Citra hops smell like cat urine to me

Ingredients
1

I have had three beers that had had a cat urine rank and three were brewed with citra hops.  Might just be me…but I am not a fan.  Though SN Torpedo seems to be an exception.

2

I can see that.  I did a pale ale with Citra at 15 and 0, plus dry hop and I got that catty smell.  It did fade with time and turned out to be a decent beer. ( translation: I drank to rest of the keg ).

3

I had this experience too but noticed it dropped out after about a month. Likewise, the “catty” quality is liked by some.  And rather than calling it cat piss, I heard that BJCP judges are encouraged to call this aroma Durian-like (Asian stinky fruit).  I guess people don’t like to be told that their beer smells and taste like cat pee.  Further, I think that only a minority of judges have actually drank cat pee.

In sum, I wonder if it could be that Citra should be avoided as a single dryhop for this reason.   According to SN they dryhop Torpedo with Citra, Chinook, and Magnum.

4

the amount of Citra that SN actually uses in Torpedo is practically de minimus.

I’m not a fan of this hop either.  but for the reason it is too tropical fruity for my tastes/sniffer.

5

but some have - that’s the funny part  :wink: :smiley: ;D

6

All of the judges that have judged my beers have  :wink:

7

Hi,  I have to say the beers I have had that used Citra hops have been wonderful - I had one at Boulevard Brewery on a tour (can’t remember which one it was exactly) that was phenomenal.

I also made an IPA that I served at the National Homebrew Conference that turned out really good but was a blend of Citra and Cascade and I didn’t dry hop - just added a ton of hops in the last couple minutes.  I love the lemony-orange aromas/flavors it gives off.

I did have a friend that made a batch with a lot more Citra and he didn’t really like it at all.

So, I guess I am saying that it probably isn’t a great hop for dry-hopping but it definitely has it’s uses in the right place.

Cheers,
Susan

8

I have been using a lot of citra, over the last few months.
Initially, they can impart a cat-pee smell.
But, all have improved drastically with age.

Now…
The actual cat-pee I recently smelled on Rabe’s shoes…
That can’t be improved with age.

9

I ruined 20 gallons of my summer seasonal Hoppy Wheat beer I brew for the end of summer with this hop. I’m ready to dump it - I hate the tropical fruit character. I do think it would go wonderful in a saison though.

10

You can ship it to my house.

11

Bring your growlers on over because I’m going to dump this mess to make room for some real beer.

12

Can’t cover it up by making a radler? If you’re still doing construction - I figure those guys will drink anything.

13

Are these similar to chinook? Curious before I commit to 5 gals

14

It’s not really similar to Chinook to me at all. I get very large mango/pineapple from the hop and not really any cattiness.

15

I did a really hoppy IIPA with equal amounts of citra and simcoe at every addition earlier this year.  When fresh, it tasted like lemon pledge and cat pee.  Took several months to settle into a tropical fruit bomb.

16

Actually, the construction is basically done outside of a few bits and bobs. I have a friend who likes the hop and asked me to swap him out a keg. I may actually hold onto the other ones. My feeling is I maybe could get used to it… maybe.

17

Keg it, set it aside, and serve it when you host your first AHA membership rally.  ;D

I made a IIPA with Cascade, Amarillo and Citra used in all additions, and an ounce each dry hopped.  Never detected any cat pee tones, and everyone I gave it to seemed to really like it.

18

I thought Citra was wonderful. I wonder if I should try some cat pee.  :smiley:

19

Can’t say I’ve ever smelled cat piss in any brews made with citra but a friend did mention it when drinking one from a local brewpub.  I made an IPA with Citra six months ago that was great and I have one in secondary right now dry hopped with citra and cascade.  I’ll chime in if I notice any pee notes…

20

So, after about 2 weeks of sampling off this keg I can safely say that I do not care for this hops flavor/aroma in my APA/IPAs. I do think it would make a nice background hop in a Saison. The other thing that struck me might be a great fit would be a tropical stout(!).