Hop family
Modern tropical hops
High-oil varieties bred since the 2000s for intense mango, passionfruit and stone-fruit aroma.
The varieties bred since the 2000s for total oil content rather than for alpha acid: Citra, Mosaic, Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin and their many successors. They carry mango, passionfruit, stone fruit and citrus at intensities the older aroma hops cannot reach, and they are the reason a modern IPA smells the way it does.
Much of that character is not free in the hop at all. It arrives as thiols and other bound compounds that yeast enzymes release during fermentation, which is why the same hop tastes different depending on when it is added and which yeast is working, and why these varieties reward dry hopping during fermentation rather than after it.
What unites them
Bred specifically for aroma intensity, with very high total oil and, in several cases, high concentrations of thiol precursors that produce tropical fruit character when released by yeast during fermentation. These are the varieties that made the hazy IPA possible.
Grouped by what they smell like rather than by breeding or origin.
Varieties carrying this character
- African Queen
A South African hop with an unusual blackcurrant and dark-berry character alongside tropical fruit.
- Azacca
A bright modern American hop with mango, papaya and citrus over a piney base.
- Barbe Rouge
A French aroma hop with a distinctive red-fruit character rare in European varieties.
- Cashmere
A soft, aromatic American hop with lemon, lime and melon over a gentle herbal base.
- Citra
The defining modern aroma hop: intense grapefruit, lime, mango and passionfruit, and the most-used variety in American craft brewing.
- Denali
A modern American hop with pineapple, citrus and a distinctive pine-cone character.
- Eclipse
An Australian aroma hop with a pronounced mandarin character and an unusually high alpha for an aroma variety.
- Ekuanot
A versatile modern hop with melon, lime and green pepper character.
- El Dorado
A sweet, candy-like modern American hop with pronounced pear drop, watermelon and stone fruit.
- Ella
An Australian dual-purpose hop with floral, aniseed and tropical character.
- Enigma
An Australian variety with redcurrant, white wine and melon character.
- Galaxy
An Australian hop with extraordinary oil content and overwhelming passionfruit and peach character.
- Harlequin
A modern English aroma hop with pronounced peach and pineapple character.
- Idaho 7
An Idaho-bred hop with apricot, mango and a distinctive black-tea and pine character.
- Loral
A modern American hop bred to bridge noble and New World character — floral and peppery with dark fruit.
- Melba
An Australian hop named for the peach dessert, with a matching stone-fruit profile.
- Mosaic
A complex modern hop layering blueberry, mango and stone fruit over a resinous base — the other half of the modern IPA pairing.
- Olicana
A modern English hop bred for tropical character, and evidence that English breeding moved on from Fuggle and Goldings.
- Sabro
An unusual modern American hop with coconut, tangerine and cedar character, derived from a wild neomexicanus lineage.
- Sorachi Ace
A Japanese-bred hop with a lemon and dill character unlike anything else in commercial use.
- Southern Aroma
A low-alpha South African aroma hop, unusually restrained for the region.
- Southern Passion
A South African aroma hop with intense passionfruit and guava character, and the best-known variety from a small but distinctive growing region.
- Strata
A modern Oregon variety with passionfruit and grapefruit over a distinctive dank, cannabis-like base.
- Styrian Wolf
A modern Slovenian variety bred for tropical intensity rather than for noble character.
- Summer
A delicate Australian aroma hop with apricot and melon character.
- Talus
A Sabro-derived variety with pink grapefruit, sage and a distinctive dried-fruit note.
- Triumph
An American aroma hop combining citrus and tropical character in a balance close to Citra.
- Vic Secret
An Australian hop with pineapple, passionfruit and pine, close in character to Galaxy.
- Vista
A recent American aroma variety with a soft tropical and berry profile.
29 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.