the calcs suggest ? That's been my experience with N.S.


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (9/4/11)

+1 to all these comments. I'm a lover of NS and Citra. If you want a tried and tested recipe, see Smash n Citrash, I loved it and I had another member PM me about using it and he liked it as well. Just wished I remembered to ask him to vote for it, but thought that it was too shameless.

This is a subjective comment, but I find the perceived bitterness to be lower than the actual measurement, personally. The comments I had from SWMBO was that this beer has "no bitterness", despite the 39 IBU.

+1 to nick about dry hopping. This hop lends itself to being treated in this manner. Doesn't leave a grassy hop flavour when dry hopped.

Goomba


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## Nick JD (9/4/11)

Lord Raja Goomba I said:


> The comments I had from SWMBO was that this beer has "no bitterness", despite the 39 IBU.



I find that when it comes to "tasting" things the nose trumps the tongue every time. Citra's fruitiness on the nose tells the drinker that they almost have to be tasting "sweet".

An alarming version of this is vanilla in a wheatbeer. I have one now that's got 18 IBUs (low, yes) and yet I find it difficult to believe the FG compared to the taste. It's sweet - like only half way to fermented out, sweet - and it's all because I associate vanilla with sweetness. The beer tastes like vanilla icecream. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad one. A great quaffer for 5 year olds, but.


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## Bada Bing Brewery (9/4/11)

Thanks Goomba. I've already smahed the grain so I'll have to go with the above. But I will be definately dry hopping a good whack. Instead of in the keg can I simply chuck a heap in after racking to secondary and CC'ing before kegging? Any difference??? Never dry hopped before ........
Cheers
BBB

Edit - Is it worthwhile dropping out the aroma hop at 0 minutes and adding that amount to the dry hopping (beit secondary or keg) ????


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## Lecterfan (9/4/11)

Lord Raja Goomba I said:


> This is a subjective comment, but I find the perceived bitterness to be lower than the actual measurement, personally. The comments I had from SWMBO was that this beer has "no bitterness", despite the 39 IBU.




My Nelson SMASH should have been 36IBU yet when drinking it's like someone has crushed up teddy bear biscuits its so friggin sweet! Used JW trad malt...should've used some pilsner malt in it in hindsight.


BBB - give dry hopping a go...the aroma is amazing, but only chuck them in a few days before you transfer the beer. (from primary fv to secondary fv or from fv to bottle/keg) I've found some of the grassiness can be exaggerated by dry hops being in the fermenter for more than 2 or 3 days - especially the "big" hops like chinook. Having said that I'm not bothered by dry hopping so I reckon Nick's method would give a hell of an aromatic boost!

I was going to try a citra smash this season also but never got around to it (got 100gms vac sealed though), let me know how it goes!

edit: I generally dry hop in secondary, but am thinking of changing that process to add them to primary (AFTER the primary attenuation phase has finished) for a few days before racking to secondary for ccing.


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## Nick JD (9/4/11)

Lecterfan said:


> I reckon Nick's method would give a hell of an aromatic boost!



You can smell Citra from the other side of the kitchen when someone opens the tap and pours. It's one of the few hops that I'm happy to leave in the keg for as long as it takes to empty, in a US05 APA I've never got any ill flavours at any time. I often get about 1/4 through the unhopped keg and think, MORE! And dry hop it - it's cool to have the next maybe 5 glasses slowly get more and more aromatic and flavoursome. After about 4 days it actually tapers off a little. 

This kind of APA (only 20 minutes or less kettle hop additions with dry hopping) can be almost IPA bitter and not offend megaswill drinkers and their pathetic "ewwww, it's too biiiiiter" pink blouses. 

I only have two kegs in my fridge, so paired with a Boh Pils, going from one to the other in successive glasses is magic.


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## Bada Bing Brewery (9/4/11)

Lecter and Nick - thanks
No blouses here in country WA .... just real men drinking fruity beers ..... :unsure: 

edit - lecter .... no fish big swell - but of course monday will be perfect weather


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## Online Brewing Supplies (9/4/11)

Bada Bing Brewery said:


> Lecter and Nick - thanks
> No blouses here in country WA .... just real men drinking fruity beers ..... :unsure:
> 
> edit - lecter .... no fish big swell - but of course monday will be perfect weather


Yes Monday will be great, I think I will go fishing and drink girlie beers (English IPA) whilst doing it. :icon_drunk: 
GB


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## Bada Bing Brewery (9/4/11)

Nev - could start a breakaway clandestine group - www.girliebeers.com.au/blouseswhilefishing

there's got to be a dollar in that ......


