Cascade is one of the many

cultivars A cultivar is a kind of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and which retains those traits when propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue cult ...

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...

. Cascade hops are one of the most widely used hops by craft breweries in the United States. Cascade was the most widely planted hop by growers in the US for many years, before being surpassed by Citra hops in 2018.

History

Cascade is a cultivar of hops developed in the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

breeding program at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

by Dr. Stanley Nelson Brooks and Jack Horner. Developed during the 1960s, it was released as an American aroma variety in 1971. It originated from an open seed collection in 1956, including English Fuggle, Russian Serebrianka, and an unspecified male hop variety. In addition to appealing flavor qualities, researchers were looking for resistance to

downy mildew Downy mildew refers to any of several types of oomycete microbes that are obligate parasites of plants. Downy mildews exclusively belong to the Peronosporaceae family. In commercial agriculture, they are a particular problem for growers of c ...

, a threat to hop yards. Cascade was named after the Cascade mountain range that runs through the states of Washington, Oregon, California and the Canadian province of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. The hop variety was first used commercially in 1975 by the Anchor Brewing Company, which established it as a signature hop for American pale ale. The plant is now grown in various places around the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

;

and

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

;

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

; and in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

; Victoria and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Characteristics

A visual characteristic of the plant is its dark green elongated cones which contain moderate to somewhat high amounts of alpha acids compared to many other hop types. The resultant aroma is of medium strength and very distinct. It has a pleasant, flowery and

spicy Pungency ( ) is the taste of food commonly referred to as spiciness, hotness or heat, found in foods such as chili peppers. Highly pungent tastes may be experienced as unpleasant. The term piquancy ( ) is sometimes applied to foods with a lower ...

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

-like quality with a slight

grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The flesh of the fruit is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark red. Grapefru ...

characteristic. The hop is good for both flavor and aroma uses. It can also be used for bittering effectively, and can be used to make any ales, and indeed is characteristic of American pale ales, such as the classic

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

. It is also used in some

lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...

s, for example Sam Adams '76.

Australian/Tasmanian variety

A variety of Cascade has been propagated in

, Australia. It has similar resultant characteristics to the US variety. The Tasmanian variety contains less

myrcene Myrcene, or β-myrcene, is a terpene, monoterpene. A colorless oil, it occurs widely in essential oils. It is produced mainly semi-synthetically from ''Myrcia'', from which it gets its name. It is an intermediate in the production of several frag ...

oil and more humulene oil as well as other smaller differences.

New Zealand variety

A variety of Cascade is also bred in New Zealand. Similarities exist between the US and New Zealand varieties with the NZ version described as citrus moving more toward grapefruit characteristics. Agronomic and

terroir (; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...

impact has been described as positive for the New Zealand type. As of August 2016 Cascade grown in New Zealand is now referred to as Taiheke.

Acid and oil breakdown

References

{{reflist Hop varieties Oregon State University Agriculture in Oregon