hops Archives | Short Brews

What Are Citra Hops?

Thomas Short — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 16:51:37 +0000

It’s nearly impossible to find a craft brewery that doesn’t include Citra hops in at least one beer. Citra hops are a delicious hop variety, a large reason why it’s become such a popular hop to brew with. Like Mosaic hops, Citra hops are good for IPAs, especially those of the juicy and hazy variety. Let’s take a look at Citra, a hop that’s good for IPAs in different ways. What Are Citra Hops in Beer? Citra hops are a type of hop variety that brings a juicy, citrusy punch to beer. They’re one of the most widely used hops in craft brewing today, and there’s a good chance you’ve already tasted Citra hops without knowing it. Brewers tend to use Citra most in East Coast IPAs and hazy IPAs because of the soft, fruity quality it adds, but you can sometimes find it in West Coast IPAs and pale ales, too. One benefit of Citra is that it works well alone and with other hops. Citra can be used alone in a beer as a single-hop style, where the whole point is to let the Citra flavor shine, or it can be blended with complementary hops like Mosaic, Galaxy, and Amarillo to create something even more complex. Where Do Citra Hops Come From? Citra hops were developed in Yakima, Washington, around 2007–2008, a result of decades of hop breeding done by hop scientist Gene Probasco. Up until its public release in the late 2000’s, Citra was going by the incredibly catchy name “BHC 394.” Upon its release, brewers across the nation started including it in IPAs. As IPAs became more and more popular, so did Citra. Today, Citra is the #1 most grown hop variety in the United States, and it has been ever since it overtook Cascade hops in 2018. What Does Citra Taste Like in Beer? Citra hops have a bold, tropical flavor and aroma. Oh, and it tastes a lot like citrus, hence the name “Citra.” Think of fruits like mango, orange peel, passion fruit, grapefruit, lime, and peaches. Citra brings a lot of flavor, but the flavors you taste depend on how the brewer uses the hop. Regardless of the style or blend, expect a bright, juicy beer that’s incredibly easy to drink. Citra also has an alpha acid content of around 11-15%, meaning it does bring some bitterness as well. However, this isn’t the bitter flavor that people associate with old-school West Coast IPAs, and it provides more balance to the sweet fruity flavors than anything else. What is a Citra Beer? When you see a beer at your local brewery with a name like “Citra IPA,” “Citra Pale Ale,” or anything else Citra-themed, there’s a pretty good chance that Citra hops are the main hop, or the only hop, included. Brewers do this to show off what a single hop variety can do, and Citra is popular enough to carry a whole beer on its own. But Citra shows up in plenty of popular beers without being named in the title. Psuedo Sue by Toppling Goliath is a famous example of Citra on display, as is Three Floyds’ Zombie Dust. For my West Coasters, the Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing is a Citra-dominated brew. Most craft breweries include information on the hops they’ve included in their beer, so next time you’re looking at a menu, you might notice just how many IPAs take advantage of Citra. What Beer Styles Use Citra Hops? Citra is best in beers that showcase hop flavor over malt, so don’t expect to see Citra hops in a Vienna lager or Pilsner. You’ll most commonly find it in: Why are Citra Hops Popular? Why is Citra so popular? A combination of timing and flavor. Citra came along right as the craft beer boom was really taking off, and it gave brewers a juicy, fruity hop that was incredibly accessible for people just getting into drinking beer. The hop also has enough complexity to not be one-dimensional, so the resulting beer was bound to be interesting. When hazy IPAs exploded in popularity in the 2010s, it cemented Citra’s place as a go-to hop. The soft bitterness and juicy fruit character is exactly the flavor brewers were looking for in a hazy IPA. The hop is also versatile enough that it works for brewers at every scale, from your local brewer to gigantic craft breweries. Its range of flavor, consistent quality, and popularity among beer drinkers (whether they know it or not) are all reasons brewers continue to buy and use Citra hops.

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What Are Mosaic Hops?

