Get to Know Your Favorite Hop | Cascade

Discover the bold citrus of Cascade, and how this surprisingly rock’n roll hop variety impacted the American craft beer revolution.

It might have taken a few years to catch on, but Cascade played an integral role in beer culture’s evolution toward big hoppy flavors in the 1980s and 90s. That makes it sound fairly academic, but it actually involved the Grateful Dead and the birth of Sierra Nevada’s timeless Pale Ale. 

If you stop and think about it, craft beer wouldn’t be what it is today without Cascade. It walked so varieties like Citra® could run, and the acceptance of hop-forward Pale Ales paved the way for today’s bold IPAs. 

Is it the quintessential American hop? Sure, you could say that. Did it fuel the American craft beer revolution? Arguably, yes. Does it make phenomenal beer with juicy grapefruit flavor? Hell yes!

Want to learn more about this remarkable hop? Ready to dive in and start brewing? Discover the origins, aromas, and endless brewing possibilities of Cascade.

Cascade Flavor & Aroma

Cascade is like a trusty’ ol Swiss Army Knife – it can do everything. Want to use it for bittering? Go for it. With Alpha Acids ranging from 4.5-8.9%, Cascade is a perfectly acceptable bittering hop. Interested in using Cascade as an aroma hop? Now, that’s a GREAT idea!

When we say citrus, think BIG notes of grapefruit complemented with sweet florals and earthy spice. When we say pine, imagine an invigorating walk through an evergreen forest. It’s bright, zesty, and the combination of these features creates flavors and aromas that are bracing and delicious. 

Sierra Nevada Co-Founder Ken Grossman discussed Cascade’s relatively high oil content with Hop Culture, saying how impressed he was with its strong aromatic impact back in the 1970s.¹ 

Grossman explained that a pound of Cascade with 1.5-2% oil had a much more potent aroma profile compared to Saaz or Hallertau at 0.5% oil. “The impact of quantity but also terpenes and aromatic compounds in Cascade have their own unique signature and are much different from what you found back then in the classic aroma hops.”

It’s also worth noting that, while it originated in Oregon, today you can find Cascade varieties from the East Coast and even from New Zealand, Argentina, and Australia. Varieties grown in New York, for example, can include notes of a native wild black raspberry called “dewberry.” 

Chris Holden, co-owner of New York-based The HOPGUILD, told Ollie, “Our small growing regions here in New York, with the added benefit of some of the oldest and richest soil on the planet, help bring a certain pizazz to the Cascade hop that could be considered ‘exotic.’”² 

Obviously, Cascade works well in Pale Ales and IPAs, but today’s brewers know its versatility lends itself to a wide range of beer styles. Certain techniques help bring out different features, like how mash hopping can bring out the juicy aroma potential in Cascade’s bound thiols. 

Basically, a creative brewer can do a LOT with this hop. Think lagers, pilsners, wheat beers, kölsch, or even barley wine! Sure, you COULD substitute Cascade with other varieties like Centennial, Amarillo®, or Citra®, but why bother when Cascade is such a multi-talented performer?!

Before Cascade, It Was USDA 56013

During the 1950s, the USDA Breeding Program at Oregon State University began their work on the hop variety that would one day become Cascade. At the time, they referred to it as USDA 56013.

Charles Faram explains that Cascade, “is the result of the open pollination of a Fuggle-type seedling that was derived from crosses with the Russian Serebrianker variety.”³ The first commercial crop was released in 1968, but no one took interest for several years. 

At the time, major breweries opted for European Noble varieties like Saaz and Hallertau. While its ratio of alpha and beta acids was similar to some noble varieties, USDA 56013 was simply too different.

It was eventually named “Cascade” after Oregon’s beautiful mountain range, and released to the public in 1972. Verticillium wilt impacted German hop imports, and suddenly American macrobreweries needed other options. 

Coors took a chance on Cascade, and their interest quickly caused a spike in acreage. While they ended up moving on from Cascade after finding it wasn’t as similar to Hallertauer as they’d hoped, it did mark a significant turning point.⁴

US brewers could now see the value in American-grown hops and microbrewers and homebrewers began experimenting with Cascade. One such brewer was Ken Grossman, the future Co-Founder of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.

Grossman liked its big aroma, and his first attempt at that iconic Pale Ale took place in 1980. “Ten batches later, he finally nails it. New on the scene, Cascade hops give Pale Ale intense aromas of pine and citrus, a signature that soon sparks the American craft beer revolution.”⁵

Much like Cascade’s beginnings, it took people a while to warm up to Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale. It wasn’t until the late 1980s and early 90s that they noticed spikes in Bay Area sales that happened to coincide with Grateful Dead concerts. 

