Citra hop
It does create a unique challenge for brewers, however. But these kinds of annual numbers are a reminder of just how much one single hop variety has shaped-then pushed forward-a generation of taste preferences. To put a bow on it, Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson shared this stat on Twitter: “Citra is now the #3 global hop in acres (behind Herkules and Saaz) and will possibly be the #2 variety in pounds produced in 2019 (behind Herkules).”Īt this point, Citra is widely acknowledged as a pivotal part of the modern beer industry. Because aroma hops typically yield fewer pounds per acre than bittering hops, and because aroma hops like Citra are so en vogue, there’s more land going toward these lower-yielding varieties that have driven flavors so often found in the modern IPA.
In 2016, the ratio of aroma (78%) to high-alpha (22%) acres hit a peak which has since held. Until 2013, bittering hops represented the majority of acreage in the U.S. People want their dank, juicy, fruity, hop-forward beers, and farmers’ growth patterns have followed. It all goes to show how much things have changed in the last decade. Its total number of acres is still modest, however, and increased from 538 to 961 in Idaho and Washington, about 10% of Citra’s acreage. That said, it’s bouncing back from a downward swing in recent years, and in 2018 actually just rebounded to the number of acres planted in 2013.Įl Dorado (" juicy stone fruit and tropical notes"), which also features in a number of popular beers (including Sierra Nevada’s Hazy Little Thing), grew 79% from 2018–2019. CTZ (Columbus/Tomahawk, and Zeus, which is sometimes separated in classification), covered in part at the start of the year on GBH, is another bittering hop that continues to rank at the top of the most-acres-planted list. That’s an increase from 1,721 acres in 2018. Grown only in Washington, it had 2,073 acres planted in 2019 after just two years of existence. Over on his Beervana blog, Jeff Alworth mentions Pahto, "a proprietary, super-high alpha hop that is used primarily for bittering," which carries " herbal, earthy, and floral" characteristics.
Some are starting to look to other strains for differentiation, but it’s not as easy as simple as a plug-and-play from one successful aroma hop to something else. These factors raise the question of what the hop’s ascendency means for brewers, who could easily get caught in a sea of hoppy sameness if Citra is simply the cost of entry these days. Along with Hazy Little Thing, Sierra’s New England-style IPA entry, Citra has also featured in NE IPAs created by Samuel Adams and New Belgium.
Subscribe to PremiumĪccording to IRI data, brands that made the biggest jumps in sales through mid-June include Sierra Nevada's Hazy Little Thing (which uses Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe), SweetWater’s 420 Strain G13 IPA (Simcoe), Elysian’s Space Dust IPA (Citra), and New Belgium's Voodoo Ranger Liquid Paradise IPA, which features Mosaic Incognito (a liquid hop concentrate). Big plays, smart moves, and otherwise curious indicators of beer's possible future.