Falconer's Flight® Hops: Profile & Substitutions

Description

Falconer's Flight® stands as a legendary, precision-engineered tribute to the spirit and flavor of Pacific Northwest craft brewing. Originally launched in 2010 by the innovative team at Hopunion (now Yakima Chief Hops), this premier proprietary blend is not an individual agricultural cultivar grown as a single strain; rather, it is a masterfully curated pellet composition featuring the region's most iconic aromatic powerhouses, including heavy hitters like Citra®, Simcoe®, and Sorachi Ace alongside timeless West Coast classics. The blend was created as a living legacy to honor the profound impact of northwest brewing icon Glen Hay Falconer, with a portion of all commercial sales directly funding master-level educational scholarships through the Glen Hay Falconer Foundation. For contemporary brewhouses, Falconer's Flight® offers an elite, highly reliable shortcut to achieving deep, multi-layered New World complexity while eliminating the seasonal lot-to-lot volatility of single-strain sourcing.

The profile of the original Falconer's Flight® blend is a vibrant, beautifully balanced, and highly expressive sensory showcase that highlights the sweeter, intensely fruit-forward side of American hop character. It bursts open with a bright, sunny canopy of fresh-squeezed lemon juice, lime zest, and ruby red grapefruit rind. This sharp citrus introduction quickly transitions into an exceptionally smooth, lush mid-palate rich with tropical notes of ripe papaya, peeled mango, and sweet passionfruit, all accented by a delicate, perfumed layer of wild floral blossoms. Because it harmoniously integrates distinct aromatic oil fractions from a diverse, star-studded lineup of Pacific Northwest varieties, the profile delivers a soft, clean, and thoroughly rounded finish that remains remarkably punchy without ever fatiguing the palate with one-dimensional herbal or harsh vegetative notes.

Substitution Tip

If you can't find Falconer's Flight, the best alternatives are Amarillo®, Cascade, Citra®, or Simcoe®.

At A Glance

Profile Lemon-Lime Zest, Papaya, Mango, Sweet Floral Blossoms, Crisp Grapefruit, Resin
Purpose Dual: Aroma and Bittering
Alpha Acid 9.5 - 12.0%
Substitutes Amarillo®, Cascade, Citra®, Simcoe®
Pairs with Amarillo® (to elevate the blend’s native tropical tones with an intense punch of sweet/ fresh orange marmalade), Centennial (to double down on a bright/classic lemon-floral top-note), Columbus / Tomahawk / Zeus (CTZ) (to introduce a deeply complex/pungent/and dank herbal baseline underneath Falconer's Flight's clean citrus canopy)
Beer Styles American Pale Ale, West Coast India Pale Ale, Double/Imperial India Pale Ale, Juicy or Hazy New England India Pale Ale, Session India Pale Ale, Hoppy Amber Ale

General Information

Country United States
Aliases Falconer's Flight Blend, Falconer's Flight Original

Brewing Chemistry (Acids & Oils)

Alpha Acid 9.5 - 12.0%
Beta Acid 4.0 - 5.0%
Cohumulone 20.0 - 25.0%
Total Oil 1.6 - 4.6 ml/100g

Discovery Tags

Breeding/Supplier
Last Updated
  • 2026-05-24 11:40:38
Source(s)
  • Google Gemini

Hops Catalog

Navigating This Profile
  • The Stats: Use the Purpose and Alpha % to understand the hop's bitterness and aromatic strength.
  • Discovery Tags: Scroll down to find clickable tags for Flavor, Origin, and Usage.
  • The Network: Click any tag (like #Citrus or #New Zealand) to instantly view every other hop in our catalog that shares that trait.
Discovery Tag Spotlight
  • #Noble (Classics)

    Back to the roots. European "Noble" hops are the elegant, low-bitterness varieties that defined Pilsners and Lagers for centuries. Explore the spicy, floral heritage of the Old World. Explore #Noble Hops!
Did you know?
  • Dwarf variety hops grow shorter in height than traditional varieties but, importantly, produce the same yield. This combination makes harvest easier.
Explanations
  • Storage: is based on the percentage of alpha acids remaining after 6 months at 20*F.
  • Oil composition percetages are based on the total percentage of oil in the hop. Example: 10 - 20% means that for the specific oil it is 10 - 20% of the overall oil make up.