Loral a.k.a. HBC 291

A 'super noble' aroma hop — floral and herbal with citrus and earth.

Country
USA
Released
2016
Alpha Acid
10.0–12.0%

What it tastes like

Loral (HBC 291) is a modern American aroma hop billed as a 'super noble' — floral and herbal with a backdrop of citrus, earthy and sweet-fruity notes. It bridges old-world noble elegance and new-world fruit, working in both lagers and hop-forward ales.

floralherbalcitrusearthy

Best in these styles

Tasting Tip
Loral is versatile — a noble-like aroma for lagers, or a floral-citrus layer in pale ales and IPAs.

Beers showcasing Loral

Specific beer examples coming soon.

Substitutes & relatives

If you can't source Loral, these hops bring overlapping character.

Lineage & family

How Loral connects to the rest of the hop family — its parents, and the varieties it spawned. Trace the full pedigree in the Hop Lineage explorer →

NuggetGlacierLoral
Founding lineage
● BB1 44%   ● Elsasser F 25%   ● Fuggle 16%   ● Kent Golding 7%   ● BavarianS 4%   ● other roots 5%

Blood relatives

Genetically closest in the pedigree (may taste different):

Pedigree data adapted from the Rohwer (2021) hop family tree (CC0 1.0). Compilation, analysis & visualisation © 2026 Veryation · Freshie™.

For brewers — technical profile

Alpha Acid
10.0–12.0%
Beta Acid
4.5–5.5%
Total Oil
1.5–2.5 mL/100g

Oil composition

myrcene
37–39%
humulene
23–25%
caryophyllene
6–8%

History

Loral, formerly HBC 291, was released in 2016 by the Hop Breeding Company. Its mother is the American aroma variety Glacier (with the European noble Tardif de Bourgogne further back) and its father is a son of Nugget.

Sources

So you can see nothing here is made up — the published specifications on this page are traceable to grower / breeder data:

Freshness Note
Keep Loral cold and sealed to preserve its delicate floral-herbal aroma.

Explore more hops

→ Browse all hop varieties

→ More from Yakima Valley