Yakima Chief Hops Citra Pellets (T90)

Yakima Chief Hops Citra hop pellets bring one of the most sought-after aroma varieties in brewing straight from the fertile hop yards of the Yakima Valley to your home brewery. Grown and processed by a farmer-owned cooperative with decades of cultivation expertise, these pellets are produced from whole cone hops that are kilned, milled, and pelletized shortly after harvest to lock in their signature character. Citra is beloved for its intense tropical fruit and citrus profile, delivering notes of mango, passionfruit, lychee, gooseberry, and lime zest that have made it a cornerstone variety in modern IPAs, pale ales, and hazy styles. Home brewers reach for this hop specifically because it offers commercial-quality aromatics without needing a direct line to a professional hop supplier.

Each pellet is formed through a low-heat compression process that preserves the lupulin glands where the essential oils and alpha acids reside, ensuring that the hop's aromatic compounds remain stable and potent until the moment you add them to your kettle or fermenter. Yakima Chief Hops packages these pellets in nitrogen-flushed, foil-lined bags that protect against oxygen exposure and light degradation, two of the biggest threats to hop freshness during storage. This packaging approach means home brewers can buy in larger quantities and portion out what they need for each batch while keeping the remainder shelf-stable in the freezer for months without significant loss of potency, a practical advantage for anyone who brews regularly or wants to experiment across multiple recipes.

Versatile across brewing techniques, these Citra pellets perform well whether used for bittering additions early in the boil, flavor and aroma additions in the whirlpool, or dry hopping during fermentation to maximize that juicy, fruit-forward punch. The typical alpha acid range, generally falling between 11 and 13 percent depending on the harvest year, gives brewers reliable bittering capacity alongside the aromatic payoff, making it a flexible choice for single-hop showcases or as a key component in a multi-hop blend. Because Yakima Chief Hops maintains rigorous quality control and traceability from farm to package, home brewers can expect consistent results batch after batch, which is especially valuable when trying to replicate a favorite recipe or dial in a new one featuring this iconic hop variety.