Australian Hops

Australian Hops – Why Not

The internet abounds with recipes beer bloggers believe we should be drinking. Mostly from the USA or mostly driven by the popularity of American styled IPA's and IIPA's. Indeed, the very guidelines we're largely judging beer by are driven almost exclusively by the malts and hops from the UKm Europe and Continental USA.

Yet, from the hop fields of Australia and New Zealand, there's a huge range of hops grown with their own unique flavour and aroma contributions.

Everyone knows about Pride of Ringwood and it's later day cousin, Super Pride, then Nelson Sauvin and Motueka from our Neighbours across the pond. But wait! there's more. Australia produces varieties such as Topaz, a cheap and readily available hops with a unique fruity ocntribution that pairs beautifully with cascade and Nelson Sauvin, it's equally at home with Galaxy or just on it's own. Want a "neighbours beer" or saturday afternoon lawnmower beer? Drop a bit of Topaz in as a first wort addition to 12 IBU's on a Galaxy Malt Base. Then get a big stick to keep the neighbours from swinging off your taps.

Then we come to Australian Summer – want apricot and melon? Dry hop it at 1.5-2g/L for a week at cooler temepratures. Helga conjures up a mental image of something big, huge even, yet Helga is a dainty little thing of magnificent floral and spice. Perfect for lagers and Wheatbeers. Vic Secret instantly gives a clear mental image of lingerie, yet, she's the mistress of the brewhouse. With a slight dank resinous note, she bursts with Passionfruit and a bit of Pineapple. It's HOT! We're about to go nuts with Vic Secret in a Wheat Beer with a couple of D cup measures.

Over the pond, we're seeing some great work done by growers and researchers – flavours abound. Wai-iti, Waimea and a swag of others that nobody outside of NZ has yet decided on a correct pronunciation for.

Feeling uninspired by the same old bold citrus/grapefruit? The solution is out there. It's just a brew day away.

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