Citra
Passionfruit, mango and grapefruit, loud and immediate. The hop that made the modern IPA possible, and the one most likely to smell like cat pee if you overdo the dry hop or let it sit warm.
- Smells like
- Passionfruit, Mango, Grapefruit, Citrus, Tropical fruit
- Bitterness
- High (11–14.3% alpha)
- In the glass
- 722 beers here · 32 fresh hop · Brooks has had 7
- Swap it for
- Mosaic · compare them →
Brewing values
Alpha acid
11–14.3% typical 12.3
5 sources, spread of 3.3%
- USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service12.4–12.4
- Yakima Chief Ranches11–13
- BarthHaas11–14.3Range over the last 4 crop years.
- Hop Breeding Company11–13
- Crosby Hop Farm11–14.3
Beta acid
2.7–4.5% typical 3.8
4 sources, spread of 1.8%
- Yakima Chief Ranches3.5–4.5
- BarthHaas2.7–4.5Range over the last 4 crop years.
- Hop Breeding Company3.5–4.5
- Crosby Hop Farm2.7–4.5
Cohumulone
22–24% of alpha typical 23
2 sources, spread of 2% of alpha
- Yakima Chief Ranches22–24
- Hop Breeding Company22–24
Total oil
2.2–2.8 mL/100g typical 2.5
2 sources, spread of 0.6 mL/100g
- Yakima Chief Ranches2.2–2.8
- Hop Breeding Company2.2–2.8
Alpha retained, 6 months at 20°C
75%
1 source
- Yakima Chief Ranches75–75
Alpha to beta runs about 3.2:1, which is what governs how fast the bitterness fades in storage.
Oil composition
- Myrcene59.6%
- Other19.8%
- Humulene12.1%
- Caryophyllene7.2%
- Linalool0.9%
- Geraniol0.4%
- Farnesene0%
Normalised to 100% so this hop can be compared like for like. The published components sum to 93.3% of total oil in the source data.
Where it's grown
In 2025: 5,327 acres in Washington, 1,525 acres in Oregon, 729 acres in Idaho. That's 7,581 acres. No. 1 by acreage in Washington; No. 1 by acreage in Oregon; No. 2 by acreage in Idaho.
Acres by year
| Year | Washington | Oregon | Idaho |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2,335 | 246 | 412 |
| 2016 | 3,264 | 654 | 576 |
| 2017 | 3,715 | 766 | 759 |
| 2018 | 4,837 | 690 | 855 |
| 2019 | 6,720 | 998 | 973 |
| 2020 | 8,143 | 1,327 | 1,527 |
| 2021 | 8,766 | 1,472 | 1,743 |
| 2022 | 8,586 | 1,691 | 1,767 |
| 2023 | 6,314 | 1,528 | 1,014 |
| 2024 | 4,906 | 1,260 | 609 |
| 2025 | 5,327 | 1,525 | 729 |
Acres harvested, from the USDA NASS National Hop Report. Where America's hops grow →
Aroma
How it gets used
Added at bittering, whirlpool, dry hop.
Concentrated lupulin formats: Cryo, LupuLN2 / Lupomax, Spectrum extract.
In the glass · 722 beers from 30 breweries
Brooks has had 7 of them · 3.82 average of 7
- Fresh Cut Fortside Brewing · fresh hop · 4
- Commercial Break Fast Fashion · 4
- Fresh Hop Topcutter IPA Bale Breaker Brewing · 3.75
- Fresh Hop Iowa IPA Double Mountain Brewery · 3.75
- Killer Green Double Mountain Brewery · 3.75
- Northleft Great Notion Brewing · 3.75
- Ripe Great Notion Brewing · 3.75
- Citra Slicker Wet Hop IPA Bale Breaker Brewing · fresh hop
- Sticky Hands - Fresh Hop Edition Block 15 Brewing · fresh hop
- Fresh Hop Citra IPA Breakside Brewery · fresh hop
- Fresh Hop Happy Little Clouds Cloudburst Brewing · fresh hop
- The Wetter Report Cloudburst Brewing · fresh hop
Brewed alongside · in 678 beers that use Citra 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 Citra.
What to swap it for
-
Half-sibling by way of Simcoe. Less pure citrus, more berry.
-
Simcoe 71
-
Krush 69
-
Sabro 68
-
Nectaron 66
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
Hallertau Mittelfruh. Complex pedigree including Hallertau Mittelfruh, Tettnanger, East Kent Golding and Brewer's Gold.
For brewers and data folks: this hop as JSON · the source file · where America's hops grow