# Citra



## UsernameTaken (25/5/17)

I've drank a few different commercial beers tonight that are either heavy on the Citra or only Citra and they are all syrupy and banana flavoured and lacking any bright, sharp, citrusy bitterness!

Is this to be expected?

Cheers,
UNT


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## mtb (25/5/17)

Not expected at all in my experience. If you got them all from the same shop, maybe ask how they store said beer. Heat and prolonged sunlight will do nothing good to those sweet, tasty Citra flavours.

.. I haven't been able to achieve this as yet, but try not to sound like a total wanker when asking the staff how they store the beer from distributor to store. It's a real challenge in itself.


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## UsernameTaken (25/5/17)

Two different stores. Knee Deep Brewing Co "Citra Extra Pale Ale" from one and Mountain Goat "Attack of the Killer Hops" from another.

Could hardly tell them apart for the sweet, syrupy, banana flavour!


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## mtb (26/5/17)

Could just be you then.. maybe do an all-Citra small batch, see if you get the same notes?


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## UsernameTaken (26/5/17)

I guess it could be?

Can you suggest a Citra heavy brew for me to look at that should not be syrupy and banana flavoured?


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## mtb (26/5/17)

Zombie Dust.

Reputable clone recipe here


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## 2cranky (26/5/17)

okay gotta try this! 
Haven't added hops at first wort before. Whats the go with that?


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## Leyther (26/5/17)

I had the Attack of the Killer Hops at GABS, thought was a great beer, certainly no banana. I think some of these stronger IPA/DIPA brews can be a little bit syrupy as there's a fair bit of sweetness in there to offset the massive hops, personally I quite like a bit of sweetness in a DIPA as it gives them a bit of balance.


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## Matplat (26/5/17)

FG at 1.024???? anyone here actually brewed that recipe?


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## mtb (26/5/17)

Yeah I put a batch down a while back. It was incredible


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## mtb (26/5/17)

2cranky said:


> okay gotta try this!
> Haven't added hops at first wort before. Whats the go with that?


It's typically done in place of the 60min bittering addition. Rumoured to improve hop flavour and smooth out the bitterness. You simply chuck it in during the ramp up to boil, rather than into the boil itself.
I wouldn't hesitate in just adjusting the recipe for a 60min addition instead


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## 2cranky (26/5/17)

mtb said:


> It's typically done in place of the 60min bittering addition. Rumoured to improve hop flavour and smooth out the bitterness. You simply chuck it in during the ramp up to boil, rather than into the boil itself.
> I wouldn't hesitate in just adjusting the recipe for a 60min addition instead


ill give it a go.


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## 2cranky (26/5/17)

i'm surprised the ABV is so high considering 

0 pkgs

English Ale (White Labs #WLP002)

Yeast


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## Black Devil Dog (26/5/17)

2cranky said:


> i'm surprised the ABV is so high considering
> 0 pkgs English Ale (White Labs #WLP002) Yeast


6,888,474.33 teaspoons each of Irish Moss and Yeast nutrient.

That would have taken some measuring out. 

Make sure not to forget the .33 of a teaspoon either.


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## Black Devil Dog (26/5/17)

Made an American Wheat last summer, with all Citra added late in the boil. 

I'd never used Citra on its own before and was hoping for a refreshing, citrusy, easy drinker.

I didn't really get any citrus from it at all, it was more earthy and spicy, I even thought maybe it had been packaged/labelled incorrectly at some point in the supply chain.

I'll try it again next summer and maybe source my hops from a different supplier.


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## Coodgee (26/5/17)

Black Devil Dog said:


> Made an American Wheat last summer, with all Citra added late in the boil.
> 
> I'd never used Citra on its own before and was hoping for a refreshing, citrusy, easy drinker.
> 
> ...


citra is not earthy or spicy at all. It's a big tropical fruit hop.


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## UsernameTaken (26/5/17)

Syrupy and banana flavoured tropical fruit at that when used too much!


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## Coodgee (26/5/17)

UsernameTaken said:


> Syrupy and banana flavoured tropical fruit at that when used too much!


that can be the case with any of the newish super hops like citra, mosaic, Nelson etc.


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## Leyther (26/5/17)

Black Devil Dog said:


> 6,888,474.33 teaspoons each of Irish Moss and Yeast nutrient.
> 
> That would have taken some measuring out.
> 
> Make sure not to forget the .33 of a teaspoon either.



Seen this myself in BeerSmith, obviously a bug somewhere in the conversion logic


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## capsicum (26/5/17)

Yep, Citra is a confusing name. Tropical fruit with a bit of citrus according to most sources.


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## UsernameTaken (26/5/17)

Shitra!


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## 2cranky (26/5/17)

I did these ones a few months back - when it was hotter!
Very smashable. both good Citrus
if I did it again I'd probably 2x the dry hops.
I would also add the 1min at flame out let it sit to 75c then add the steep for 30min then chill


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## pcqypcqy (26/5/17)

Be careful with your FWH and citra, being such a high AA hop. If you were just shifting your 60 min addition to FWH, probably no difference, but a few articles on FWH recommend shifting some of your late additions to FWH. Might be OK with lower AA varieties but can give you a very bitter beer with Citra as I found out.

That said, I dialled it back a bit and did a follow up batch that was 100% BB Pale and 500g of Citra in a 6 gallon batch. For the first 2 weeks it was probably the most amazing thing I've ever brewed, lots of bright, fresh tropical flavours with a hint of citrus acidity. I was thinking of calling it Passito actually as it was that old school passito flavour (not the new stuff).

As it loses it's freshness though it does go down hill a bit. I wouldn't say banana, but more mellow tropical like a still fruit juice.


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## Matplat (26/5/17)

mtb said:


> Yeah I put a batch down a while back. It was incredible


And what was your FG? surely you would have been mashing at 70 to get that high an FG?

I recently did an IPA that went from 1070 to 1019, and it is waaay too sweet.


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## mtb (26/5/17)

From memory it was 1020, or thereabouts. I mashed at 71. The intense bitterness balanced well with the sweetness - I think that's what keeps it in check.


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## pirateagenda (26/5/17)

My last brew was Dr Smurto's with Citra instead of amarillo and 2g/l citra dry hopped. Was absolutely delicious. 

I get a strong tropical and stonefruit aroma and taste from it personally. Could see how it could be overpowering in larger doses, but haven't encountered any bannana or syrupy flavours.


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