Hop Combo Question

[Nola_Brew]

Will be brewing a Pale this weekend and trying to decide on hop combinations. Want to keep the IBU 45 or less.
No more than three hops, would prefer to use two, all late additions (10 min and under) with the exception of a bittering charge at FWH or 60 min.

Which hop combos would you guys use?

**Also, if I wanted to incorporate lemon zest into this brew, would it be best to add during last 10 min of boil, during a WP or DH? Don't want the lemon flavor to be over-powering. Just want it to be noticeable.

Grain Bill:
Pilsner / 2 Row / C20 / Carapils / Acid Malt

Hops:
Citra has to be one of the hops
I was thinking Amarillo but not sure now.
I have the following:
Chinook
Mosaic
Amarillo
Galaxy
Columbus
Centennial
Simcoe
El Dorado

 

[J A]

If you know you're using Citra, really feature it by using other hops that support rather than compete. Amarillo is a great choice. Also Centennial, maybe a small amount of Chinook or Columbus. Simcoe is a winner, for sure, and tends to work well with Citra in my experience. I did a nice Pale Pale with Simcoe, Centennialand a little Citra that was pretty fantastic.

 

[Nosybear]

Will be brewing a Pale this weekend and trying to decide on hop combinations. Want to keep the IBU 45 or less.
No more than three hops, would prefer to use two, all late additions (10 min and under) with the exception of a bittering charge at FWH or 60 min.

Which hop combos would you guys use?

**Also, if I wanted to incorporate lemon zest into this brew, would it be best to add during last 10 min of boil, during a WP or DH? Don't want the lemon flavor to be over-powering. Just want it to be noticeable.

Grain Bill:
Pilsner / 2 Row / C20 / Carapils / Acid Malt

Hops:
Citra has to be one of the hops
I was thinking Amarillo but not sure now.
I have the following:
Chinook
Mosaic
Amarillo
Galaxy
Columbus
Centennial
Simcoe
El Dorado

First off, I would not incorporate lemon zest into this beer. I've had pale ales done that way, the lemon comes across quite differently than you'd expect, more of a harsh bitterness, kind of out of place in this style. Citra/Amarillo should work. I'm doing a Pale Ale this weekend with Amarillo and Cascade for the bulk of my hops, Lemondrop for the finish, shooting for about 40 IBUs. I took a different approach to the malts, using Maris Otter and Munich for the base, Victory and C20 for the character malts, American Ale yeast for a big, malty backbone. I'll make a final determination about my zero-minute addition as the beer is boiling based on my nose.

 

[oliver]

citra galaxy is the goat

 

[J A]

First off, I would not incorporate lemon zest into this beer.

Oh, right...lemon zest...
Don't waste good hops on a beer with lemon zest. Make a Pale or IPA featuring hops and make a Saison, Wit, Hefe with lemon zest and basic noble hops mostly at 60.

 

[Head First]

I think these guys are on the right track. You could bitter with Centennial and use Amarillo and Citra for aroma. Lemon zest would get lost in there unless you used enough to make it stand out which would override a good citrus hop combination. (ie. too harsh as nosey put it.) Could use another hop instead of Amarillo for more fruit or spicy flavor just depends what you are looking for.

 

[krackin]

I love IPA with Centennial, Citra, Amarillo with Warrior or Magnum bittering. I mix the flavor hops and do 30 to 5 additions in equal amounts every 5 minutes. Dry hop with either Citra or Amarillo. They both are excellent there.