What hops to use to get Citrus flavour into brew kit

Covbaggie

Hi All, New to home brewing so please be gentle with me, I have done a Coopers lager (came with the kit I purchased) and have left well alone now for 4 wks. Also have done 2 Woodfordes Wherry, second one still in fermenting bin and looking OK. My question is..if I do an IPA what hops do I need to give it a Citrus flavour and when do I add them, also how much do I add. Thanks for reading I look forwards to your responses. Regards, Covbaggie.

HBO_Staff

This is often a case of experimenting, we suggest to make the brew as standard in the first instance so you know how it tastes, then if you want to adapt it to your own taste then adding hops is a great way of doing it. You can get hops in various forms, the simplest is the hop teabag, just add it to a jug and cover with boiling water for around 10 minutes, then pour both the teabag and liquid into your brew to infuse the flavour. Different people like different hops, you could consider Cascade as these are often described as Citrus flavoured;

http://www.home-brew-online.com/ingredients-c45/hops-c58/cascade-finishing-hops-20g-p1098

Covbaggie

Thanks for the speedy reply, do I leave the bag in for the full period of first fermentation or take out aft a couple of days.

HBO_Staff

The length of time will affect the level of taste, if it goes in for the full fermentation time the flavour of the hops will be stronger, you can alternatively just leave it in for a couple of days, depending on how much flavour you want to infuse will affect the time, and will probably mean experimenting, these particular teabags have 20 grammes of hop pellets in them, some others only have 12 grammes, etc

Covbaggie

Thanks so much for the info, I will wait for this Wherry to ferment out then order a tea bag for my next batch. This forum is excellent, again Thanks, Regards, Covbaggie

killerklown88

i would use citra leaf.dry hop at the end(2-3days before bottling)

Covbaggie

Hi KillierKlown, What do you mean by dry hop ?

HBO_Staff

Here is a feature with a little more info;

http://homebrewonline.vanillaforums.com/discussion/82/add-some-flavour-and-aroma-to-your-beer-kit-by-dry-hopping-and-making-hop-tea/p1