Columbus / Tomahawk / Zeus (CTZ) Hops

Columbus stands as a legendary, high-impact American dual-purpose cultivar that serves as a fundamental bedrock of the modern craft brewing revolution. Alongside Centennial and Cascade, it completes the famous "Three Cs" trio that defined early West Coast style beers. The variety features a notoriously complex trademark history; due to a 1990s legal dispute over patents between rival hop merchants, it was simultaneously marketed as Columbus, Tomahawk, and Zeus—leading to its unified industry moniker, CTZ. Genetically identical across all three labels, this powerhouse arose from an open-pollinated seedling selection designed to push the boundaries of bittering potential. Engineered for high field adaptability, aggressive growth, and exceptional cone density across the Pacific Northwest, CTZ remains the commercial standard for imparting clean, deep-bittering foundations and intense, resinous saturation to assertive ales.

The profile of Columbus is an incredibly bold, sharp sensory experience that delivers an unapologetic, high-intensity punch of classic American craft character. It yields a pungent, hoppy-fresh bouquet heavily dominated by dank cannabis resin, sharp grapefruit peel, and a deep, grounding black pepper woodiness. Beneath this aggressive botanical layer, a heavy, oil-rich matrix unloads a complex array of freshly crushed pine needles, pungent wild herbs, and a subtle background of dark citrus orchard zest. This expressive, deeply impactful oil concentration makes Columbus an essential choice for establishing the timeless, rustic aromatic backbone of heavily hopped IPAs, cutting through thick malt configurations with a bright, lasting, and sharp perfume.