A local brewery creation has inspired me to want to design the most ridiculous, over-the-top, hoppy, juicy, citrusy IPA I can come up with.
I’m not normally a big IPA fan, so my hop knowledge is limited to what I’ve seen used in kits (Citra, Simcoe). I’ve picked up a copy of the 2016 YCH Varieties handbook to start researching. I’m sure there are more varieties out there than what are listed in the book due to trademarks, etc.
If you wanted to just knock someone over the head with a citrus IPA, what varieties would you use and in what stages? (FWH, boil, FO/whirlpool, DH)
Citra is loaded with oil, and that is where a lot of that juiciness comes from. On its own, it’s more mango than citrus, but once you add a few more varieties in it starts to come back to citrus. I like to use Nelson Sauvin with it, which has a lot of grapefruit character. Vic Secret and Galaxy are nice, but they lean more towards passionfruit than straight-up citrus.
Galaxy, Citra, Mosaic, and Azzaca in a late hopping schedule make for a serious juice bomb. I used them in an APA together last summer that included the Vermont Ale/Conan yeast strain. The Pale Ale served as a yeast starter of sorts for a bigger DIPA and I preferred the Pale after all was said and done.
I have also had a great, juicy IPA with El Dorado, Amarillo, and Citra. Cashmere and Lemon Drop would also be interesting options if you wanted to push more into the lemon-lime citrus territory.
Citra, Columbus, Cascade, in maybe a 1/1/1 ratio. Yep, that’d do it. Use Columbus or Cascade for the bittering, and all three at flameout or whirlpool, and dry hop. Each late addition should be about 0.75-0.8 oz per gallon (about 4 oz in 5 gallons).
I’m a big fan of an even amount of Galaxy/Simcoe/Citra/Mosaic in (D)IPAs. I have also gone to only 3 additions. I do a FWH with a neutral bittering hop (or the same combo), a Whirlpool/Hop Stand addition at flameout, and dry/keg hopping.
With the exception of one time I dry hopped with Columbus and it was incredible, any other times I used it I ruined my beer even if only late. Same goes with Chinook. Real coarse lingering bitterness. I used Chinook only in a dry hop and same thing happened. Really wish I could use them because they both smell incredible. I have been told backing off the amount really helps but I am pretty much staying away from using them. Also consider using a fruity strain and ferment on the warmer side…
I like to bitter w Nugget. Then 5 min w Citra and Columbus. I finish w Amarillo and Cascade in whirlpool and also for the dryhop. I’d also add 4-5% sugar to get it to finish dry.
I’ve not used Ekuanot, Idaho 7, Lemon Drop, and other new hop varieties. Too many in the freezer already.
I found lemon drop to impart a flavor somewhat like the lemon custard in lemon meringue pie, and it dominated and clashed with the other hop flavors when I made an IPA also with Columbus, centennial, amarillo, cascade and simcoe. YMMV
I will say as a Lemon Drop fan that it’s one of the hops in Stone Delicious IPA, along with El Dorado. That beer isn’t exactly a lemon meringue pie, it’s tasty IMO. I like it with hops like Amarillo, Citra, and others. Each his own. As for it in a saison, it’s very good - I’m using some more in a saison soon.
I don’t mean to cast a negative spin - in my limited experience it’s just not to my palate. And oddly enough, it was worse when it was super fresh, and again six months after kegging. In the middle 6 months I enjoyed it. Weird, right?
In my opinion, galaxy is the best citrusy hop. Also, Amarillo has a great orange/grapefruit taste. Like noted Citra has a mango/pineapple with a spin of resin flavor. I love the Citra/galaxy combo. It’s probably my favorite combo and works well 1:1.
Just remember, everybody’s taste buds are different and interpret flavors differently.