Now available is the new, limited-release Crafted Thru Hops mixed pack featuring Comet. Comet is the newest release from the Propagator, a single-hop IPA showcasing the Comet hop, a favorite hop among our brew team.

About the Comet Hop

Comet is a hop that brings citrus fruit flavors with a nice grapefruit zest note, Lemon Grass, agreeable dank “wild” American character – it originates from the US public breeding program of the 1960/’70s (released in 1974) which resulted in other famous “C” hops like Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook.

It was bred for high alpha and thus as a bittering hop. Over time it fell out of favor with International Lager brewers as higher alpha varieties became available, but Comet has recently seen a resurgence among new age IPA brewers.

It’s unique enough to stand out but certainly has some of the comforting “C” hop fruity characteristics we look for in IPA hops – namely, a fresh, zesty grapefruit character.

Comet Hop Selection

The Comet hop plays well with others, but this is the first time we have let it stand on its own in a single hop brew. We first discovered Comet while in Yakima for hop selection.

We walked through a Comet hop yard and were struck by how good it looked on the vine, big gnarly green cones, vigorous and a bit crazy. Rubbing some freshly picked hops in the field convinced us that it was worth following up.  We later had a chance to run through some lots along-side some of the other hops we were selecting at the time, and it really stood out. “We should be brewing with this!”

It’s funny because it was one of those old varieties that were always there, but the brewers who I asked about it always said Cascade and Centennial were the picks of the “C” hop litter compared to Comet. So we never checked it out until now. We were able to secure some, and it found its way into a couple of LDs where it proved itself as a great hop in a bend.  I’m excited to see it in a beer as the lead hop. Great name as well!

The Crafted Thru Hops mix pack cans featuring Comet is now available in all Firestone markets. Use the Beer Finder to located it closest to you.