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Hops Galore! It’s Richard’s favourite time of the year!! March is usually the most awaited month on the brewing calendar, Richard waits with bated breath, Will the weather be kind to the hops? Will the hop oil content be up?…All these questions hang off the brewer’s tongue… Richard and Father flew up to Nelson in early March to inspect the hop harvest and the quality of the hop going through the hop kilns. Oh God…the aroma was divine! The air was heady with delicate, perfumey and spicey hop aroma. Gosh if only this could be bottled! It was great to be able to talk directly with the hop farmer, discussing the merits of hop varieties, how the hops have to be immediately dried… What really caught Richard’s eye was the huge pile of hop cones just sitting outside the hop kiln awaiting baling up. The temptation was too great, Richard simply had to fall back into the depths of the hops up to his ears with a ‘hoppy grin’. Of course, we can’t really leave Nelson without actually rubbing some hops together to appreciate the aromas. Immediately Richard asked for some freshly kilned hops to be sent to the brewery for our first Fresh Hop Ale. The two different hops, NZ Hallertau and Nelson Sauvin have been thrown in large quantities into the kettle near the end of the boil, and everyone at the brewery had a hand in chucking the hop cones in! The beer has a strong hop presence in the aroma, then a lovely tropical fruit flavour starts to fill the mouth. The malt has been carefully chosen to showcase the hop flavours with plenty of mouthfeel. Enjoy! Cheers, The Emerson Brewing Team