Thomas Short — Wed, 16 Jul 2025 14:44:58 +0000

If you’re like most craft beer drinkers (myself included), then you like IPAs. How could you not? They’re the epitome of the United States, using domestically-grown hops and American creativity to turn what was a passable beer into an actually drinkable style. The Mosaic hop is a big reason why today’s IPAs are drinkable (depending on your taste). While it isn’t as widespread as something like Cascade, Citra, or Simcoe, Mosaic brings an awesome blast of flavor and aroma to beers, usually IPAs and ales. What Are Mosaic Hops? Mosaic hops are a hop variety with a complex, juicy flavor that is often used in IPAs. These hops aren’t naturally occurring – they were bred from a combination of Simcoe and Nugget hops. This makes them sort of like ligers; they aren’t normal, but damn are they cool. Like pretty much any hop variety, you’ll find Mosaic hops growing in Washington and Idaho. And what about that cool name? Well, it should make you think of other mosaic things, like windows. A complex combination of colors that creates a masterpiece. But in this masterpiece, we don’t use colors…we use flavors and aromas. What Do Mosaic Hops Taste Like? Mosaic hops are super fruity in flavor, with plenty of citrus, floral, and tropical notes. You know how IPAs can taste incredibly bitter, especially when they start reaching around 6-7% ABV? Ya, these hops aren’t going to do that to your brew (unless the brewer mixes in other hops). For aroma, Mosaic smells a lot like how it tastes; citrussy, floral, and tropical. A lot of brewers utilize Mosaic for single-hopped beers. You can easily find these on menus because they’re often called something like “Mosaic IPA” or “Mosaic Pale.” At least, I assume brewers who name their beers “Mosaic” anything are using Mosaic hops. That, or they’re just fans of the art medium. Mixing these with other hop varieties will create a mega-flavor that’s unmatched. Consider the Born Yesterday IPA from Lagunitas (if you’ve ever had it). The Born Yesterday uses a combination of Amarillo, Equinox, Simcoe, Citra, and Mosaic hops. If you’ve had that beer, you know it’s a burst of IPA flavors. Why Are Mosaic Hops Popular? A lot of people are burnt out on the West Coast style IPA. So, instead of trying to get hoppier and hoppier, brewers just decided to try a different style of hops, leading to juicier IPAs. Mosaic hops will keep an IPA at a high ABV, and because it is an IPA, you can still expect to get some bitterness in whatever beer you drink. But that juicy flavor is king of the world right now, and it’s only getting more popular. So, next time you’re at a local brewery, try picking a beer that uses Mosaic hops and see if you can pull out what that flavor is. It helps if you put it side-by-side with a non-Mosaic IPA. You’ll see what all the rage is about! Mosaic Hops vs Citra Hops: What’s the Difference? Both Mosaic and Citra hops are fantastic for IPAs, and they’re often used together. However, there are some differences to note Citra hops, as you might have guessed, have more of a citrusy flavor, something akin to a passion fruit or stone fruit. Citra hops also tend to have a higher alpha acid content, which generally means stronger flavors and bitterness. Of course, the expression of hops will vary by brewer and style, so take some of these differences with a grain of salt. Just be sure to try a Mosaic solo and Citra solo side-by-side to get a better idea of flavors and aroma.

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What Are IBUs in Beer? Beer Bitterness Explained