A lot of Deadheads back in those days, because they couldn’t easily get [Pale Ale] on the East Coast and throughout the tour, bought cases of it and took it with them as they drove across the country, selling it in parking lots. We still contribute a lot of our early successes on word of mouth but also that scene of Deadheads; they’re pretty loyal to their band, they travel well, and that’s how our beer spread in the early days via parking lots of concerts.

Sierra Nevada Product Manager, Terence Sullivan

A Liquid Legend: The Story of How Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Stays Timeless After Four Decades

Hop Culture

Today, Sierra Nevada still uses Cascade in their Pale Ale as the first kettle addition all the way through to the final addition in the hop strainer. And while varieties like Citra® and Mosaic® have slowly overtaken Cascade in terms of acreage in recent years, there’s no denying that it’s here for the long haul.⁶

Cascade Beyond Beer

With emerging and blurring beverage categories, there’s never been a better time to experiment with formulations — and versatile Cascade might be just what you’re looking for!

Hop waters, for example, appeal to seltzer drinkers and even beer customers who might want an alternative to non alcoholic beer. Cascade might even be the blast of vivid citrus flavor that the growing functional drink and NA beverage categories need.

Want Ideas for Adding Hop Water to Your Menu? Get inspiration HERE!

Cascade can shine on its own, but we think blending it with other hops, fruit, or even cannabis-inspired flavors could create the next elevated beverage experience customers are craving. You could play up Cascade’s natural fruit flavors with even MORE Grapefruit, add a tropical twist of Guava, an unexpected hit of Honeydew, and so much more. 

All of that starts by brewing with the true flavor and aroma of Cascade, and that’s exactly what you’ll get in our CAS Quantum Profile. 

Our Quantum Series starts with hops… and only hops. Using whole Cascade hops and pellets, we perform the highest quality extractions in the industry, so you’re JUST getting vibrant flavors and aromas with no undesirable compounds. No lab formulations, just every last drop of authentic Cascade flavor and aroma we could squeeze out of the plant.

Want to brew with the flavor and aroma of Cascade… forever? While Quantum is solely derived from hops, our CASX017 Omni Hop Profile is sourced from sustainable botanicals. With this as the foundation, we then layer in terpenes and other compounds to formulate, replicate, and standardize the flavor and aroma so it can be recreated indefinitely. 

Plus, once you get your optimized hop extract in your hands, you can ditch several common brewing issues. Compared to whole hops, pellets, and even other hop extracts, our profiles have:

• No yield loss from absorption
• 100% utilization rate
• Logistical cost savings
• No need for carriers
• Reduced labor by an order of magnitude
• No “hop creep” 
• And MORE

You can even differentiate your brand with exclusive flavors and aromas customers won’t get anywhere else. Want to add an element of dank? Prefer the softer side of citrus? Customize your CAS and get the precise flavor and aroma you want!

Abstrax | Brew the True Flavor and Aroma of Cascade

Ready to start brewing? Today, it’s easier than ever. 

Unlike traditional extracts, our Optimized Hop Extracts offer varietal-specific flavors and aromas with no alpha acids and no undesirable plant compounds to gunk up your tank. They have a 100% utilization rate, they don’t require carriers, they offer logistical cost savings, and there’s zero “hop creep.”

Contact us today, and let’s get you brewing with the flavors and aromas of this legendary hop!

1. Lee-Weitz, G. (2023, June 21). A Liquid Legend: The Story of How Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Stays Timeless After Four Decades. Hop Culture. https://www.hopculture.com/sierra-nevada-pale-ale-legend/

2. Albanese, G. (2024, May 8). Cascade Hops: A Brewer’s Guide. Ollie. https://getollie.com/blog/cascade-hop-guide

3. Cascade Hop Specifications and Characteristics. Charles Faram. (2025, June 25). https://charlesfaram.com/hop-oracle/cascade/#:~:text=Cascade%20was%20bred%20in%20Oregon,with%20the%20Russian%20Serebrianker%20variety.

4. Haunold, A. (2010, January 25). In Hop Pursuit. In Hop Pursuit: Cascade: How Adolph Coors Helped Launch the Most Popular US Aroma Hop and the Craft Beer Revolution. In Hop Pursuit. https://inhoppursuit.blogspot.com/2010/01/cascade-how-adolph-coors-helped-launch.html

5. How Our Adventure Started. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (n.d.). https://sierranevada.com/about-us

6. Craft Beer & Brewing. (2022, June 19). Infographic: Top Hops Going Into 2022. https://beerandbrewing.com/infographic-top-hops-going-into-2022?recombee_recomm_id=539ba7f1-84c4-442e-bb47-5ae1372818c7