I am brewing a beer loosely based off of Flying Dog Raging Bitch (Belgian IPA)... Wanted to put my own twist on it with some citra hop. Any recipe I find that uses citra hops, ends up using them late in the boil (15 min and later). Any reason for this? Anyone ever use it earlier in the boil? If so would you recommend doing it?

Was going to do a minor addition at 45 min, 15 and 5

If it were me, I would only add valuable hops like those in the last 15 minutes of the boil and dry hop. People value Citra for its aromatic properties. The longer you boil those hops, the more of the aromatic properties you drive off.

+1. Hops such as Citra, Amarillo and Simcoe are regarded as favorable additions to use for flavor and aroma, even though they are relatively high alpha. You typically want to add them late, but should use software to take their IBU contribution into account.

+1 Please do not waste valuable hard to get aroma hops on bittering. Good bittering hops have low cohumulone levels, such as magnum or horizon.

a couple weeks ago I tried an all Citra IPA at a festival and it was awsome. I asked the brewer if he really bittered with Citra and he said FWH, then the rest of the IBUs from later additions. It was so good that Im gonna brew one myself soon. Agreeing with whats already been said I may either try it that way or bitter with Warrior.

Since I started brewing, I have been doing a single hop beer every month. I wanted to do this to get a feel for what each hop can do to a beer. I made a Citra PA a little while back with great results. Citra is high enough in AA to be able to be added early in the boil although I wouldn't be using more than a half ounce (6.5 gallon boil) within the the first 30 minutes of a 60 minute boil.

I guess what I am saying is... it's OK to bitter with Citra, but don't overdo it. Citra is such a great flavor and aroma hop that you should use a lot more late in your boil.

Happy Brewing!

Dave

The nice thing about higher alpha aroma hops is you can end load it in the last 20 minutes and get a good portion of your IBUs there, while getting lots of the character you want from them.

I have heard several people doing it this way I am going to have to give this a go at some point sounds interesting.