Thomas Short — Sat, 17 May 2025 15:23:10 +0000

West Coast IPAs are notorious for being bitter, bitter beers. While some choose to embrace the hops, others bring out the bitter, even though hops can also be bitter. Both are bitter. IPAs are usually pretty bitter, full of IBUs. Bitterness has always been a thing in beer, and at some point in human history, there was a decision made to measure the bitterness of any given beer. In the US, we use the International Bittering Units scale (IBU) to pinpoint just how bitter a beer is. When speaking, we ask what the IBU of a beer is. This is basically just saying, “hey, how bitter is your beer?” While many things about beer are easy and fun, IBUs are, in my opinion, neither. Part of the reason is that, as far as I can tell, some breweries swill measure their IBUs differently. I don’t know why. Before getting into the math (yes, there’s math involved), let’s learn more about bitterness. Let’s Learn More About Beer Bitterness IBUs work well with ABV – while ABV tells you how a beer will make you feel, IBUs give you a hint at how your beer will taste. That’s why they are the most traditional numbers to use when presenting beer (there are plenty of others, like density, but that’s a whole nother story). IBUs are pretty simple, too: the lower the IBU, the less bitter the beer. Technically, the lowest IBU possible is 0, but when a beer is that low it may be more common to just ignore measuring them altogether (as we found out during a recent beer tasting). To give you an idea of IBUs, here are some popular beers and their IBU: Coors Light: 10 Corona Light: 13 Heineken: 23 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale: 37 Guinness: 40 Stone IPA: 71 Flying Monkeys Alpha Fornication: 2500 I’ve never had the Flying Monkeys beer, but if you want to send me money to buy and taste it that’s ok with me. Right about now you probably have two things on your mind: The second point is a good point. Why is that? Well, Guinness is bitter, but it’s also a stout which means it’s heavy on malt. Sierra Nevada, on the other hand, is one of those breweries that likes to accentuate the bitterness of a brew. Even though it has a lower IBU, the beer presents the hops better by reducing malt. How Are IBUs Measured? IBUs are calculated by taking a measurement of boiling hops, taking the percentage of alpha acid and taking the total hop utilization boil time – then multiplying all of them and dividing them by 7.25 for every 5 gallons of beer. Let me break this down for you. Let’s say we use an ounce of some citra hops. Perfect and delicious. These hops have alpha acids; more specifically, let’s say they’re 12% alpha acid. We’re single hopping this to keep it easy, so let’s say 31% utilization. To crunch the numbers, just do 1 x 12 x 31 = 372. Then we divide this by 7.25, so our total IBU would be 51.3. Honestly, that makes sense to me since citra hops are used commonly in IPAs, and IPAs should be around 40-60 IBU (unless they’re bitter heavy). If we were to have other hops and utilization, we would take their alpha acids, punch in the utilization and then add all the IBU totals together. I know, it’s confusing to try and teach through writing. I don’t write math text books, I write about beer. What’s a High IBU? Generally, anything over 60 IBUs would be considered high. Of course, that doesn’t mean it would be high for your palette. Heck, 60 might seem low to you! Or anything over 40 could be way too bitter to tolerate. It’s also worth noting that, while 60 is pretty high, it’s definitely not nearly as high as it could go. IBUs can easily reach 100, which at that point is making a beer bitter for the sake of bitterness. Is a High IBU Better? High IBUs are not better, but they’re also not worse. IBU is just another way to measure the flavor and profile of a beer, sort of like ABV or the hop varieties used. Whether a high IBU is better or not is up to you.

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What Makes Hazy IPAs Hazy?

