Crystal
BarthHaas describes it as apricot, camomile blossom, lemon grass, plum, black tea.
- Smells like
- Apricot, Floral, Lemongrass, Stone fruit, Tea
- Bitterness
- Gentle (2–6% alpha)
- In the glass
- 24 beers here
- Usually paired with
- Cascade, Chinook, Centennial
- Swap it for
- Glacier · compare them →
Brewing values
Alpha acid
2–6% typical 3.9
4 sources, spread of 4%
- Hopsteiner2.5–4Data sheet last changed 2020-01-09.
- BarthHaas2.1–6Range over the last 4 crop years.
- Indie Hops3.5–5
- Crosby Hop Farm2–6
Beta acid
4–8.5% typical 6.1
4 sources, spread of 4.5%
- Hopsteiner4–6.5Data sheet last changed 2020-01-09.
- BarthHaas5–8.5Range over the last 4 crop years.
- Indie Hops5–6.5
- Crosby Hop Farm5–8.5
Cohumulone
19–26% of alpha typical 22.1
2 sources, spread of 7% of alpha
- Hopsteiner19–23Data sheet last changed 2020-01-09.
- Indie Hops21–26
Total oil
0.8–2.1 mL/100g typical 1.4
3 sources, and they disagree, spread of 1.3 mL/100g
- Hopsteiner0.8–1.8Data sheet last changed 2020-01-09.
- Indie Hops1–1.3
- Crosby Hop Farm1.5–2.1
Alpha to beta runs about 0.6:1, which is what governs how fast the bitterness fades in storage.
Oil composition
- Myrcene53.4%
- Humulene33.6%
- Caryophyllene10.8%
- Linalool0.9%
- Farnesene0.7%
- Geraniol0.7%
Normalised to 100% so this hop can be compared like for like. The published components sum to 72.8% of total oil in the source data.
Where it's grown
In 2025: 160 acres in Oregon. That's 160 acres. No. 9 by acreage in Oregon.
Acres by year
| Year | Washington | Oregon | Idaho |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 131 | 377 | withheld |
| 2016 | 191 | 423 | 123 |
| 2017 | 122 | 407 | 182 |
| 2018 | 114 | 354 | 150 |
| 2019 | 66 | 247 | 131 |
| 2020 | withheld | withheld | withheld |
| 2021 | withheld | 159 | withheld |
| 2022 | — | 191 | — |
| 2023 | — | 240 | — |
| 2024 | — | 228 | — |
| 2025 | — | 160 | — |
Acres harvested, from the USDA NASS National Hop Report. Where America's hops grow →
Aroma
In the glass · 24 beers from 10 breweries
- Charlie Foxtrot Aslan Brewing
- E.S.B. Barley Brown's Beer
- Point Blank Red (PBR) Barley Brown's Beer
- Nebula Block 15 Brewing
- Beer Hunter IPA Breakside Brewery
- Life, Volume 2 Breakside Brewery
- Life, Volume 3 Breakside Brewery
- Life, Volume 4 Breakside Brewery
- Life, Volume 5 Breakside Brewery
- Afternoon Leisure Cloudburst Brewing
- Antiques Hopshow Cloudburst Brewing
- Bleed American Cloudburst Brewing
Brewed alongside · in 15 beers that use Crystal 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 Crystal.
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
Parentage unrecorded.
Notes on this record
purpose defaulted to dual, unconfirmed -- was not researched individually for this bulk scaffold pass. Correct before publishing.
For brewers and data folks: this hop as JSON · the source file · where America's hops grow