Hops are most at home in New Zealand’s Nelson and Tasman regions, in fertile valleys where long sunny days help pack the cones full of tropical and citrus flavours and aromas.
Grown in hop gardens, cuttings are planted each spring, with the bines set to grow upwards, suspended from a network of poles and string. It’s a resource and labour-intensive growing method but it makes the most of summer sun to produce the greatest amount of hoppy goodness.
Late summer is harvest time, when the hop cones are removed from the bines and made ready for either drying and pelletising, or moving straight to the brewery as the key ingredient for a special fresh hop brew.
Clayton Hops
Three brothers, four farms and a passion for producing top quality hops: Clayton Hops is one of New Zealand’s newest – and now largest – hop growers, supplying to brewers around the country and the globe. Owned and operated by brothers Andrew, Glen and Brian Clayton, the trio’s ‘make-it-happen’ mindset has seen them establish hundreds of hectares of new hop garden and a state-of-the-art hop pelletising, packaging and cool store facility, all with a commitment to long-term environmental wellbeing. They grow six of New Zealand’s most-loved varieties, including the ‘craft beer cult hero’ Riwaka, and long-time favourites like Nelson Sauvin and Motueka.
Eggers Hop Growers
Mike and Kem Eggers are proud to be carrying on their family’s tradition of independent craft hop growing in the Moutere Valley, and hope that their passion comes through in every beer brewed with the “bloody amazing” hops they grow. They concentrate their efforts most on the enigmatic Riwaka hop cultivar – coveted for its abundant oil content and strong citrus notes, and loved for its contribution to creating the ultimate in hoppy beers. A favourite of theirs (and their fresh hop brewing partners) are from the clones of a single, hand-selected mother plant known at Eggers Hops as ESH-d1 – but you can just call it delicious.
Freestyle Hops
This Nelson based team is obsessed with growing the most flavourful, unique and intensely aromatic hops in the world. They’re on the cutting edge of new hop innovations in breeding, growing and processing, with the performance of their hops in finished beer the central focus. Freestyle collaborates directly with amazing craft breweries in New Zealand and around the globe. They grow nine of New Zealand’s favourite varieties including Nelson Sauvin, Motueka, Southern Cross and Cascade, along with numerous advanced selections from their joint venture breeding programme with Garage Project and MPI.
Hinetai Hops
Hop farming runs in the blood for Director of Hinetai Hops Dean Palmer, who can trace his hop-growing lineage back to his great grandfather in the late-1800s. Today, Hinetai is the culmination of generations of family farming knowledge and Dean’s own love and fascination for hops – something that’s been brewing since he was a young boy exploring the hop farm next door. In both 2016 and 2019 Hinetai Hops earned the ‘Grower of the Year’ title awarded by NZ Hops – the cooperative of Master Growers.
Mac Hops
The McGlashen family were one of the pioneering family businesses in Nelson’s relatively small hop growing community, and now five generations on, they remain a key player in the NZ Hops cooperative of Master Growers. Today, Director Brent McGlashen still puts the same enthusiasm into harvest time as he did as a boy, learning under the watchful eye of his father and grandfather (yep, he still spends busy harvest nights catching any sleep he can near the hop kiln!). Experts in all things hops, Mac Hops now produces more than 19 commercial hop varieties including the recently released Nectaron® and New Zealand’s newest hop sensation, SuperdelicTM.
More about fresh hop beers...
