Comet & Citra is like chocolate & peanut butter

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by wspscott, May 23, 2014.

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  1. wspscott

    wspscott Pooh-Bah (1,958) May 25, 2006 Kentucky
    Pooh-Bah

    A while back I asked about suggestions for hop combinations for an APA/DIPA partigyle. Someone mentioned Comet and Citra would probably work together. As you may guess from the title, they work together very well :slight_smile: I did a 10 gallon batch to try two different yeasts. I decided to try Brett Trois (WL644) in the primary based on @OldSock's blog and I had 1084 from the APA Stout. I had never used either yeast before so I wasn't sure what I was going to get. Used some of the cake for 1084 and made a 2L starter for the 644. I pitched at 64 and the temperatures never got above 66.

    The difference between the two beers is very striking. I tapped the 644 version first and had a hard time figuring out if the massive fruitiness came from the yeast or the hops. It is very tropical and "sweet" tasting (but not at all sweet if that makes sense). The 1084 version made it pretty obvious that the over-the-top tropical-ness is completely yeast driven. There is a lot of orange/citrus flavor in the 1084 but it tastes more like a standard APA vs. a bit of a fruit punch/salad in the 644. The 644 also left more of a roundness for mouthfeel vs. a much dryer mouthfeel for the 1084. I will definitely be using 644 in the primary again. The 1084 makes a pretty good APA as well, but I am not sure it is all that different from US05.

    ************************
    10 gallons (1.050)
    19# - 2-row
    2# - Munich (6L)
    1# - Caravienne

    Comet - 1oz @60min
    Comet & Citra 2oz each @ 5min
    Comet & Citra 3oz each @ flameout with a 30 min hop stand
    Modified Tinseth IBUs = 48

    Next time I will also dryhop this combination to see what happens.
     
    #1 wspscott, May 23, 2014
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  2. AlCaponeJunior

    AlCaponeJunior Grand Pooh-Bah (3,452) May 21, 2010 Texas
    Society Pooh-Bah

    Not to completely derail, but has anyone tried those chocolate hops yet?

    Reeses are certainly the top of the line peanut butter cups, and of course choco-peanut butter combos rock. I like your recipe, and find it slightly odd how often I look at someone's grain bill, figure what OG it would probably produce in my system, and see they have a very similar figure. Could this mean something? Or just be a coincidence? The corollary to this is that my whole premise will soon be shot to hell when I have to re-dial my new 10 gal system. Right now I can predict my OG to within a couple of points. That should be shot to hell for about 4-5 batches while I re-figure all the parameters. But I digress, carry on.
     
    #2 AlCaponeJunior, May 23, 2014
  3. fritts211

    fritts211 Initiate (0) Feb 19, 2011 Tennessee

    Wait, chocolate covered hops or hops that taste like chocolate?

    And OP, thanks for the post. I'm brewing an IPA next, so I'm going to go check on Comet now. I think my HB store is missing Citra though, but I'm going to try to find mosaic. Like that one better anyway.
     
    #3 fritts211, May 23, 2014
  4. AlCaponeJunior

    AlCaponeJunior Grand Pooh-Bah (3,452) May 21, 2010 Texas
    Society Pooh-Bah

    hops that taste like chocolate. I've gotta run out, and don't recall the link off hand, but they were experimental and I think I saw them originally from a link on this forum.
     
    #4 AlCaponeJunior, May 23, 2014
  5. hoptualBrew

    hoptualBrew Initiate (0) May 29, 2011 Florida

    What's the point of chocolate hops? Does not sound appealing. I'll stick with chocolate malt.
     
    #5 hoptualBrew, May 23, 2014
  6. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah

    Damn you. Now I want to try the comet and Citra together.

    I'm so scared of comet hops. I have a bit less than a pound in the freezer. It's one of the most potent hops I've ever used.

    Citra is robust on its own. Comet and Citra is a heavyweight melon and citrus and dank fight.

    Might try it with some Conan next weekend.
     
    #6 FATC1TY, May 24, 2014
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  7. wspscott

    wspscott Pooh-Bah (1,958) May 25, 2006 Kentucky
    Pooh-Bah

    I think you might have been the person who suggested the combination. FWIW, I did not get any "wildness" or off flavors, just a lot of classic west coast hoppiness :slight_smile:
     
    #7 wspscott, May 24, 2014
  8. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah

    Probably. I was trying to set you up and have someone experiment for me.

    Comet is good but it's so potent and dank. Makes Apollo seem tame.

    Might do it in a restrained ipa this next weekend. Extract to bitter and then a late like flame out addition of Citra and comet leaf.
     
    #8 FATC1TY, May 24, 2014
  9. AlCaponeJunior

    AlCaponeJunior Grand Pooh-Bah (3,452) May 21, 2010 Texas
    Society Pooh-Bah

    Not sure if there's any point to it, just wondered if someone had tried them. I would try them but I don't need to buy more hops and I certainly didn't want a pound of an experimental hop that could be good but might be terrible. However, curiosity persists. Sounded like a hop that would do well in a dry hopped porter or something like that.
     
    #9 AlCaponeJunior, May 26, 2014
  10. utahbeerdude

    utahbeerdude Maven (1,374) May 2, 2006 Utah

    Comet is a very old school hop, released in 1974. It is apparently becoming a bit popular due to qualities that are now deemed desirable by some, but which were likely very undesirable a decade or two ago.

    EDIT: Comet is a cross between an English hop (Sunchine) and a wild american hop, which was sourced just a few miles from where I live here in Utah.
     
    #10 utahbeerdude, May 26, 2014
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