Citra
The Basic Statistics
| Alpha Acids | 10 – 15% |
| Purpose | Bittering, Flavour, Aroma |
| Country of Origin | United States |
| Substitutes | None that compare, but similar: Simcoe, Centennial, Mosaic |
| Suitable Beer Styles | Any branch of IPA |
About Citra
Citra hops were first bred in 1990 in a joint collaboration between Gene Probasco and John I. Haas. It wasn’t released into the brewing world until much later in 2007. Standard hop breeds usually take anywhere from 10 – 12 years to reach market anyway, but remarkably, Citra was shopped around and no one wanted it!
Wait, what’s that, no one wanted Citra? Let’s dig a little bit deeper…
Citra was bred from a veritable large range of hops. It’s lineage includes hops such as Brewer’s Gold, Hallertauer Mittelfrüh, US Tettnanger, and East Kent Goldings. The rights to the hop were managed by 3 pretty big breweries who couldn’t see it working with their beers. Fast forward a year or so and by 2008, some smaller craft breweries were helping to finance acerage for it.
It was in 2008 that the Widmer Brothers won a gold medal for their use of the hop in one of their beers at the World Beer Cup. In 2009 Sierra Nevada included it in their Torpedo beer, and the rest they say, is history.
The characteristics of Citra are more than just citrus. Expect tropical fruit, citrus, lychee and more on the nose. Usually it’s bitterness is not one that brewers want in a beer, but it can be used, albeit sparingly with something else to round it out. Excellent when used for dry hopping in large amounts.
More Information
Want to know more?
Ipswich Brewers Union has monthly meetings where we discuss all aspects of home brewing beer. Learn more about malt, hops, yeast and more by coming along! Visit our Events page to find out when the next meeting is on, or hit the Facebook icon below!