Kaiser Brew Garden's Campbell Parker (left) with son Ben picking the hops in Clarkville. Photo / Supplied
Kaiser Brew Garden's Campbell Parker (left) with son Ben picking the hops in Clarkville. Photo / Supplied
Century-old hops found in Mid-Canterbury could hold the secret to growing them outside of Nelson.
Kaiser Brew Garden in Christchurch is brewing a special beer made with the hops found growing on Thirlstane Farm.
A spokesperson for the bar said the hops had been growing wild on the farm, which was owned by John Ballantyne in the 1880s. It's thought he planted them and that they've been left to their own devices ever since.
The hops were re-discovered growing in a semi-wild area between the house and farm buildings by Ian and Joan Whillans whose son David and daughter-in-law Rebecca now farm the property.
Ian decided he might find someone interested in making a beer with them. He took cuttings from the hops and grew them in his own garden in Clarkville.
The hops that were found in Mid-Canterbury. Photo / Supplied
Associate professor of plant genomics and molecular biology at Lincoln University Chris Winefield told the Herald he was very interested in the discovery.
He's been leading research into New Zealand's hop industry, which is centred in Nelson and the Tasman region. He has been given cuttings of the hops and plans to grow some in the university's research garden.
"I've been looking at ways of assisting the industry to breed hops over the past couple of years, working with an MPI industry-funded entity Hapi Research.
"We've been looking at ways of accelerating the breeding of hops or production as well as new flavours and aromas for the industry," he said.
Picking and packing the hops in Clarkville. Photo / Supplied
"Where these hops are found is quite exciting because they represent genetics that is preadapted to those regions. We haven't seen many on the east coast of the South Island.
"We have a deep suspicion that they will confer some adapted characteristics when we introduce them into the genetic pool that we are working on to basically use it to adapt the plants."
Associate professor Chris Winefield in the Lincoln University hop garden. Photo / Supplied
What is unique about the Mid-Canterbury hops, Winefield said, is research has shown they are close to one of the earliest introductions of hops in New Zealand.
"We've thought for quite some time that there are a large number of introductions of hops that would've come across with early settlers out of Europe and the UK.
"There's been quite a few old hops found in Kahurangi National Park and on the West Coast. We thought there must be a number of early hop plantings right across the South Island."
Winefield said they are trying to work out what the hops' ancestry is.
"We'll be doing some DNA work over the next few months and then we will plant some replications of those plants on campus."
The new beer, called the Ruapuna Pale Ale, will be brewed this Saturday at Kaiser Brew Garden's micro-brewery, on site at Christchurch's Riverside Market. It will be available for a taste test on December 22nd.
