The grapefruit IPA has gained a lot of popularity. One of the best known is the grapefruit Sculpin from Ballast Point. While many of these beers contain grapefruit not all of them do. The grapefruit flavor can be complimented by or come entirely from hops.
The most common hops that are used in grapefruit beer are: Centennial, Amarillo, and Cascade. A combination of these three will give you an excellent grapefruit flavor. This is subjective though and there are many other hops that help to promote a grapefruit flavor in beer.
Since there are so many hops that list grapefruit as either an aroma or taste effect I thought I would make a list of them. Feel free to experiment with your favorite hops to make the most delicious and grapefruity beer.
Hops That Have a High Grapefruit Profile
When it comes to making a delicious beer many factors contribute towards its perfection. Below is a list of all hops that have a grapefruit flavor and aroma, just remember they also promote other flavors and aromas so a mixture of hops may be most effective.
| Hop Name | Flavor Profile | Alpha Acids | Primary Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citra | grapefruit, melon, lime, gooseberry, passionfruit and lychee. | up to 15% | Aroma/Flavor |
| Cascade | grapefruit, floral, and citrus. | up to 9% | Aroma/Flavor |
| Chinook | grapefruit, spice, and pine. | up to 15% | Bittering and Aroma/Flavor |
| Amarillo | grapefruit, orange, lemon, melon, apricot and peach. | up to 11% | Aroma/Flavor |
| Apollo | grapefruit, orange, pine, resin, cannabis and citrus. | up to 19% | Bittering and Aroma/Flavor |
| Galena | grapefruit, pear, pineapple, blackcurrant, lime, gooseberry and spicy wood. | up to 15% | Bittering |
| Falconer’s Flight | grapefruit, lemon, floral, citrus, tropical. | up to 12% | Aroma/Flavor |
| Strata | grapefruit, fresh fruit, cannabis, tropical. | up to 12% | Bittering and Aroma/Flavor |
| Olicana | grapefruit, mango, passion-fruit. | up to 9% | Bittering and Aroma/Flavor |
| NZH-107 | grapefruit and passion fruit. | up to 11% | Bittering and Aroma/Flavor |
| Southern Passion | grapefruit, passion fruit, guava, red berries, melon. | up to 11.2% | Bittering and Aroma/Flavor |
| Moutere | grapefruit, passion fruit, spry hay, earthy, baking spice and pine. | up to 18% | Bittering |
| Ahtanum | grapefruit, citrus and geranium some descriptions also are piney. | up to 10% | Bittering and Aroma/Flavor |
The top 4 on the list are probably the most commonly used hops for promoting grapefruit flavor in a beer. A combination of Citra, Cascade and Chinook is very common when creating a grapefruit IPA. Although it would be interesting and fun to play around with the many other hops on the list.
Grapefruit Flavor Notable Mentions
A notable mention that did not make the list is Hallertau Blanc. I’ve seen it on some sites say that it has a grapefruit flavor but others that description is absent. I’ve used Hallertau Blanc before and I did not notice a grapefruit type flavor or aroma.
Somewhat confusing, but I believe they are two different types of hops are Idaho Gem and Idaho 7 hops. Both descriptors state that they have a grapefruit character.
For the life of me I can’t understand why everyone everywhere describes Simcoe hops as having a grapefruit flavor. It is not on any of the hop descriptions anywhere. Its likely that its citrus forward aroma and flavor helps contribute to the overall perception. It’s also used in many grapefruit clones.
How to Choose Hop Combinations
The list above has a column for primary use. It is important to select a hop as a base hop that will retain a neutral flavor when used in bittering. That is why if you want to choose a hop for bittering you will want to either choose one that has a dual use or for bittering only.
While alpha acids are an important contributor to bitterness in beer, it is also a contributor to the flavor and aroma. The longer a high alpha acid is boiled for the more bitterness will be extracted. You can calculate this by using various computer programs such as beersmith.
Dry Hopping and Whirlpooling
When you are going strictly for aroma and flavor from hops it is important to either dry hop or whirlpool. Dry hopping refers to adding the hops in a bag in secondary and whirlpooling is when you add the hops below 180 degrees but not quite room temperature.
You can learn more about whirlpooling hops from my whirlpooling hops with a pump article.
American Hops vs Older Varieties
American hops are becoming well known for their fruity and citrus flavors. After many years of cross breeding new flavors are being developed.
Older hop varieties from Europe tend to have less fruity notes and more earthy, floral and spicy flavors. These older hop varieties stem from the original noble hops. These hops are Hallertau, Saaz, Spalt and Tettnag.
Best Yeast for Grapefruit IPA
Since you will want to keep the flavors from the hops as intact as possible a clean fermenting yeast is your best bet. You can choose from a variety of American yeasts but the most popular is Cal Ale yeast.
You can choose from various yeast producers but white labs WLP001 is the preferred yeast here in southern California where Ballast Point was born.
Actual Grapefruit to Promote Flavor in Beer
While the most common addition in a grapefruit beer is the grapefruit zest or peel it is not unheard of to add actual grapefruit or puree to a beer to make it incredibly juicy and unmistakably grapefruit in flavor.
Check out these links to Adventures in Homebrewing to get your own grapefruit peel, puree and extract.
Make sure you don’t add too much grapefruit flavoring. A little bit can go a long way, like two drops. The flavoring can help augment a beer with flavor but it can often feel like its missing something so its important to add some peel or puree.
Take Inspiration From a Kit
Brewing your first grapefruit IPA can be a bit intimidating. Luckily there are plenty of kits out there that can get you started. By using one of these kits you can get a better understanding of what you want from the beer and augment it to your liking for future batches.
If your new to brewing you can try out this brewers best grapefruit IPA kit.
This isn’t an all grain kit but if you want to brew it all grain in the future just replace the base malt and you should be good to go.
Learn More About Fruit Forward American Hops
American hops are evolving at a fast rate. Farmers are innovating and patenting their own unique hop flavors every year. If you want to learn more about brewing and the affect American hops have on beer check out The Audacity of Hops.
Thanks for reading and remember to check back for more cool stuff at frugal homebrew. I often check in with industry leaders and pick their brain for information on innovation as it happens. Check out the Industry Interviews section.