I had a bottle of Widmer’s citra blonde ale last night. Next batch of hops I order will include citra.
Tastes vary, huh? When I drink a beer with Citra, I think about how I’ll never use them.
I like them pretty good for late/dry hops but not a huge fan for anything for more than 5-10 minutes out. I get lots of catty flavors.
Hahaha, from a guy that puts mushrooms in his beer!
I’ve used them in a few different beers and for me, they work well if the beer is designed to end up on the dry side. They just seem to intensify any sweetness in other beers. Just me though. Hop on, we’re only here for a short time~
I love Citra. It is a very strong characterful hop though. If blending hop varieties I would use only a very small amount for complexity. Otherwise it will certainly overpower any other varieties you use. If not blending, well, then more power to ya! It’s all good.
:cheers:
Hahaha, from a guy that puts mushrooms in his beer!
I’ve used them in a few different beers and for me, they work well if the beer is designed to end up on the dry side. They just seem to intensify any sweetness in other beers. Just me though. Hop on, we’re only here for a short time~[/quote]
Yeah, I know…weird isn’t it? But there’s something about Citra that’s just too fruity-sweet for my tastes. I got hold of some experimental hops from Sierra Nevada called X-366 that are kinda like the dankness of Columbus crossed with the fruitiness of Citra. I kinda like those becasue of the dankness toning down the fruit.
Then you start making lots of comments about how the beer is making you gain weight?
I agree with Denny that Citra isn’t really to my tastes. I brewed up an Abrasive clone that was really kind of over the top, and I think it was due to the heavy use of Citra. I sampled an Abrasive this spring from Surly, and it was REALLY catty.
Funny how these new hop varieties can be all the rage at first, and then kind of fade in popularity. I’m excited to try out Mosaic next, followed by Galaxy.
Still jonesing for a Simcoe rhizome though! 
I love citra along with simcoe for their catty qualities. MEEEYOWW!!!
And I’m a dog owner, I don’t like cats. Meow.
+1 to dogs over cats. Regardless, Citra, IMO, is better used as a late addition hop. I consider it to be too expensive to use it as a bittering hop ----- after all we are really after the flavor and aroma. I have tried single hopped beers using only Citra, and I too got the cat piss flavor thing. Definitely going to attempt to get a few ounces next year to add to my ipas.
Citra is great for late additions imo. Flying Dog did the unthinkable and made what I think was a fantastic all citra Imperial IPA. Granted, it was too expensive for me, at 13 bucks a 6pk but I still drank 18 of them over the last month. Now I can’t find it anymore and am mad I didn’t set some aside. I didn’t realize it was going to be a limited release.
Didn’t hurt it came in at 10% either.
It’s made in MD and I don’t know how far west, north or south it gets. Anyone else try it?
http://flyingdogales.com/beers/single-hop-citra/I had a bottle of their Citra IPA this weekend (6.5% abv) that was brewed exclusively with citra hops. The beer had an awesome aroma, but I still can’t get over the cat piss thing at the beginning. I didn’t buy the six pack — my sister did, and it was $13 bucks!
I found their Citra blonde to be pretty boring…but then again, it was a blonde and I may have had palate fatigue when I tried it.
As for Citra in general, they’re great for blending if you factor in the very high oil content and use an appropriate amount to balance the hop profile. In my experience, Citra is not a good single-hop candidate. As others have already said, too fruity and I think too one dimensional.
Made a simple Pale Ale I jokingly called ‘Cat Piss Pale’ (bittered with warrior and then a pile of citra/simcoe late and at dry hop) since both hops can get catty. I actually loved the beer and would readily do it again. Things that I think helped were; no crystal malt, mashed very low to dry it out as much as possible and me liking the fruity qualities of those hops.
I didn’t taste cat wee in the one I had: Widmer’s Citra ale. I got a sort of mango/citrus that I really liked. I might use it in the next coconut wheat I brew.
I also had a couple of beers at the OBF that used citra in hop blends that I thought were pretty good.
Made a simple Pale Ale I jokingly called ‘Cat Piss Pale’ (bittered with warrior and then a pile of citra/simcoe late and at dry hop) since both hops can get catty. I actually loved the beer and would readily do it again. Things that I think helped were; no crystal malt, mashed very low to dry it out as much as possible and me liking the fruity qualities of those hops.[/quote]
Yes, that’s the ticket. Meeeyowww!! For more cat quality try FWH with cit/sim, not sure why it works but it seems like it does.
Now lets sing with Uncle Ted…Cat Scratch Fever…!
What kind of bittering hops do you like to use for pale ale/pale wheat that is getting a citra dry hop?
I am looking for a good combination, to ease back from some citra-only batches – these seemed exciting at first, but their appeal wasn’t widely shared in the audience beyond the brewers themselves.
clean bittering hop, like magnum or warrior. Could go Columbus/Chinook in a pinch for american hop-forward ales, particularly IPAs.
I use the same. For a hop to combo with citra I’ve really dug amarillo (though it now seems impossible to find) and centennial. Sure there are a ton of other great ways to use it well but those are a few I’ve really liked. :cheers:
