Sam Adams Whitewater IPA

[FedoraDave]

This is the third selection from the Hop Tour six pack. They describe it as a blending of a Belgian Wheat with an American IPA.

The color is a hazy pale gold, with a rich white head. The aroma is fairly strong with American hops (definitely Centennial, and possibly Citra). The taste almost assaults you with the grapefruit bitterness up front, and there doesn't seem to be enough maltiness to hold up that end of the beer. The finish has a lingering bitterness that I found unpleasant. I imagine this is an acquired taste, as my second one wasn't as disturbing to me as my first.

It's a well-made beer, as all Sam Adams are, but I didn't much care for it, and wouldn't make any effort to order it.

[Brewbirds]

We have "added" some wheat to a few of our beers but never made a wheat beer.
I have frequently seen comments that American hops need a good malt back bone to support them, often Munich and Vienna are mentioned.
Do you think that your experience with this beer would support that?

That question being asked I would also say that I have used Citra in three batches to date and it has had a VERY strong grapefruit flavor in all of them. I don't dislike it but I do need to be in the mood for a very hoppy beer to pull one from the others that are ready to drink.

[Wings_Fan_In_KC]

This definitely has Cascade, Citra and Simcoe in it - good call.

Wife liked it but I didn't due to the hints of orange, apricot and coriander.

I just don't do beers with that stuff in them.

[mashani]

I personally find that beer to be "harsh" for lack of a better word, and am not so much of a fan of it. I'd get lat 48 over it if I had to pick a sam adams IPA.

[FedoraDave]

We have "added" some wheat to a few of our beers but never made a wheat beer.
I have frequently seen comments that American hops need a good malt back bone to support them, often Munich and Vienna are mentioned.
Do you think that your experience with this beer would support that?

That question being asked I would also say that I have used Citra in three batches to date and it has had a VERY strong grapefruit flavor in all of them. I don't dislike it but I do need to be in the mood for a very hoppy beer to pull one from the others that are ready to drink.

I think there's something to what you say, Birdie. Gymrat posted in another thread of mine that Citra can get "catty" if too much is used as a bittering addition. And on the whole, the "C" hops are stronger and harsher than their European cousins, although some of them, such as Centennial, are earthy and/or piney, rather than grapefruity, which changes the profile of the beer. A lot of the beers using Centennial, while hop-forward and strongly bitter, aren't unpleasantly so.

As far as needing a good malt backbone to support the hops, that's a matter of preference. In the case of this beer, I think they wanted to blend European/Belgian styles with American hops, and while that may work with other recipes, the combination of a Belgian Wheat and American "C" hops doesn't quite make the grade, IMO.

Personally, I'm still not sure what to make of Citra hops. I think, for me, anyway, it's something I'd want to use for a bit of intrigue, rather than as a beer's defining hop personality. This past weekend I brewed an LBK batch using 3 pounds of Amber DME, 1 pound of Wheat DME, and used a combination of Hallertau and Citra in all three hop additions (twice as much Hallertau as Citra). I'm hoping the Citra is subtle enough to just be a sort of eyebrow-raising tang to a dark wheat ale.

[mashani]

FWIW, so far my favorite thing to do with Citra hops has been to use smaller amounts of them in a wheat beer.

RE: "malt backbone" yeah, it's a matter of taste for sure.

There are folks like me, who grew up on British IPAs... and like IPAs the best with a solid malt presence. Although I prefer malty vs. crystal sweet. So I put some Munich in almost every IPA I make.

And then those of the other extreme that find any malt presence or crystal sweetness to be offensive in their American IPAs.

And folks somewhere in between I'm sure.