Hops question

Ingredients
1

I recently brewed a BIAB 5- gal batch of stout with 11 lbs. of malted barley (with 10 lbs of 2-row being the base) plus 1/2 lb. of roast barley and 1/2 lb. of flaked wheat. I did a single infusion mash at 153 F.

I used WLP013 London Ale Yeast plus 1 oz Cascade and 1/2 oz, of East Kent Goldings. Hops were added at the beginning of a 60 minute boil.

I really like the finished beer and got good reviews at a local beer club meeting and at a family reunion plus a request for the recipe.

I’m almost afraid to alter the recipe under the dictum of “If it ain’t broke don’t try to fix it” because I think its almost perfect for my tastes.

If I could make one change, I’d like to increase the citrus flavor just a bit without making the beer more bitter from hops. I like malt-forward brews. If I used citra hops, the alpha acid content is much higher than the hops listed above.

Could I use 1 oz of Cascade and 1/4 oz of Citra and still balance the malt bill, or perhaps up the citra to 1/2 oz and add more roast barley to help balance the hops and keep a malt -forward profile?

Are there other hops that provide more citrus flavor than cascade at a 5% to 7% alpha acid level?

Suggestions please and thanks in advance for your ideas.

2

What kind of citrus would you like to increase? Orange/lemon/grapefruit? Contrary to the name, I don’t get a lot of citrus from Citra. At worst, cat pee, and at best, awesome mango/passionfruit tropical flavors.

Cascade would be great to bring out grapefruit flavors. Or, bramling cross plus EKG is a fantastic combination with distinct lemon/black currant.

I’m sure others could provide some better ideas - this is just off the top of my head. I wouldn’t count on Citra to boost citrus flavors, though.

3

Grapefruit primarily.

4

Use more cascade hops or try centennial or even ahtanum.

5

Switching some of the cascade to later in the boil seems like the obvious way to keep more flavor. Maybe use about an ounce somewhere in the 10-20 minute range, and reduce the cascade bittering addition by enough to offset the IBUs at the end, which means about 1/4 ounce less at 60 min.

Or you could just add a tablespoon or two of grapefruit zest at flame out.

6

My advice is to avoid the high-AA high-oil american hops and go with Styrian goldings, which have an excellent orange marmalade flavor.

If you’re insistent on grapefruit, Centennial seems like the hop that brings out that flavor the most.