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## Online Brewing Supplies (9/4/11)

Bada Bing Brewery said:


> Nev - could start a breakaway clandestine group - www.girliebeers.com.au/blouseswhilefishing
> 
> there's got to be a dollar in that ......


Transgender fish tours and girlie beers, I love it , cant wait for my snip and tuck .
"Is that a Sauvin beer your sipping" ?" No silly its a double Citra mocha latte IPA."
:icon_chickcheers: 
GB


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## Nick JD (9/4/11)

If you dry hop your Citra beer with PoR you'll instantly want to find a guy wearing a pink shirt and headbutt him in the nose.

PoR's aroma is the same as the armpits of a guy who operates a sawmill cutting Victorian Ash logs.


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## Bada Bing Brewery (9/4/11)

Gryphon Brewing said:


> Transgender fish tours and girlie beers, I love it , cant wait for my snip and tuck .
> "Is that a Sauvin beer your sipping" ?" No silly its a double Citra mocha latte IPA."
> :icon_chickcheers:
> GB



I can see it before me - pulling away from the dock on the Bada Bing, Citra double macciato frothy in hand with Helen Reddy blaring from the flybridge speakers - I'm welling up here....


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## Online Brewing Supplies (9/4/11)

Bada Bing Brewery said:


> I can see it before me - pulling away from the dock on the Bada Bing, Citra double macciato frothy in hand with Helen Reddy blaring from the flybridge speakers - I'm welling up here....


No wonder we have all those inter staters moving over here, its every man's dream .
GB


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (9/4/11)

Nick JD said:


> If you dry hop your Citra beer with PoR you'll instantly want to find a guy wearing a pink shirt and headbutt him in the nose.
> 
> PoR's aroma is the same as the armpits of a guy who operates a sawmill cutting Victorian Ash logs.



Sweet - I had enough self-control to not become a POR OT troll, now someone else has done it and I can sit back and wait for the excrement to hit the rotating cooling device.

(aka - I do not like POR at all).

I find with Nelson, I used some 0 min addition and dry hopped Saaz really balanced out the sweetness.

Goomba


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (9/4/11)

Nick JD said:


> snip
> Citra kicks Nelson's ass.



Who is Nelson's donkey kicker is irrelevent  

I like them both - I think that Nelson, as I said above, really needs something to balance it out.

Goomba


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## Bada Bing Brewery (9/4/11)

Now that all the nasty bickering is over (nelson, citra, PoR) - it is in the cube and waiting patiently for the fermenting fridge to be rid of the lager that is slowly fermenting ...
I will let you know how it turns out and maybe (just maybe) chuck it in the database if it is worthy ....
thanks to all .... 
Cheers
BBB


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## amiddler (9/4/11)

Gryphon Brewing said:


> Transgender fish tours and girlie beers, I love it , cant wait for my snip and tuck .
> "Is that a Sauvin beer your sipping" ?" No silly its a double Citra mocha latte IPA."
> :icon_chickcheers:
> GB






Bada Bing Brewery said:


> I can see it before me - pulling away from the dock on the Bada Bing, Citra double macciato frothy in hand with Helen Reddy blaring from the flybridge speakers - I'm welling up here....



Speaking of Excrement, You two are full of it.

Let me know how the Citra goes Triple B. If its good I will have to try some in my next ale.

Drew


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## BreathingHeat (11/4/11)

No offense, but a 33.6 IBU 5% beer is not an American IPA.


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## HeavyNova (12/4/11)

I just recently did a very pale ale lightly bittered with amarillo to 19 IBU and then with a 5 min addition of Citra (for and extra 3 IBU). I've only had 2 bottles of it so far but it's definately fruity!

I haven't made up my mind about it yet - I need to have a bit more of this batch. Good to hear some other opinions about it though.


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## Nick JD (12/4/11)

BreathingHeat said:


> No offense, but a 33.6 IBU 5% beer is not an American IPA.



