How Do Hops Affect Beer? A Guide to Popular Varieties and Their Flavors

Hops have fueled the modern beer renaissance. After Prohibition all but destroyed the brewing industry in the U.S., American light lager dominated shelves and taps following its repeal. Variations of the crisp, but not at all hoppy, beer were essentially the only available style in the country for decades. 

Lagers remain wildly popular. But in the early 1980s, a handful of pioneers sought to broaden the market and embraced ales with a hop-forward nature. This spawned an era of unbridled creativity, a renewed interest in hop growing, and new methods in brewing. 

What are hops, and how are they used? 

Hops may look like buds, but they are actually small flowers that grow vertically on bines. A perennial plant, they thrive between the 50th and 40th parallels, but can grow as low as the 30th parallel. 

In the United States, most hops are grown in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Other states like Michigan, New York, and Vermont also grow hops and have dedicated farms. In the Southern Hemisphere, countries that grow hops include Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. 

Hops are harvested in the summer, typically in late August and early September in North America. There are several ways to process hops for brewing. The first is to pick the hops and then immediately transport them to a brewery to be used within 24 hours. These are often called “wet hops” or “fresh hops,” and there’s only a small window to make beers with them. The resulting ales are vibrant, zesty, and filled with bright green flavors. Annual releases are often accompanied by festivals and celebratory events. 

The most famous example is Sierra Nevada Celebration IPA, which is released each fall and features copious amounts of just-picked hops in its recipe. 

For hops that are not used fresh from the bine, many are dried and packaged in mylar bags to ensure freshness. These are called whole cone hops, and they often add a robust aroma and flavor to a beer. 

The third way that hops can be used is to process the dried whole cone hops into pellets, which then resemble rabbit food. These mostly dissolve during the brewing process, but the flavors and aromas of the hops are imparted into the beer. 

Some growers create hop oils that add a concentrated flavor and aromas to beverages. These are becoming more popular in products like hop water. 

What hops contribute to beer

The most common word used to describe hops is bitterness. This comes from the alpha acids that are extracted as the hops are boiled in the brewing process. This is one reason that beers like India pale ales can be polarizing to some drinkers. Humans are prone to avoid bitter flavors in nature as a defense mechanism. 

With a bit of sipping and practice, it’s easy to grow accustomed to bitter notes, even those common in hop-forward styles like West Coast IPAs, and to find more familiar flavors. Depending on the hop variety, notes and aromas can include orange, lemon, lime, pine, resin, marijuana, pineapple, mango, cedar, kiwi, guava, strawberry, blueberry, and more. 

Modern brewers have embraced dry hopping, where hops are added to an already fermented beer. This helps extract the flavors and aromas of hops without the bitterness, which leaves behind lush and juicy hop content. This is popular with styles like New England IPA or Hazy IPA. 

Common hop varieties, and how they taste

There are more than 200 varieties of hops. Brewers will use single varieties or a combination to achieve desired flavors and aromas. Some breweries list the varieties used on taproom menus, cans, or bottles. 

Here are a few notable hops you are likely to encounter and their common attributes.

Anchovy: Named by the brewers of Fast Fashion, this variety is growing in popularity. They claim it has aromas and flavors of “watermelon hard candy, raspberry, and pine.”

Amarillo: A classic American hop that the growers describe as having “sweet citrus flavor [and] a strong citrus aroma of oranges.” 

Cascade: Floral, pine, and spicy, this is a well-used hop that helped bring American pale ales into fashion. 

Citra: Big citrus aromas. Widely popular in hazy IPAs.

Chinook: Aromas and flavors of pine and spice. 

El Dorado: Spice, pine, and grapefruit flavors. 

Fuggles: A traditional English hop that imparts aromas of wood and earth to beers. 

Hallertau Mittelfrüh: A German hop often used in lagers that offers herbal, woody, and floral notes.

Mosaic: One of the most popular modern hops, this has aromas of pineapple and blueberry. It can sometimes take on feline-like aromas as well, a trait common to certain Sauvignon Blancs in the wine world.

Saaz: A famed Czech variety of hops, known to add a spicy note to pilsners. 

Simcoe: A popular hop prized for its aromas of pine, stone fruit, and citrus pith.