Hop family
Modern German hops
Recent Hüll-bred varieties that keep German structure while adding fruit — melon, citrus and blackcurrant.
The Hüll breeding programme's answer to the American aroma hops: Mandarina Bavaria, Hallertau Blanc, Huell Melon, Callista and their siblings. They were bred deliberately from noble parentage, so the fruit sits on top of a recognisably German structure rather than replacing it.
That inheritance is what makes them useful in traditional styles. A brewer can add tangerine or gooseberry to a beer without the result tasting American, which is a narrower goal than it sounds and one the C hops cannot meet.
What unites them
Bred at the Hüll research centre from noble parentage crossed for disease resistance and yield, then increasingly for novel aroma. They retain a continental restraint while contributing fruit notes the traditional varieties do not.
Varieties carrying this character
- Callista
A low-alpha German aroma hop bred for pronounced stone-fruit character.
- Diamant
A modern German aroma hop with a clean lemon-citrus character over a noble base.
- Hallertau Blanc
A white-wine-like German aroma hop with gooseberry, passionfruit and grassy character.
- Hallertauer Tradition
A disease-resistant Hüll variety bred as a direct replacement for Hallertauer Mittelfrüh, with a similar noble aroma.
- Huell Melon
A distinctive German variety with unmistakable honeydew melon and strawberry aroma.
- Mandarina Bavaria
A Hüll variety bred from Cascade for pronounced tangerine and citrus character over a German backbone.
- Opal
A German aroma hop with a distinctly peppery spice character.
- Perle
A versatile German dual-purpose hop with clean bitterness and a minty, slightly spicy aroma.
- Polaris
A very high-alpha German variety with an unusual and powerful mint-eucalyptus aroma.
- Saphir
A modern German aroma hop with noble spice alongside a distinct tangerine-citrus lift.
- Smaragd
A soft, floral German aroma hop from the Hüll breeding programme.
11 varieties, grouped by character rather than by pedigree — so hops bred elsewhere to a family’s profile are listed alongside its traditional members, and the count will not always match a list of names given above. A hop can also belong to more than one family. The hop index carries every variety.