Citra Is Released by the Hop Breeding Company

In 2007, the Hop Breeding Company released Citra, officially designated HBC 394, as a new American aroma-hop variety. The plant originated from a controlled cross made in Washington’s Yakima Valley in 1990 and was selected for further development in 1992. Its complex ancestry included Hallertauer Mittelfrüh and other European and American hop genetics. Citra combined comparatively high alpha-acid and oil contents with prominent citrus and tropical-fruit aromas, including grapefruit, lime, passion fruit, and melon. It became one of the most influential proprietary hops of modern American brewing, particularly in hop-forward pale ales and IPAs, and helped move craft-beer aroma beyond the piney and grapefruit character associated with earlier varieties such as Cascade.