It might also show just how much we don’t know about genetics, or to what degree genes and/or other factors are really determining characteristics. The fact that cloned varieties change so much with time and place suggests genetics aren’t the be all and end all.
Cascade has changed? In what way?
Are hops GMO?
Absolutely not.
Hop breeding will select hops with flavors and aromas that were culled from the breeding program in past years. They may start off with 40-50k plants from the crosses, then selectively elimate ones that don’t meetagranomics first, then for the brewing qualities.
Only in the sense that cats and dogs are GMO. ;D
Then it’s probably not that, huh?
When I first tasted Liberty Ale and Sierra Nevada, I recall a distinct lemony character. Subjective, and memory dependent, but I’ve heard others say that too.
You need to account for year to year crop variations and terroir. A lot of Cascade from one farm will not be exactly like one from another farm. Even on the same farm there can be lot to lot variations. That’s why brewers go to Yakima to sample from different lots and select exactly the lot they want. Steve Dresler, from Sierra Nevada, is there every year…or was til he retired last year.
Or humans!
What I understand is that brewers don’t want GMO hops or barley, so no market for those.
Kinda my point. So many things affect character, there’s probably genetic drift, and genes probably that affect response to climate and terroire, so it shouldn’t be surprising that a hop doesn’t taste like a 50/50 blend of some example of two parents. Seems hop breeding is kind of a “black box” situation.
I’m not sure about your “genetic drift” point. It’s not something I’ve ever heard discussed. Lemme look into it with YCH and see if I can come up with any info.
Cool. Experts are good! Stuff I’ve just wondered about. But the question being why Citra is what it is, that’s the black box part in breeding anything I think. They make so many crosses, not knowing what they’ll get.
You’re exactly right about not knowing what they’ll get. And I don’t think intentional breeding is quite as common as you think. Sure, they do it, but many new varieties are discovered rather than bred. And keep in mind that hop growers look as much, if not more, for form factor and hardiness.
And for the record, I wasn’t suggesting that Brewers Gold + Mittelfruh directly = Citra based on the attributes of both only. 
I do get that there’s a fair amount of blind luck and tons of experimentation done to get the new hops we buy. But just as there is breeding to find out what produces disease resistant tomatoes or potatoes, or what promotes a crisper, juicier apple with great sweet/acid balance, I strongly doubt that successful companies like HBC rely on ONLY blind luck to develop Citra, Ekuanot, etc. If I’m wrong I’ll gladly stand corrected.
At Hop School they said Agronomics comes first. Disease resistance, yield per acre, ease of processing, time of maturity, and so on. One plant was pointed out that had a huge crown at the top, Jason Perrault said that was a failure as it would jam their machinery. When they get to a certain point in development, they brew beer with them on a homebrew set up. It looked like many use a 20 gallon More Beer system.
There seems to be some luck, but the pros like Jason Perrault have a good feel for what increases their chances.
You are correct, it’s not ONLY luck. But a very large part of it is.
Good info from all. Pretty interesting topic. I found it interesting that the hop we know as Citra would come from milder, lower oil ‘parents’. Crossbred combos make for interesting possible outcomes. The world of mix breed dogs comes to mind.
Lemme tell ya, Hop and Brew School IS a real education. Hope you can make it someday.
I’d love to, Denny. It’s a bucket list thing. Someday!
I recently got some cascade hops from Ted. Holy cow. Another level of delicious.