Citra Brew planned and looking problem solve

[Harbey]

I do use Oxy, but I also use a bottle brush attached to a cordless drill. Bit of oxy solution in there, insert brush, quick 10 second blast at full speed, pour the oxy into the next bottle, rinse, done and ready for StarSan. I only use about 500ml of Oxy solution for each batch of about 40 bottles so you could just buy some bottled water to use for cleaning. Once my bottles are in use, I always give them a good rinse with warm water to remove the majority of yeast straight after pouring, saves having it get dried on. I still brush and Oxy as well, it just makes it easier.

 

[bobukbrewer]

Oxyclean is applied for 5 minutes surely ? No need to rinse but I rinse with tap water...........

 

[Harbey]

Oxyclean is applied for 5 minutes surely ? No need to rinse but I rinse with tap water...........

Wasn't aware of having to leave them to soak tbh. Probably do a better job but seems to work fine for me without. I've also found that if you don't rinse you end up with a lot of white residue on/in the bottles. Some brands are also rather fragrant so I wouldn't trust a no rinse method.

 

[bobukbrewer]

the home brew specific products have no fragrance.........

 

[Harbey]

Ha, yeah I use Aldi's finest. Smells of summer meadows :p

 

[bobukbrewer]

Tesco dilute bleach is very cheap, very effective and has no fragrance.............

 

[Alw94]

So, I bottled the brew on Tuesday. By soaking the bottles in star-san over night and also using the brush & drill combo the residue was relatively easy enough to come off. I can't be 100% that it all came off though, so only time will tell if this causes an issue.

The smell and look of the beer on bottling was lovely. I was really impressed. Assuming the smell is maintained in the bottle, I think it'll be tasty! I managed to get 39 bottles out of the fermenter, so happy with that. Gravity was 1.008 on bottling day, not moving from the day before. The taste from the sample was pretty good, no apparent off-taste to it and all quite smooth. I have high-hopes for it.

Now planning the next couple of brews. Planning to re-visit either the American or English IPA from the Greg Hughes but with adding a decent amount of dry-hopping like Harbey's recipe for this citra.

Thanks again all (Harbey -) . I've learned some good things here and some pointers on the volume and cleaning.

 

[Harbey]

What exactly had been in these bottles? Sounds even worse than my Weatherspoon's bottle donation!

Looking forward to hearing the verdict on the beer, sounds like a winner.

 

[Alw94]

Ok, it is fair to say that I might not be as careful at cleaning them out as what you are but they do get rinsed. The main reason for trying the oxyclean and soaking them was to try a different product to ensure a better chance at getting rid of off-flavours. Now, I've got two bins full of bottles I've saved that are kept outside and, even though they have a lid on, they still pick up dust and grit.

Yes, Mate, definitely looking forward to trying the first in a couple of weeks and then seeing how it conditions over time. Any suggestions for next brews? Anything else you'd recommend?

 

[Harbey]

Personally, if you enjoy the Citra brew, I'd go for doing the same again but just playing with the hops. As we said at the start of the thread, get a malt bill that works and then experiment by just altering the one variable so you can really get the hang of your equipment and the whole process. It sounds like you like a big hop punch so try mixing two or three of the big flavour and aroma hops - Mosaic is a favourite of mine. You could also think about how bitter your Citra brew comes out and adjust your bittering hops accordingly.

 

[Harbey]

All this talk has led me to brew another batch of Citra today .

Just started the boil and need to be finished for 2pm as I'm visiting the Malton Beertown festival .

I've added a little more on the bitterness hops this time around. Fancy doing a bottle swap @Alw94 ?

 

[Alw94]

Ok Mate, I'll go for that as long as you want to take the chance of having a duff beer. I'd certainly be interested in trying another's brew as a comparison. I'd need a bit of advice on the best way to send a bottle through the post.

 

[Alw94]

Ok so this is a late reply considering I bottled this in May. IMO the brew was a complete success. I had planned to leave it for 3 weeks after bottling but only managed to last 10 days. It tasted really good and smelt great. Really has been the best I've brewed. Quite happily drank it all. I've still got a couple of bottles to pass around to Friends assuming I don't drink it first. Big thanks to Harbey for the recipe suggestion and advice (and to the others).

Now on to the next brew and, as it was such a success, going to give the same brew another go. I've stuck to the same recipe that Harbey suggested with the only difference to up slightly the citra amounts to use all the pack and to use US-05 yeast instead of the Nottingham.

After a hectic couple of months what with work etc, I now have a bit of time to plan and carry out a couple more brews over the next month. English IPA up next to use up some of the hops I've got in the freezer with the intention to dry-hop with some cascade I have. Maybe another post to ask on recipe using what I have and suggested quantities would be worthwhile.