FreshieSimcoe a.k.a. YCR 14
The dual-purpose backbone of West Coast IPA.
What it tastes like
Pine, passionfruit, citrus, and a distinctive 'cat' funk that beer geeks call by name. Simcoe was bred for high alpha acid (so brewers can use it for bittering AND aroma), and it's been a West Coast IPA staple since the early 2000s. Russian River's Pliny the Elder uses it in heavy doses.
Best in these styles
Beers showcasing Simcoe
- Pliny the ElderRussian River
- IPAStone
- Double Simcoe IPAWeyerbacher
Substitutes & relatives
If you can't source Simcoe, these hops bring overlapping character.
Lineage & family
Simcoe is a landrace / founding variety — a root of the hop family tree. Trace where it leads in the Hop Lineage explorer →
All 1 descendants
Mosaic
Pedigree data adapted from the Rohwer (2021) hop family tree (CC0 1.0). Compilation, analysis & visualisation © 2026 Veryation · Freshie™.
For brewers — technical profile
Oil composition
History
Released by Yakima Chief Ranches in 2000, Simcoe was one of the first 'craft-era' US hops bred specifically for aroma at high alpha. It became a West Coast IPA staple within a few years and remains one of the top-grown hops in the US.
Explore more hops
Flavor twins across Freshie
Drinks and foods across Freshie that share Simcoe’s flavor fingerprint — matched on shared flavor axes via the Freshie Taste Graph.