Thomas Short — Sat, 03 Jun 2023 18:54:35 +0000

If you’ve come looking for a cut and dry definition of what makes a hazy beer hazy, then you’re out of luck. This is because no such definition exists (sort of like with most styles of beer). But you’ve heard of hazy IPAs. You might have jumped on the haze train, too. You might be Haze Boi. You might live for the haze and die for the haze. Or maybe you think hazy beers are gross. Regardless of your level of fascin-HAZE-tion, this is a trend that, like all trends, is going to get bigger and bigger until it crumbles under the weight of its own size. After the dust settles, we’ll only have the best of the haze left. Until that happens, let’s explore how some breweries make that haze. 4 Ways to Make a Hazy IPA The secret to making a hazy IPA is that…there is more than one way to make a hazy IPA. Here are some common (albeit not all great) ways to make a hazy IPA hazy. 1. Unfiltered hazy IPA There’s a lot of stuff that goes into making beer – well, only four “stuffs,” at the minimum. Even still, this stuff comes with…stuff. Let’s look at yeast, for example. When brewing ales, all that yeast is going to get mixed up in the beer. Now that brewing is uber-sophisticated, brewers are able to remove the flocculated (clumped together) yeast. But what happens when you don’t filter that yeast out? Well, those tiny yeast particles can keep floating around. Hop compounds will then attach directly to the yeast, resulting in a cloudier beer appearance – and potentially even a purer hop flavor. This is what we call an unfiltered IPA. What about the flocculated yeast? Well, it’s there…and sometimes it stays there. Sometimes it even ends up in a can of an expensive hazy IPA you bought, so when you pour the last bit into a glass a nice, juicy clump of yeast plops in, ruining your appetite. 2. Use the right hazy IPA hops I don’t know if you pay attention to the hops in your beers that often, but many breweries will list the hop variety used – particularly for pale ales and IPAs, since the flavor is largely depending on the hop. Next time you’re slamming a haze, you might notice that your beer has Citra hops, or maybe Amarillo, Simcoe, Mosaic or, if you’re in luck, Galaxy. That’s because these are juicier hops to start, unlike hops like Centennial (which can also be used for hazy IPAs, but I digress). Interestingly enough, hazy IPAs depend on strong hop flavor, just without a lot of the bitterness that you might find in your West Coast style. A lot of that depends on the hop used. The type of hop used also matters. And by type, I mean using dry-hopping. Dry-hopping is essentially adding little hop-pellets to the haze after the beer already started fermenting. This thickens things up and adds tons of hop flavor. Related: Beer Terminology and Buzz Words 3. High-protein beer malts If you use high-protein malts, you’re gonna get hazier beer. Protein and hop polyphenols like each other, so they cling together and hold on for dear life. The result is a beer that’s hazier, longer. The type of protein matters, too. One protein popularly used in hazy beers is lactose – yes, the milk stuff, sort of. Not only does lactose create a milky-haze, but it adds a unique flavor. In the biz, these hazy IPAs are usually referred to as milkshake IPAs. Side note: if you add a ton of protein, you can get swole drinking beer. 4. Add flour to an IPA to make it hazy Just a side note: I don’t care for this type of hazy style because I find it too heavy, which is basically a gripe because it’s hard to have more than one at a time. How do some brewers make that haze? By adding flour, of course! Flour thickens things up nicely, and it’s the most important (and pretty much only) ingredient of crackers, in case you didn’t know. A brewer (or you!) can get a hazier beer by adding flour to the boil. Does this change the beer in any significant way? Not really. But it does make that beer look hazy, and when you’re drinking hazy beer that’s all that matters, right? Right? Before I start to ramble on and list 20 different ways to make it haze, there are tons of other ways brewers make hazy IPAs, and some are unwilling to share their secrets. Haze Isn’t Just a Style of Beer… Haze isn’t just some style of beer; it’s a style of life. But actually, just think about how arbitrary the term “hazy” is. What makes a beer hazy? Opaqueness? I can hardly see through my barrel-aged barleywine and I wouldn’t call it hazy for a moment. Is it cloudiness? Well, I’ve had milkshake IPAs that were certainly cloudy, but I’ll attribute that more to ingredients like lactose. I also don’t count milkshake IPAs as hazy IPAs because a guy has to draw the line somewhere. If some brewers are adding flour to make haze while others are brewing a juicy IPA where hazy happens to be a result, then it really becomes impossible to determine what exactly makes a hazy beer hazy. In my opinion, haze is a philosophy, a mantra. You’re a Haze Boi or you aren’t. #HazeBois

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What Are Beer Hops?

Thomas Short — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 18:38:46 +0000

