National Homebrew Club Ireland

Brewing Discussions => Kit Brewing => Topic started by: LordEoin on September 11, 2014, 12:01:25 AM

Title: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: LordEoin on September 11, 2014, 12:01:25 AM
It's 'brew like a demon' week here in LordEoin's BrewDungeon, trying to get all of my bottles filled, so I figured a nice quick and easy kit APA would be a good call.
I figure it'll be perfect for around Halloween and should keep me refreshed right through to Christmas (so long as those pesky freeloaders keep their dirty mits off it)

Anyway, I grabbed me a Craft Range Citra APA. i was going to go down the coopers Australian PA, but by the time I added up all the extract, sugar, yeast and hops it was coming out about the same price anyway.

So where do I start..
What's changed since the craft range was launched?
The kits now have both BBE date (04/15) and priming sugar (100g)
The instructions are more comprehensive too, but still easy to follow.
Kudos for listening to feedback :)

What's in this kit?
This kit comes with 3kg hopped LME, 650g sugar, 100g priming sugar, generous 60g (citra) hop pellets, muslin bag, 1pk West Coast ale yeast, instructions.
The box hasn't been updated with this new kit yet, but all of the information is on a sticker
(http://i.imgur.com/EtmHvGk.jpg)

I didn't deviate from the instructions at all, apart from using 2l of boiling water instead of 3 as i had noted that 3 puts pitching the wort a little too warm for pitching.
You just need to put a little more effort into stirring to dissolve the LME.
Handy thing about these big pouches of LME is there's no rinsing cans and fumbling with oven mitts etc, you can just squeeze all the gunk out by rolling it tight from the bottom.
The LME smells great as usual, fresher than most other kit brands, and tastes lovely. Not too bitter.

Using 2L resulted in the wort settling at about 23°, grand job
pitch, stir, seal, sit.
The yeast is nice and fresh with a good smell

The whole brewday took me about 25minutes including sanitizing and cleanup. (a big difference from my 10hr brewday over the weekend)
OG 1.049(ish) so it should be bang on the estimated target ABV of 5.7% after priming
The wort is a nice pale colour (below)
(http://i.imgur.com/lA22I5g.jpg)

Instructions say to ferment at 20°-24°, so i set it to 20° for a week, and dryhop 4 or 5 days before bottling.
I have a feeling this room will smell great in a day or two :)

I'll update this thread later on.
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: Will_D on September 12, 2014, 10:50:00 AM
Love the medals in the background!
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: LordEoin on September 12, 2014, 12:01:06 PM
ahh feck, i never cropped the 'wall of death to little creatures', it was a million o clock and tired...
There's so much stuff in my room at the moment that everything in the background is normally invisible to me at this stage.
but yeah, medals! hopefully they'll be hanging in my brewshed soon :)
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: LordEoin on September 13, 2014, 01:15:53 PM
I guess I forgot to empty the trial jar!  ;D
It's looking very healthy, but god knows what it'll pick up off the bottom of the trial jar.
I'll wait and see. World's smallest batch!

(http://i.imgur.com/y8AzIp6.jpg)

Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: dcalnan on September 17, 2014, 12:00:00 AM
Picked one of these up at the weekend, but both my fv are being used so I'll have to wait till I bottle those before starting it. But I can't wait to try it out.
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: LordEoin on September 17, 2014, 12:09:19 AM
I know what you mean. I have 3 FVs on the go at the moment and one empty for priming/bottling.
This is still bubbling away but starting to slow and the krausen is showing signs of thinning.
I should probably empty that trial jar and take a reading soon..
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: LordEoin on September 26, 2014, 02:02:51 AM
Dryhopped this tonight (day 14), it's still got a bit of a krausen and bubbling occasionally but it seems to have settled at 1.012
The 60g of hop pellets smell great, nice and fresh.
Although warm and flat it tastes like beer. Quite bitter, but that's to be expected with an American Pale Ale, the dryhop should balance it out nicely.
looking forward to having this cold and carbonated :)
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: dcalnan on September 27, 2014, 07:45:19 PM
I'm two weeks behind you. Just started it Thursday night, wasn't much activity for the first 24 hours, just checked it today and there's a big kraken and its bubbling away steadily. Hoping it'll be good in the keg. Might be interesting to compare the two at a meetup.
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: LordEoin on September 27, 2014, 08:33:37 PM
A big Kraken? That can't be very sanitary...
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Colossal_octopus_by_Pierre_Denys_de_Montfort.jpg)
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: Will_D on September 27, 2014, 11:45:18 PM
A long long time ago in a distant galaxy (Ok its Wales in 1968) I had to sit English literature!

Now apart from the compulsory Shakespeare play there were 3 novels  ???

Imagine MY delight when they were all sci-fi!

