Apollo was released by Hopsteiner as part of the same general high-alpha breeding push that produced Bravo, aimed squarely at the double IPA and imperial IPA market's demand for hops that could deliver serious bitterness from a small, economical weight. Its alpha acid ranks among the highest of any commonly available hop, comparable to Warrior and Summit at the top end of the American bittering-hop category.
At 15-19% alpha acid, Apollo is used almost exclusively for early-boil bittering, with citrus, pine and resinous notes that give it more aromatic presence than a purely neutral hop like Magnum, even though it's rarely chosen specifically for that character rather than its efficiency. Its cohumulone content runs on the higher side for its category, which means the bitterness it contributes can read sharper than an equivalent IBU number from a lower-cohumulone hop like Glacier or Centennial.
Given how high its alpha runs, even a small weight change on an Apollo addition shifts the final bitterness meaningfully — worth double-checking against the IBU calculator rather than eyeballing it. Warrior is the closest substitute for pure bittering efficiency, sharing a similarly high, economical alpha range, while Columbus offers an alternative with more pronounced dank, resinous character if that's an acceptable trade against Apollo's citrus-pine lean. Double IPA and imperial IPA remain Apollo's primary home, almost always as the early-boil charge underneath a separate, more aromatic late-hop schedule.