After recently learning that Cyberhops are apparently a real thing, I realized that I’ve overlooked something. I’ve never written about hops, what they are, and why anyone should care. I’ve explored fresh hops. I’ve explored varietals. I’ve even explored how that Corona you’re buying for Cinco de Mayo doesn’t have real hops. So, consider this an ode to hops, the little green guys that help your beer get such a great flavor. What Are Hops: An Overview Before we get deep into hops and stuff, I’ll briefly cover an overview of hops. Hops, aka Humulus lupulus, are considered to be one of the four main ingredients of beer (along with water, grain, and yeast). While hops in the wild grow like a little green pinecone, the hops we have in beer often come in pellet form. Some hops come as a dust, but that’s a tale for another time. What do hops smell and taste like? What gives hops their incredible flavors and smells is a blend of chemicals including alpha acids, terpenes, and flavonoids. When brewed in conjunction with yeast, barley, and other tasty beer ingredients, the olfactory profile of hops pops. Generally, hops vary in smell and taste to such a degree that I’m not even going to provide a blanket statement. And that’s the beauty of hops! There’s a little something for everyone. What Are Hops: A History The history of hops is a little convoluted considering that they existed for thousands and thousands of years before humans discovered their tasty use. According to my friend Wikipedia, hop cultivation was first recorded in 736 in modern-day Germany. Beer first started incorporating hops as late as 1079, and several hundred years later the use of hops started to threaten the use of gruit. This is partly because the Catholic Church didn’t tax hops while it did tax gruit. Side note: Find a gruit beer. Hops were on a roll at this point in time, and they continued rolling into the massive industry adjacent to beer that we have today. What’s In Hops: Chemicals, Acids, and Fun! Ok, we know that hops are a plant that flower, not unlike marijuana…but that’s another post about marijuana beer. Here are the four main components of hops: Alpha Acids: These guys are responsible for a lot of the beer flavor found in beer, particularly the bitterness. It’s not uncommon for hops to list the alpha acid count so brewers know just how deep into bitterness they’re going. Terpenes: I once wrote a long, boring article about terpenes which has long since been removed from the internet, but I’ll give you an overview. Terpenes are basically an essential oil found in marijuana and hops and are responsible for strong aromas. Flavonoids: If you read flavonoid and immediately thought flavor, well guess what, you’re wrong. Flavonoid comes from the Latin word flavus, which means yellow. Frustratingly, flavonoids do play a role in influencing the flavor of beer, so in a roundabout way I guess you were right. Beta Acids: Not as important as alpha acids, beta acids affect the smell of beer. What Kinds Of Hops Are There? Ok, time for the best part: an exploration of hop varietals! Yahoo! Mosaic Hops Mosaic hops are super fruity and are a common ingredient for many ales, particularly IPAs. These hops are really fruity in flavor and will mainly be found in something like a Hazy IPA. Citra Hops Unlike Mosaic, Citra Hops are used in ales, particularly IPAs. Wait, they’re almost exactly the same as Mosaic…Well, Citra Hops have a great citrusy flavor, and they blend very well with Mosaic hops. Citra and Mosaic have different alpha acid levels too, something to note. Simcoe Hops Breaking from tradition, Simcoe hops are responsible for providing a burst of bitter to beer. Also great for IPAs, these hops are going to be found more commonly in a West Coast IPA.w

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What Are Simcoe Hops?

Thomas Short — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 04:28:42 +0000

Over a year ago I thought, “you know what people want to learn about? Hops.” I really have no idea if most people are actually interested in hops. You might not be. Maybe you already left this blog post. If you did, you wouldn’t even know that I’m talking about you right now. But hey, I’m interested in hops, so that must mean you’re all interested, right? Right? Simcoe. Simcoe hops. These are the little guys that have probably been involved in at least half of the beers you drank this past year. That’s a total guesstimate, especially because I have no clue what your drinking habits are, but I think I’m right. How about this? If you’ve had an IPA in the past, I don’t know, 15 years, you’ve probably had Simcoe hops. For the rest of this post I’ll talk about some of the Simcoe’s traits, as well as some of the history behind the hop variety. While I don’t love Simcoe the same way I love Citra, I think this hop variety is important enough to discuss. Lastly: I don’t care about alpha acids enough to write about them, but if you really care then the alpha acid content is Simcoe 12-14%. Happy? What are Simcoe hops? For those who don’t know, Washington State is the home of roughly 77% of the nation’s hops. Many hops are not only grown in Washington, but were born in Washington, too. Back in the Lord’s year of 2000, post Y2K scare and the beginning of the decade referred to as the “aughts,” Yakima Chief Ranch released this beauty of a hop. I assume this Washington-based hop farm knew that the next 18 years would be heavily dominated by ultra-bitter IPAs, and that brewers needed an absolute monster of a hop to work with. Enter Simcoe. There are tons of different uses for Simcoe, but the hop has widely been used for brewing bitter pale ales and IPAs. This is why you can find Simcoe in…well, pretty much every craft brewery in the nation. What do Simcoe hops taste like? I’m not really a taste/scent connoisseur, but it’s pretty clear that Simcoe adds flavor to beers that tend to be more bitter (ales, IPAs). According to my new favorite wiki, it’s fairly similar to Cascade hops. I’m sure you’re all dying to learn more about Cascade hops. Well, that’s for a “Let’s Learn! Cascade Hops” post that’s TBD. So, another time. You’re distracting me from the point of this. The point is, when you think Simcoe, think bitter and piney. What’s a Simcoe Beer? Unless your local brewer is totally pulling your tail, a Simcoe Beer is any beer with Simcoe hops. Yup, it’s that easy. In fact, you can follow pretty much the exact same logic for beers made with Citra hops, Mosaic hops, or other hop varietals. And God bless brewers because they often will call a beer “Simcoe IPA” or something so simple and clean that you can’t even mistake that yes, there are Simcoe hops in this beer. Why do brewers use Simcoe? If I had to guess I would say…because they can? There’s no denying that the IPA is the face of craft brewing. Love it or hate it, that’s what it is. While Hazy IPAs are moving away from the trend, many brewers in the late aughts and early 2010’s (tens?) wanted to make the bitterest bad boys they could brew. Looking at you, Sierra Nevada. Simcoe is often considered a more bitter, woody Cascade hop, which is another popular hop to use for IPAs. So, to get a more bitter blend, brewers started leaning on Simcoe. But Simcoe is no one trick pony. No, Simcoe also adds a wonderful woody aroma to beers. That’s why it’s possible to make a delicious single-hopped IPA using only Simcoe. Simcoe tickles all your olfactory sensors.

