New Zealand Hops - What To Get

I have a friend that is living in New Zealand and he can get NZ hops for me. What types would you all recommend and with what styles? Thanks, Montanaandy

Pacific Gem. Put it in pales, ESB, amber... basically anything that would be good with a hint of blackberry fruitiness.

Sauvin is good - unique wine-like character, slightly fruity and a very little peppery, works very well in really small amounts with US hops, can be used by itself but can be overpowering in large amounts.

Southern Cross - Similar to a US hops, citrus/piney and a little spicy, my 'go-to' bittering hop, very smooth bittering.

Pac jem and pac jade - both quite spicy, work OK as bittering hops, they're OK but nothing worth calling home about.

Riwaka (if there's any left) - very fruity, passionfruit, mandarin, citrus, very similar to an American hop.

Motueka - similar to riwaka but with less fruity character and a little more spicyness, good for US and English pale ales.

Rakau - a new hop even to us here in NZ so not much info out, but apparently quite fruity and a touch spicy, I've only used it once and it was with Sauvin and Motueka so I can't really give any personal comments on it.

Nzhops.co.nz is a good source. Overall the NZ hops seem to be mostly fruity with a little spicyness in the background. The bittering hops are good but watch the cohumulone levels.

Hope that helps a bit.

Hey Demiglen - Thanks for the break down of the different NZ hops and their uses. Where is a good place to purchase hops in Auckland, NZ (does Nzhops have a store in Auckland?)? Thanks, Montanaandy

My LHBS usually has a good selection - Brewer's Coop in Mt Wellington, Auckland.

Hauraki Homebrew may be better if they're on the other side of town.

Libertybrewing.co.nz is very good but out of AK and online order only.

NZhops is quite far away from Auckland (ie, the in the island below the North Island) and mainly a wholesaler, but will sell small amounts to the public. I've heard they're a bit slow and hard to deal with at times but do make a good last resort if everywhere else has sold out.

Denimglen - thanks for all the tips/links. Looking forward to using the NZ hops - have heard so many great things about them. Montanaandy

denimglen said:

Sauvin is good - unique wine-like character, slightly fruity and a very little peppery, works very well in really small amounts with US hops, can be used by itself but can be overpowering in large amounts.

Riwaka (if there's any left) - very fruity, passionfruit, mandarin, citrus, very similar to an American hop.

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These sound tasty.
I'm still a fan of the pacific gem used as a finishing hop. Summit is nice this way too, as anyone who's had Drifter knows.

Riwaka is amazing. Dry hopped an ipa with it and it turned out fantastic.

+1 on Libertybrewing. Great selection of NZ hops. Cheaper than Hauraki and much better service. They are also the cheapest company to buy kegs from. They don't list them on their website but still had them when I emailed them earlier in the year.