I'd say it sneaks in in the lower end. I get over 40 IBUs, and if it's bottled it'll be 5.5%.

That's an AIPA ... just. Then again - a lot of what they sell in America with IPA on the label isn't.


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (12/4/11)

Nick JD said:


> I'd say it sneaks in in the lower end. I get over 40 IBUs, and if it's bottled it'll be 5.5%.
> 
> That's an AIPA ... just. Then again - a lot of what they sell in America with IPA on the label isn't.



My pet peeve. An IPA should be an IPA - more bitter, not just another pale ale.

That's why Pale Ale has its own category. I love both, but when I have a sip of a glass that advertises one and appears to be the other, it irritates the life out of me. I know what I want to drink, that's why I chose it, and I don't need that stuffed up with poor classification.

You wouldn't classifed a Red Ale as a Stout or a Porter as dunkelweizen. Specific characteristics, and I chose my beer on the basis of those.

Goomba


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## Nick JD (12/4/11)

There's quite an overlap in the BJCP between an APA and an AIPA. 

A 1.055, 40 IBU Ale using American hops and a clean yeast could be either.


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## Lord Raja Goomba I (12/4/11)

Nick JD said:


> There's quite an overlap in the BJCP between an APA and an AIPA.
> 
> A 1.055, 40 IBU Ale using American hops and a clean yeast could be either.



True. But when I get an "IPA", and it is 30 IBU, absolute maximum, and I was expecting 40 or more, I get cranky. If I wanted a non-bitter regular Pale Ale, I'd have purchased one.

Goomba


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## BreathingHeat (12/4/11)

Nick JD said:


> I'd say it sneaks in in the lower end. I get over 40 IBUs, and if it's bottled it'll be 5.5%.



You appear to be more caught up with the cashet than the flavor. Why not have a good, legitimate example of an APA, rather than a pathetic AIPA. 

Other than Feral Hop Hog, I have yet to have an Australian "American IPA" style beer that tasted like an American IPA. Some did not even have the flavor profile of an APA. This is why I started brewing beer.


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## Nick JD (12/4/11)

BreathingHeat said:


> You appear to be more caught up with the cashet than the flavor.



You appear to be caught up in the cachet of your tastebud semantics. 

It's still an AIPA, whether you deem it one or not. I didn't write the rules. 

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style14.php

The IIPA is an in-your-face ale. The other two needn't be.


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## BreathingHeat (12/4/11)

* 14B. American IPA *
*Vital Statistics*: OG: *1.056* 1.075 IBUs: *40* 70 FG: 1.010 1.018 SRM: 6 15 ABV: *5.5* 7.5% 


Bada Bing Brewery said:


> OCD Citra Ale (BIAB)
> American IPA
> 
> Original Gravity (OG): *1.049* (P): 12.1
> ...


ABV ~*4.9%*


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## Bada Bing Brewery (12/4/11)

Guys chillax. I just looked and on the brewmate software the American ipa is under the american pale ale. I clicked the wrong one ..... but really ....... I couldn't give a shit, Its going to be tasty fruity beer ....
Brew on
Cheers
BBB


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## Nick JD (12/4/11)

The Trekkie is right. 

Those IBUs are way too low though for that hop schedule - and if you're bottle priming and using US05, you'll get 5.5% and 40 IBUs.


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## Bada Bing Brewery (12/4/11)

Kegging Nick. That is what brewmate spewed out ..... Still do the aroma hop in the keg ??? or back it off a bit????


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## Rurik (13/4/11)

:icon_offtopic: Hear is a thought. The BJCP is not the be all and end all of beer styles. It is an interpriation of how a group of people see the beer world and that is it. For an example of this look at 11a Mild then go and drink Sarah Huges Mild.


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## Nick JD (13/4/11)

Bada Bing Brewery said:


> Kegging Nick. That is what brewmate spewed out ..... Still do the aroma hop in the keg ??? or back it off a bit????



I use 20g of Citra in the keg. Up to you.


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## Pennywise (13/4/11)

Nick JD said:


> I didn't write the rules.



What rules?  h34r:


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## Bada Bing Brewery (13/4/11)

Yes I think I will just throw 20g in and see how it turns out ....
Thanks for the help
Cheers
BBB


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