American Pale Ale Summer Citra Cerveza

[Shenanigans]

well the beer ended at 1.007 is 9 days in the bottle now.
Tastes good so far but still doesn't have a thick foamy head.
Hopefully another 10 days in the bottle will fix that.
I was also expecting more hop aroma from the Citra whirlpool but again that might develop when it carbs up a bit more.
I have 11 days until my party so it should be hitting its stride by then.

I also have to say its the clearest beer I have ever brewed.
Straight from the fermenter you could read a newspaper through it.
Probably because it had finished fermenting within a few days but I didn't bottle it until after two weeks.
Notti is fast and drops like a stone

So 5 days later and this is coming along fine.
Has improved a lot and it already very drinkable but I feel it still needs a few more days conditioning.
The one disadvantage of it being such a clear beer with so little yeast left over to condition. Should be good for next weekend though
The Citra flavour is starting to come through too and compliments the sweetness/creaminess of the corn nicely.
Very subtle for a hop head but it is there

 

[TBC]

Brewed this up a couple weeks ago. It's been sitting in a keg on CO2. Can't wait to try it out. I just have to free up a tap first.

 

[grassfeeder]

anyone ever try adding a little lime zest to this since its been described as Corona-like?

 

[snocross1985]

I brewed this up as a 2.5 gallon batch a couple months ago and have to say, I was not overly impressed after 3 weeks in the bottle. I let it sit in the fridge for another 3 weeks and it is great! It is crystal clear and very clean and refreshing. Going to plan to brew this one a few time next summer. Now that I know it needs a little time to lager I can plan to brew it a bit earlier. This would be great on a hot summer day.

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

Out of the three versions, which one has the highest level of bitterness?

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

In the latest version, are you whirlpooling for 30min @170 or just steeping the citra hops?

 

[grassfeeder]

always whirlpool if you're adding hops loose

 

[bigdaddybrew]

Gentle whirlpool.

 

[Dockside_Brewing]

Thanks. I have 10 gallons sitting in the fermenter @ 62 degrees.

 

[oscarjets]

I’m going to brew this next weekend. Thinking about using Mexican Lager yeast. Has anyone lagered this? I assume it would be fine.

 

[grassfeeder]

I’m going to brew this next weekend. Thinking about using Mexican Lager yeast. Has anyone lagered this? I assume it would be fine.

I used Mexican Lager Yeast with mine. Took a while to cold condition and come into its own but once it did it really mellowed out nicely.

 

[oscarjets]

That sounds great, I’m wanting this for the summer so I have lots of time.

 

[Pyg]

anyone ever try adding a little lime zest to this since its been described as Corona-like?

Yes, did not like.
But that is me.
YMMV!

 

[bigdaddybrew]

Mexican Lager yeast sounds awesome!

 

[Pyg]

One week in the fermenter is probably enough before bottling.

Is everyone still sticking to 1 week in primary?
I have always left my ipa’s and stouts go 3 weeks, but 3 seems long for this beer.
Going to check SG at 1.5 weeks than dry hop.

 

[bigdaddybrew]

I usually wait two weeks.

 

[Pyg]

I usually wait two weeks.

I am at day 13 in primary. Due to circumstances beyond my control I was not able to dry hop when I wanted to.
Now I am thinking I will hop on day 13, bottle on day 16.
I have read that brew gets all it can out of dry hop in 2-3 days

 

[dirkjk]

Brewed this 2 weeks ago and kegged last night. Final gravity was 1.005 due to loss of temp during mash. Tastes super dry. Has anyone tried to back sweeten this beer?

 

[oscarjets]

I finally had a chance to brew this yesterday and pitched a big starter of Mexican lager yeast. It is bubbling away nicely. I had to sub the centennial and cascade hops but will dry hop with citra in a few days.

Really looking forward to this in the summer time. In that sense I regret the lager yeast as I would prefer to have it sooner but am hoping it is worth the wait.

 

[Andre3000]

I couldn't find flaked corn so I used corn flour which seemed to have worked well enough but the corn flavor is highly aggressive. Is it supposed to be like that?

I may dial it back to 1lb corn flour for next time.

Another thing that may be contributing to the punch is the lactic bite I'm getting from having to over-use lactic acid. Time to switch to phosphoric.

 

[ong]

I couldn't find flaked corn so I used corn flour which seemed to have worked well enough but the corn flavor is highly aggressive. Is it supposed to be like that?

I may dial it back to 1lb corn flour for next time.

Another thing that may be contributing to the punch is the lactic bite I'm getting from having to over-use lactic acid. Time to switch to phosphoric.

Corn flour will require a cereal mash, unlike flaked corn. Also, I’m just guessing that corn flour is nixtamalized while flaked corn isn’t (this is a process involving soaking in an alkaline bath to make more nutrients available).

 

[bigdaddybrew]

It should have a corny sweetness but not an aggressive corn flavor. Buy flaked corn.

 

[Michael_Calgary]

1.060 will be good but you might mow the grass a little cooked

HAHAHAHA!!! Been there! Made the "Fall Down Brown Ale" recipe that you can find on these forums. 3 pints and suddenly cutting grass is not overly important! I also made a SMaSH once that was really high. I thought maybe I should have added an "ed" to the end of it. SMaSHed... lol

 

[FrankCazabon]

Resurrecting an old thread, sorry.

The recipe says 24 IBUs from:
1oz Cascade at 25 minutes (6.63%)
1oz Centennial at 5 minutes (8.9%)
1oz Citra (14.2%) steeped for 30 minutes at 170F

Beer Smith puts this at 44.8 IBUs
Brewers Friend has 34.9.

This puts it way above the suggested 24 and outside of the Cream Ale Style Guide in Beer Smith.

Should I reduce my hops to get the 24 IBUs? Do you think the 45 IBUs will be too bitter for someone who doesn't like bitter beers?

 

[balrog]

His post #75 has different hop alpha acid percentages and whirlpool IBU calcs are pretty different depending on the calculator. Brewers Friend shown below gets 30-ish when I put them in.
1oz Cascade pellets (5.5% alpha) 25 min of boil
1oz Centennial pellets (10% alpha) 5 min of boil
1oz of Citra pellets (12% alpha), chill wort to 170f then steep for 30 minutes

Frankly I suggest making it, and it will likely be fine, based on what I see in BFriend which I use all the time.

 

[FrankCazabon]

His post #75 has different hop alpha acid percentages and whirlpool IBU calcs are pretty different depending on the calculator. Brewers Friend shown below gets 30-ish when I put them in.
1oz Cascade pellets (5.5% alpha) 25 min of boil
1oz Centennial pellets (10% alpha) 5 min of boil
1oz of Citra pellets (12% alpha), chill wort to 170f then steep for 30 minutes

Frankly I suggest making it, and it will likely be fine, based on what I see in BFriend which I use all the time.


View attachment 846618

Cool, thanks. I went ahead with the full amounts. Fingers crossed it's not too bitter for my friend's taste. Was really interested in how they got 24 IBUs in the original recipe.

 

[balrog]

Cool, thanks. I went ahead with the full amounts. Fingers crossed it's not too bitter for my friend's taste. Was really interested in how they got 24 IBUs in the original recipe.

Given the amount of time (11 years) that has passed since the original recipe, and how different hop harvests have sometimes significantly different alpha acid contents year to year, I'm not really that surprised. It can be interesting to wonder how to proceed with a recipe, but there really is nothing like trial and taste.