Wakatu Hops are dual purpose

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...

used for flavouring and bittering

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

. They are grown in

Nelson, New Zealand Nelson () is a List of cities in New Zealand, city and Districts of New Zealand, unitary authority on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the oldest city in the South Island and the second-old ...

. They received their name from a corrupted spelling of ''Whakatu'', the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

name for Nelson. Being bred from the Hallertau hop, they are often semi-correctly referred to as Hallertau hops, and the two varieties are often interchangeable in beer recipes due to their close ties.

History

The Wakatu hop variety was created by

HortResearch HortResearch (Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand Limited; Māori: ''Rangahau Ahumāra'') was a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand. The focus of research in this company was mainly in the development of new fruit varie ...

as an attempt to breed a new aroma hop. Female Hallertau Mittlefrüh was pollinated by the male of a New Zealand hop variety. The resultant hop was suited as a dual-purpose hop and was released from HortResearch's Riwaka Research Centre in 1988.

Use in the brewing of beer

Because Wakatu is a dual-purpose hop, it can be used in ''Single Malt and Single Hop'' (also known as ''SMaSH'') beer recipes with excellent results. Because of the middle road that was taken between this hop possessing high

aroma An odor (American English) or odour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is a smell or a scent caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds generally found in low concentrations that humans and many animals can perceive v ...

and high

alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

rating, it has a slightly lower alpha rating than some other hop varieties, generally in the range of 6%–9%. Put simply, this translates to a lower bittering potential when compared to dedicated bittering hops, but also offers the advantage of being able to contribute aromatics to the beer, to which non-dual-purpose bittering hops aren't so well suited. Wakatu hops have a distinct presence of

myrcene Myrcene, or β-myrcene, is a terpene, monoterpene. A colorless oil, it occurs widely in essential oils. It is produced mainly semi-synthetically from ''Myrcia'', from which it gets its name. It is an intermediate in the production of several frag ...

measured to be at 35.5% or even up to 59%.Kiwi's new hop takes a whack or two
/ref> This contributes subtle flavours akin those of citrus fruit, notably the

lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...

References

{{reflist Flavors Hop varieties Agriculture in New Zealand Crops originating from New Zealand Beer in New Zealand

History

Use in the brewing of beer

See also

References