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Citra Hops

Yes, Citra hops. This is a new, popular hop with homebrewers and it is easy to see why.

Sierra Nevada used this hop variety in their Torpedo Extra IPA.  I think beer lovers and homebrewers are impressed with its tropical fruit flavor and aroma and the complexities that come with that sort of flavor profile.  I did some research into the variety and I present it here.

This is a compilation of the information that is out there about Citra hops:

It was bred as a hybrid of a number of different hops.  The breakdown is as follows:

50% Hallertauer Mittelfrüh

25% U.S. Tettnanger

25% East Kent Golding, Bavarian, Brewers Gold, and other unknown hops.

Origin: USA!  USA!  Presented at the World Brewing Congress in August of 2008.

Aroma/Flavor: Lots of descriptors out there:  Citrus, peach, apricot, passion fruit, grapefruit, lime, melon, gooseberry, lychee fruit, pineapple, mango, papaya and other tropical fruit flavors and aromas.  So, ah, fruity.

I found one more: Guava.

Alpha Acid: 10 to 12%

Typical Usage: Flavor and Aroma.  Plus, you could brew a pretty great single hop beer with Citra.

Beer Styles: So far, IPAs but I think any style where you want to showcase hop flavors and aromas.

Since I wrote this post, these hops have become widely available.  You can find them for sale online at many homebrew shops.

Read About Other New Hops:

Summit Hops

Ultra Hops

Saphir Hops

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17 Comments

  1. James Golovich

    There definitely is a citra hops bandwagon. I’ve had a bunch of beers brewed with them. I like them, but I have a feeling that we are just going to see IPA after IPA brewed with them and it won’t seem special anymore.

  2. Last night I got to taste Homebrewer Mike McDole’s Citra hopped IPA. It is a facinating hop that lendt a delicate citrus and fruit quality with very little grapefruit. If this hop becomes available I think it will be a very useful adition to the other great IPA hops in use. I would specifically like it in low amounts to dry hop my pale ale.

  3. dan

    Freshops.com has them now, I got a pound in the mail yesterday….probably will brew something with them next week.

  4. I’ve had a lot of requests for these hops as well and plan on carrying some very shortly.

  5. Chris B

    I got some from Freshops and brewed an IPA with lots of late-hop additions of Citra, it turned out great, with lots of fresh tropical fruit aromas and flavor.

  6. I samples a beer made with Citra recently and it blew me away. I imagine these would be great not only in IPAs, but what about fruit and/or herb beers? Probably would taste weird in a stout.

  7. I think it would be good in fruit or herb beers.

  8. I picked up a growler of ‘Hopzilla’ APA from Iron Hill, brewed with Citra (only?). I thought the taste was distinctively grassy and herbacious – not super resinous/piney/tangy – very drinkable and I really enjoyed it (although the ‘Hopzilla’ moniker belies a relatively mild beer).

  9. Jay

    Victory currently has an all Citra 5% ABV APA on tap right now – it is super… I must get my hands on some!

  10. Mike

    I have just put a batch of brew in the primary that I used citra for bittering, flavoring, and aroma. I think it’ll be an english pale ale cause I used english yeast, but we’ll see. I am looking forward to it though!

  11. John

    Just drank a Widmer Brothers Sunburn, which is a summer ale, and very much not an IPA. It was delicious and I am literally going to the fridge to grab another one after I’m done writing this.

  12. Nice! That’s good stuff.

  13. I made an All Citra APA last November and let it age over the winter. Had a few over the 4th and I must say. BAM! IN YOUR FACE! Great Hop Nose, but not that overpowering bite from hops like Amarillo.

  14. Sean

    I just did a Honey Key lime Ginger American Wheat and threw some of my Citra in for the steep! Really helped in bringing out the citrus tones of the Key Lime. My wife spent a lot of her high school time in England and says that this brew reminds her of a Lime and Lager.

  15. Hopfail

    I threw in .05oz of Citra to give some aromatic character at the finish to my Christmas ale this year, and it totally destroyed it. It now tastes like a Christmas beer mixed with grapefruit rind. It’s not horrible going down, but the aftertaste is atrocious. I can imagine this being fantastic in an IPA, but the flavor profile destroys more delicate beers.

  16. IPAguy

    Just tried the Widmer X-114 IPA. Part of their rotating special IPA releases. Loved the Citra hops. Very spruce-like both in flavor and aroma, Christmas in a bottle. One of my top IPAs.

  17. HopHead

    Victory Headwaters Pale Ale is a citrate hops exclusive ale which has become my beer of choice for the piney citrus flavor

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