Galaxy

Galaxy® was bred by Hop Products Australia (HPA). According to HPA, it originated in 1994 in its own breeding programme, from a cross of Australian high-alpha hop and the German hop variety Perle. The breeding number is 94-203-008. BarthHaas, the international hop house of which HPA is the regional representative, calls Galaxy a descendant of Perle and gives the family tree as '25% Perle' plus Australian breeding material. Whether Perle is a parent or a more distant ancestor is therefore not entirely clear from the sources.

HPA grows on farms in southern Tasmania and north-east Victoria. According to HPA, together they grow 90% of Australian hops, about 2% of the world's hops.

According to BarthHaas, at the start of the breeding work the emphasis was on high alpha acid and a stable yield. Even so, according to BarthHaas Galaxy is best known for its oil content, one of the highest of all hop varieties. HPA measured 2.6–3.3 ml of oil per 100 grams of hops in the 2025 harvest.

HPA describes Galaxy in beer as 'punchy passionfruit, juicy peach and tangy citrus': powerful passion fruit, juicy peach and tangy citrus, with orange and lemon. According to BarthHaas, Galaxy gives those notes when the brewer adds it late in the kettle, in the whirlpool (just after the boil) or when dry hopping. In the raw hop, BarthHaas also smells a darker side: cassis (blackcurrant), blackberries, blueberry and gooseberry, with spicy notes of aniseed and fennel.

We have not found independent research on the compounds behind the passion fruit of Galaxy. A Brazilian study from 2025 did divide 76 hop varieties into two large groups on the basis of their chemical composition. Galaxy and the other Australian HPA varieties studied fell in the group with mainly hops of North American origin, together with Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe, among others. That group had more myrcene and linalool, a compound with a floral aroma. In the oil of Galaxy, according to HPA, myrcene accounts for 32–56%.

A brewer warns in the variety sheet: in beer with a lean, light malt base, be careful with the amount, otherwise sharper notes can come through.

According to BarthHaas, Galaxy is an aroma hop, despite the high alpha acid. HPA recommends it for XPA, Pacific Ale, hazy pale ale, IPA and NEIPA. BarthHaas mentions pale ale and IPA and writes that brewers often combine Galaxy with Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe.

Forms: - pellets; - liquid hop products from HPA, including for dry hopping (Spectrum) and for the whirlpool.

Related hop: Vic Secret comes from the same Australian breeding programme and falls in the same chemical group in the study mentioned. That Citra and Mosaic are in it too does not mean they smell the same: that group is large and also contains Columbus and Hallertauer Magnum, for example. The breeder does not name a substitute.

According to HPA, its breeding programme began in the 1950s, when it was mainly about high-alpha bittering hops. According to HPA, the name Galaxy first appeared in 2005, when samples went to the Tooheys brewery and a hundred American craft brewers. Their reactions led HPA to position the variety for flavour and to expand its growing considerably. In 2009 Galaxy came on the market. That same year, according to HPA, the Australian brewery Stone & Wood released a beer with only Galaxy, which later became known as Pacific Ale.

A good starting point: a pale ale or hazy IPA with Galaxy as the main hop. Smell for passion fruit and peach, then citrus. Do you also find something of blackcurrant or gooseberry? That fits what BarthHaas smells in the raw hop. Try putting it next to a beer with Vic Secret from the same breeding programme: there you look more for pineapple and pine.