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What’s a Lager?

Thomas Short — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 23:04:33 +0000

In the past, I went over the basics of an ale. Because there really are only two main types of beer (and because I have a fun article planned for Friday), I figured it was time to talk about lagers. If you’ve had beer, then you’ve had a lager…but you might not know it. Here’s a little spoiler: if your beer is famous for being the coldest beer with the coldest mountain water, your beer is a lager. Get to the Point, What’s a Lager The best way to describe a lager is to show how it’s different from ales. First, lagers use a different type of yeast than ales – specifically, they use saccharomyces pastorianus. From here on out, we’ll replace this long, science name with our own name: lager yeast. Second, lager ferments when it’s cold while ales ferment in warmer conditions. The cool temperature is great for the lager yeast, and it allows the beer to take in all the malty and hoppy flavors. Third, lagers take quite a bit more time than typical ales. While an IPA can be banged out in a handful of weeks, most lagers will take at least a few months to reach peak-drinkability. Fun fact: lager comes from the German lager, which means storeroom, or more specially a cold storeroom. So, lagers use a different yeast and fermentation process than IPAs. Why Are Lagers Boring? Every so often I get asked (and after drinking shitty, cheap beer, find myself asking) “why are lagers so boring?” The answer? They aren’t boring, you’re boring! Lagering is a difficult, time-consuming process. There are tons of spots where a brewer can make an error and the lager can come out tasting like liquid garbage. When done correctly, the result is a flawless, crisp beer. However, there’s beauty in simplicity. A well-done lager should be appreciated for what it is – a well-done lager. No, you aren’t going to have some hazy, juicy, hoppy lager. If that’s what you want, buy an IPA. Also, have you ever had so many IPAs that you can’t imagine drinking another? Yup, any beer seems boring when you drink it enough. Lagers will always have a place, and there will always be a time when you want a lager. Oh, by the way, you probably drink lagers, anyway. Lagers You Know And (Hopefully Don’t) Love Here are some famous lagers: Budweiser, Miller, Hamms, PBR, Ranier, Olymipa, etc., etc., etc. Why do these guys make lagers instead of ales? Because it’s cheap and easy for them. Yes, it does take them roughly 6-7 weeks to get a batch of beer out, but the process is so simple for them by this point. “But Thomas, you said lagering is harder than making ales!” It is…if you want a good beer. Beers produced by these big companies, by all standards, are not good beers. Look, I can point out myriad reasons on why these big companies insist on making lagers instead of ales. Instead, I’ll point out one truth consistent among any large corporation: They cut costs. They are brewing as cheaply as they can. They know what they’re doing. These types of beers mostly get a bad rep in America because of these big guys, but if you’ve ever had a European style Helles, Pilsner, Dunkel or other variety of lager, then you understand why people ever liked them to begin with.

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