AG8 - Citra Pale Ale

[Scotty]

Knocked this up and brewed today. A simple beer with Citra

Citra Pale Ale

Fermentables

Pale Malt - 6.3kg
Torrefied Wheat - 0.5kg

Hops

Citra - 32g @ 60 mins
Citra - 30g @ 10 mins
Citra - 38g @ 0 mins

Yeast

Gervin Ale yeast

Brewlength - 40l
Act SG - 1.040
Est FG - 1.008-10
Est ABV - 4%

EBC - 9.4
IBU - 38.1

I loved the smell of the Citra hops. Passion fruit, fruit salad but with a backnote of piss (I'm sure someone mentioned that before, mysterio I think?).

It was my first attempt at batch sparging and it went very well. Having added #30 mesh over my false bottom, next to no grain got through. The brewday still took as long as it would when fly-sparging but that will gradually reduce once I become more organised

[mysterio]

Yes I think I was smelling piss from the hops, either that or I was smelling myself

Nah I don't really get cat piss from Citra, I do from Nelson Sauvin though, I quite like it

I get mango & pineapple from Citra, I have never tried a passion fruit but I imagine that's pretty accurate too.

[Scotty]

Be careful when you open a packet of hops mysterio and it smells of shit

I could smell piss from the Citra but couldn't get mango.

Yet to check on the FV. It's in my fermenting fridge in the shed, set at 17c.

[JontyR]

I really like the sound of that one Scotty, do you mind if I nick the recipe?

[Scotty]

I really like the sound of that one Scotty, do you mind if I nick the recipe?

Yeah I do mind!

Go ahead mate, it's there for the taking.


The smell from the FV is amazing. It's looking like the yeast has done its work already but I'll leave it for another 5-7 days and raise the temperature for the yeast to clean up.

[leedsbrew]

You're going to love it mate! I'm struggling to keepy hands of the all citra I did! I am failing miserably!

[naffolddog]

Just jumping on the Citra pale ale bandwagon, here's my version I brewed today - smells just like orange & passion J2O - no sign of piss as yet!

Citra Pale Ale

Fermentables
4kg Maris Otter pale malt
500g Vienna malt
500g Wheat malt

Hops
Citra - 20g First wort hops
Citra - 50g 1min from end of boil
Citra - 30g Dry hop in secondary FV

Boil duration - 75mins
Brewlength - 23 litres
OG 1.050
Est. FG 1.011
Est. IBU 35
Est. ABV 5%

Yeast
White labs WLP 001

[unclepumble]

I Tried a commercial cask single hopped citra beer last week and it smelt like a tom cat had pissed in the pint pot , great taste but the smell put me off it for good, not keen on citra at all.

UP

[Scotty]

Funny that UP, I've just had a sniff at my FV and all I can smell is tropical fruit.

It is down to 1.010 after 7 days and I'm about to move the FV from the shed to the kitchen to raise the temperature before kegging.

[mysterio]

I've noticed if some hops hang around (i.e. exposed to air) before they're added to beer they can develop that cat piss smell.

[Scotty]

I've noticed if some hops hang around (i.e. exposed to air) before they're added to beer they can develop that cat piss smell.

I make sure I only open the vac packs at the last minute, sometime racing the wort coming up to the boil to prevent oxidisation as much as possible.

Yes, I am a bit anal.

[L2wis]

haha this thread is funny, this citra hops sounds like a bit of a marmite scenario.

[Tom_D]

I'm dying to try citra hops although I'm a little concerned about this cat piss backnote! Dark Star have just produced a limited 'citra hophead' so I guess I'll find out this week.

[unclepumble]

There is a train of thought that recommends that oxidised hops are better for an aroma addition as they will stay stable for longer in the finished beer.

Vac pack and freezer for bittering hops and loose polybag stored at room temp for aroma hops, I'm still on the fence with this train of thought though so all my hops stay in the freezer.

UP

[Scotty]

There is a train of thought that recommends that oxidised hops are better for an aroma addition as they will stay stable for longer in the finished beer.

Vac pack and freezer for bittering hops and loose polybag stored at room temp for aroma hops, I'm still on the fence with this train of thought though so all my hops stay in the freezer.

UP

I read that somewhere recently but I suspect the difference would only be noticable to professional tasters etc. I'm with you, I'll stick with my hops in the freezer.