Staff at Christchurch brewer Harrington's recently celebrated the arrival of a container of American hops: it was their first supply in nine months, and their Yankdak beer, with American Amarillo and Centennial hops in it, was running out thanks to a long-running waterfront dispute over there.
We have to bring in dried hops from the US, rather than grow them here, because it is illegal to import plants.
That is to protect our plants because hops are prone to disease.
Hops are latitude-sensitive. That is why our growers are concentrated in Nelson.
So, even if American-developed varieties were allowed in they would not grow there, and they do not like frost or wind.
Even seeds are no use because hops, like grapes, cannot be grown from seed.
The resulting plant is never like its parent, so hops are propagated from root cuttings (grapes from cuttings).
Only new varieties are possible from seed. Amarillo, for example, came from one wild plant found on a hop farm. Centennial was bred from the genes of four known varieties, but has an unknown fifth variety in it.
Some hops produce intense bitterness, but American hops are sought-after because of their intense aroma and flavour: an aroma of orange blossoms in the case of Amarillo, floral and grapefruit aroma from Centennial,Yankdak (named after its American contents and because hops are a relative of marijuana) is hoppier than a range of Harrington's beers I sampled the other day.
But it was not the most bitter: a beer's bitterness depends on the hop variety and when the hops are introduced (bitter, early).
It can be also masked by malt sweetness, or, in my case, a decline in bitterness perception with age ... Hop bitterness in a brew is measured in international bitterness units (IBUs).
Yankdak (4.7%) is 34 on the IBU scale. Of the other Harrington's brews, East Indies lager (5%) is refreshing and the least bitter (22).
Ngahere Gold (7.4%) is high in alcohol with a nice balance of malt and hop flavours but not bitter (28IBU).
Rogue Hop (5%) has a touch of sweetness and hop (34) .
The Strong Pilsner (6.5%) is rich but not overly hoppy (36) and the India Pale Ale (7.4%) is rich with a malt flavour masking the high bitterness (50).
Luck of the Irish
Several New Zealand breweries entered beers in the Dublin Craft Beer Cup last month, winning a dozen or so medals.
McCashin Brewery's Rochdale Three Berry Cider (boysenberry, raspberry and blackcurrant) won a gold medal and the supreme cider award.
Its ginger lime won silver and the pear bronze.(Rochdale was the only cider factory in New Zealand when it was bought in 1980 by Terry McCashin when he established Mac's Brewery on the Nelson site. Cider-making stopped in 1999, but was resurrected in 2009 by a second generation of McCashin brewers, who produce the Stoke beer label.)
Three Stoke beers won silver, with other medals going to Kereru, Moa and Renaissance.
Tapanui-based Craft Beer's Tane Manuka-smoked Pale Ale won bronze.
Citric lager
Speight's has started putting lemon and mandarin juice in its Summit Lager, calling it Summit Citrus.