Cascade
The hop that started American craft. Grapefruit and flowers, with a spicy backbone that stops it from reading as pure citrus candy. Still the reference point every other US aroma hop gets described against.
- Smells like
- Grapefruit, Citrus, Floral, Spice, Pine
- Bitterness
- Moderate (4.5–8% alpha)
- In the glass
- 188 beers here · 3 fresh hop · Brooks has had 2
- Swap it for
- Centennial · compare them →
Brewing values
Alpha acid
4.5–8% typical 6.2
5 sources, spread of 3.5%
- USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service6.8–6.8
- Hopsteiner4.5–7Data sheet last changed 2020-01-09.
- BarthHaas4.5–7.9Range over the last 4 crop years.
- Indie Hops5–8
- Crosby Hop Farm4.5–7
Beta acid
4–7.2% typical 5.8
4 sources, spread of 3.2%
- Hopsteiner4.5–7Data sheet last changed 2020-01-09.
- BarthHaas4.8–7.2Range over the last 4 crop years.
- Indie Hops4–7
- Crosby Hop Farm4.8–7
Cohumulone
33–40% of alpha typical 37.6
3 sources, and they disagree, spread of 7% of alpha
- Hopsteiner33–40Data sheet last changed 2020-01-09.
- Indie Hops40–40
- Crosby Hop Farm33–40
Total oil
0.7–1.5 mL/100g typical 1.1
3 sources, spread of 0.8 mL/100g
- Hopsteiner0.8–1.5Data sheet last changed 2020-01-09.
- Indie Hops0.8–1.5
- Crosby Hop Farm0.7–1.4
Alpha to beta runs about 1.1:1, which is what governs how fast the bitterness fades in storage.
Oil composition
- Myrcene45.9%
- Other27.6%
- Humulene15%
- Farnesene5.7%
- Caryophyllene5.4%
- Linalool0.4%
Normalised to 100% so this hop can be compared like for like. The published components sum to 99.6% of total oil in the source data.
Where it's grown
In 2025: 1,719 acres in Washington, 487 acres in Oregon, withheld in Idaho (NASS withholds a figure when it would identify a single farm). That's at least 2,206 acres. No. 7 by acreage in Washington; No. 3 by acreage in Oregon.
Acres by year
| Year | Washington | Oregon | Idaho |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 4,935 | 1,085 | 770 |
| 2016 | 5,582 | 1,211 | 788 |
| 2017 | 4,966 | 1,247 | 882 |
| 2018 | 4,274 | 1,064 | 836 |
| 2019 | 3,718 | 1,039 | 710 |
| 2020 | 2,877 | 754 | 407 |
| 2021 | 3,183 | 666 | 479 |
| 2022 | 3,604 | 658 | 845 |
| 2023 | 3,156 | 629 | 699 |
| 2024 | 2,271 | 487 | 324 |
| 2025 | 1,719 | 487 | withheld |
Acres harvested, from the USDA NASS National Hop Report. Where America's hops grow →
Aroma
How it gets used
Added at bittering, late boil, whirlpool, dry hop.
Concentrated lupulin formats: Cryo, LupuLN2 / Lupomax.
In the glass · 188 beers from 23 breweries
Brooks has had 2 of them · 4 average of 2
- Commercial Break Fast Fashion · 4
- Ichthyosaur IPA Great Basin Brewing Co. · 4
- Fresh Hop Cascade Wanderlust IPA Breakside Brewery · fresh hop
- Green on Fort Road Cloudburst Brewing · fresh hop
- Permafrosty IPA Reuben's Brews · fresh hop
- 8 Deep Aslan Brewing
- Bitburger x Aslan Aslan Brewing
- Charlie Foxtrot Aslan Brewing
- Earth To Beer Aslan Brewing
- Melopepo Aslan Brewing
- Monarch Aslan Brewing
- Moon Calendar Aslan Brewing
Brewed alongside · in 168 beers that use Cascade with other hops
Counted from the hop lists of every beer in What's in the can: what Pacific Northwest brewers actually put next to Cascade.
What to swap it for
Scored on aroma overlap, oil composition and acid chemistry, then nudged up where a brewer has vouched for the swap by hand. An axis we haven't measured earns nothing, so a hop known only by its acid numbers caps out around 30 — the score is how much evidence there is for the swap, not just how close the numbers happen to be. Anything under 50 is a different beer, not a substitution.
Pedigree
Fuggle × Serebrianka. Fuggle x a Serebrianka seedling.
For brewers and data folks: this hop as JSON · the source file · where America's hops grow