Hop variety · 🇺🇸 US

Centennial

Lemon grapefruit floral. Bred at Washington State University, released 1990.

Alpha acid
9.5–11.5 %
Total oil
1.5–2.5 mL/100 g
3MH-family thiols
Significant
4MMP
Low
Data
Verified

Aroma in one line

Brewers describe Centennial as lemon grapefruit floral. In Hoparoma's hop notes its thiol character is filed as classic citrus. Part of its fruit character comes from bound thiol precursors; the rest rides on the oils listed below.

Brewing values

Typical ranges come from supplier datasheets and lot certificates; the median column pools 12 published sources. Oil fractions are percent of total oil.

MeasureTypical rangeMedian
Alpha acid %9.5–11.510
Beta acid %3–5–
Cohumulone % of alpha23–30–
Total oil mL/100 g1.5–2.51.9
Myrcene %45–6550
Humulene %10–2014
β-Caryophyllene %5–87
Farnesene %0.1–13
β-Pinene %0.90.9
Linalool %0.4–0.80.6
Geraniol %0.2–0.50.3

Range source: Crosby Hops Centennial + USDA ARS 21507.

Thiol potential

3MH family (passionfruit, grapefruit) Significant
4MMP (blackcurrant, catty) Low

Most of a hop's thiol aroma sits in the cone as odourless precursors bound to cysteine or glutathione; free thiols are a small fraction of the pool Gros et al. 2012 Kishimoto 2009. The tiers above summarise published precursor measurements and supplier statements for this variety. They are qualitative on purpose: Hoparoma's internal weighting is not published, and lot-to-lot variation is large.

Variety note: Crop year stability high; 2022 to 2024 variation under about 0.5 percentage point.

Crop year lots

Year-specific rows come from published lot certificates of analysis. Where a lot reports only alpha and oil, the composition columns fall back to the variety's typical range, and the note says so. Rows marked carry-forward are placeholders until that harvest is analysed.

CropAlpha %Beta %Oil mL/100 g Myrcene %Humulene %Caryophyllene %
2024 11.75.12.2–2.7 48–548–125–8
2025 9.83.62.3 48–548–125–8
2026 9.83.62.3 48–548–125–8
  • 2024 · Hops Direct 2024 lot + Dark Rock UK 7.8% lot 2024 Year-specific lot AA only; other metrics baseline range. Note: 2024 lot variance observed (Hops Direct 11.7 / Dark Rock UK 7.8)
  • 2025 · Hop Alliance 2025 Lot CEN25-ROB Year-specific lot-level AA/BA/Oil + Coh range; oil composition mid-range. AA 9.8 = lower vs 4-year aggregate 9.5-11.5
  • 2026 · Hop Alliance 2025 Lot (carry-forward for 2026 NH harvest not yet completed) 2026 current crop estimate based on 2025 lot, finalizes after fall harvest ~Aug-Sep 2026

Which yeast brings it out

A medium or high β-lyase strain, such as the London III family, LalBrew Pomona, or any of the thiol-forward strains, brings out the bound fraction. A clean Chico-type strain leaves it mostly bound, which is fine if you want the oil-driven character alone.

Rule of thumb only. See the yeast table for every strain's rating and the literature behind it.

In Hoparoma

Hoparoma computes how much of Centennial's aroma compounds survive your boil, whirlpool, and dry hop, and models the thiol side across yeast, hop, malt, and Phantasm together. The result is a research-based estimate of where the beer is likely to land, not a guarantee.

Free in any browser, 3 recipes a month. What the calculator does

Sources and data quality

Full list with links on the sources page. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct the dataset in the next release. This page's tables are published under CC BY 4.0; reuse with credit and a link.