War of the Worlds
Fahrenheight 451
The Kraken Wakes

Against all expectastions I got a great grade in Eng.Lit.!
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: dcalnan on September 30, 2014, 02:49:24 PM
That's autocorrect for you. Well now I have a name for a future beer, Kraken Ale. Smells great whenever I open the press it's in, slightly warmer then I would like at 23 but hopefully it'll be ok.
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: LordEoin on September 30, 2014, 03:00:54 PM
23 should be fine, the instructions say the yeast's ideal temperature is 20-24.
20 seems to ferment out pretty slowly.
It's only just finished up now and I'll try get it bottled tonight.
The dryhop makes a HUGH difference to the beer, smells and tastes lovely :)
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: cochised on September 30, 2014, 09:32:42 PM
Kegged this kit today.
A bit above 1007 but went ahead anyway

Tastes and smells lovely  :)
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: LordEoin on October 01, 2014, 01:34:48 AM
Bottled tonight, FG 1.004ish
It was well worth leaving it ferment out fully as all of the hop matter settled nicely making a dual layer of trub with yeast on the bottom and hop particles on top.
The beer is a hazy straw colour and should clear up nicely over the next few weeks.
This'll probably be a good early drinker.
Only criticism so far is that it calls for 120g priming sugar and only supplies 100g
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: LordEoin on October 08, 2014, 12:45:02 AM
It's only in the bottle a week and tasting great.
If you like citra you'll like this. It has a great hoppy blast to the nose and mouth.
carbonation seems spot on so far, and it has a good mouthfeel.
Noticeable bitterness, but nicely balanced with the hoppiness of it all.
Lacing head lasting all the way down.
It's still a bit hazy, but I'm sure this will clear with another few weeks in the bottle.
I brought a bottle to our barrel emptying and it seemed to go down very well.

Overall: very tasty, well balanced, easy drinking. It might be too hoppy for your lager loving freeloader friends, but that just means that there will be more for you to enjoy.

I'll replace this photo later on once it's had a chance to clear up a bit:
(http://i.imgur.com/dVQgLWJ.jpg)
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: dcalnan on October 20, 2014, 05:33:16 PM
Just pulled the first sample off the key, smells amazing. I think citra is becoming one of my favourite hops. Bit of cloudiness from the sediment but that will soon clear after the first few pints, really happy with this kit.
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: Simon1978 on October 27, 2014, 12:53:21 AM
Hey
Have this brew in the bucket for just under two weeks and the krausen hasn't dissappeared at all, the starting Gravity was 1.052 and now it's about 1.020. It's been at a pretty constant 23oc and I'm going to add the hops tomorrow. It smells ok I'm just worried that it's taken so long to drop in Gravity and the head is still there - any ideas, advice would be great
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: LordEoin on October 27, 2014, 10:34:34 AM
at the 2 week mark mine was at 1.012. I dryhopped and it continued to ferment out to slowly for another week.
Don't bottle until you see a clear layer of clean looking yeast on the bottom.
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: auralabuse on October 27, 2014, 11:48:30 AM
Have this one to do,  im not sure if I should keg or bottle.  Also have the biab American hoppy IPA,  such great decisions
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: googoomuck on October 27, 2014, 03:20:54 PM
Just bottled my craft range ipa, been on the go 3 plus weeks at a constant 20℃. Tastes great, looking forward to sipping a few. Nicest kit I have tried.
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: marzen scorsese on October 27, 2014, 06:51:54 PM
this looks like a great kit for when you cant put the effort in for all grain. must get one of these and try it out. well impressed with the lasting head after only a week. never had one stay that early
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: auralabuse on November 17, 2014, 10:29:05 AM
I just finished this and it's tasting very strange indeed.  Very plastic or chemical type taste with strong liquorice tones.  Not sure if I have made a mess of it or not.  What flavours would you describe in this kit?.
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: gearoid on December 09, 2014, 09:55:20 PM
Tasted odd to me too at 2 weeks, and is still odd at week 3 (1 week with dry hops).
Brewed @ 18C.

Your description seems to match.
I've been hoping that this will condition into something good.

I suspect I've messed something up on my side.
Temp is below the recommended for the kit.
I've added steeped carapils, 30mins @ 65C -- but maybe it got a bit hotter during the steep ? (have done this steep before without problems).
Maybe something left over from the cleaning of the FV (I clean with oxi and sometimes with VWP, rinse well with tap water, then a rinse with starsan)?

Used the same method for other brews that are fine.

I brewed the Craft Range IPA and it came out fantastic (definitely will be brewing it agin). Brewed it warmer without carapils.


Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: LordEoin on December 09, 2014, 11:55:45 PM
Why, what's wrong with it? Remember it's only 2 weeks old.

I found this too hoppy for my tastes at first, but the hops are mellowed now and i love it (typically just when I'm running out)
I think the best for me was from about 6 weeks in the bottle onwards, from there it seems to calm down and balance out nicely.

One thing I mentioned earlier was that it called for 120g sugar for carbonation. This worked out over carbonated for me.
No bottle bombs or gushers, but just that little bit too carbonated to pour without a big-ass head.
My advice for anyone brewing this would be to just ignore the instructions for the priming sugar and use a priming calculator (http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html) instead.
There should be plenty in 100g, but if you want more just top it up with table sugar.
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: gearoid on December 10, 2014, 07:58:04 AM
yea - I was hoping it was just young and that it will condition well.
Title: Re: [Review] Craft Range Citra American Pale Ale
Post by: cummic08 on June 26, 2017, 01:26:17 PM
I know this post is as old as some hops in my fridge (must get around to clearing them out lol)

But I have just started this kit, tasted the wort post gravity reading which is bang on with what everyone seems to be getting 1.049, I think the taste is just the bitterness in the wort. Is not a bad flavour or an off flavour just a nice IPA bitterness. Packing this away in the brew room now for a couple weeks before dry hopping, can't wait to taste this once bottled.

Great kit so far, easy to do, 35 mins including cleaning and sanitation.