Ever wondered how Citra became Citra? What’s the process in-between seed and Simcoe?
You’ll be surprised to hear that the journey is a long one, and it can take decades for a little hop plant to become a brew-household name. NZ Hops Ltd are responsible for bringing some of the most sought-after hops into the world and most recently commercialized one of their experimental hops, Nectaron (after 17 years of development) and it’s taken the brewing world by storm.
Their Bract Brewing Program is to thank, it’s a new initiative that is the last step on the journey for a hop to become a commercial product. 60 breweries will be taking part in the program by brewing a single hop beer with one of the trial hops, the brews are then evaluated and set free into the wild (our bellies) and if all goes well, they’ll be given a catchy name and start the next journey to commercialization.
Uraidla is one of the 60 breweries that got to use this experimental hop and, lucky for you, we’ve included it in this month’s Ale Odyssey box! I think I speak for everyone that has tried it; we’ll be seeing a lot more of NZH102 in the future (under a different name of course).
How to try it:
Several Aussie breweries have been chosen to trial NZH102. Keep an eye out for these brews that feature this exciting experimental hop and review it yourself!
- Uraidla - 'MANA NZH102' Hazy IPA
- Deeds - 'Any Given Brew Day' DDH IPA
- Mountain Culture - 'Birds Aren't Real' DDH Pale Ale
Feature image by NZ Hops
