Hops

Where do the hops for Asheville's IPAs come from? Mostly from the Pacific Northwest: Washington's Yakima Valley, Oregon's Willamette Valley, and Idaho. In 2025 the US grows hops on 17,057 hectares and supplies around 40 percent of the world's alpha acid, with a harvest of about 37,500 tons (BarthHaas report).

Alpha acid is the compound in hops that turns into bitterness when the wort is boiled. It's measured in IBU, International Bitterness Units: the higher the number, the more bitter the beer. By style guidelines, an American pale ale falls between 30 and 50 IBU, an American IPA between 40 and 70, and a double IPA between 60 and 100.

From Washington or Oregon, the hops travel several thousand kilometers to Asheville in the Blue Ridge Mountains, usually as pellets. These are ground, compressed hop cones that store compactly and allow precise dosing. Kept cool, they lose their essential oils only slowly.

The varieties are recognizable by taste. Cascade, introduced in 1972, smells of grapefruit and flowers and is considered the face of American pale ale. Centennial tastes similar but stronger. Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, and Amarillo bring mango, passion fruit, pine, and orange.

Bitterness and aroma can be separated. Hops boiled early in the brew give bitterness and lose their aroma in the steam. Hops added near the end, or steeped cold in the fermenter, keep their fragrance. This cold-hopping technique is called dry hopping. A hazy IPA uses it heavily and, despite all that hops, comes in at only 25 to 60 IBU.