Heather Spence Nelson Branch, June 2020
Brent McGlashen amid his ripening hops, late January 2020
The 2019 TCA conference field trip to MacHops prompted a request for further information on hop plants for sale. A conversation with Brent McGlashen, as affable and helpful as ever, elicited the following.
Varieties available from MacHops are Sticklebract, Green Bullet, Pacific Gem and Chinook. The NZ Hops website lists the following qualities of each.
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Sticklebract, a triploid heirloom alpha hop that delivers solid bitterness matched to pine and citrus aroma characters;
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Green Bullet, a dual purpose bittering hop with a spicy “dried fruit” character and solid finish;
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Pacific Gem, A solid bittering hop with spicy black pepper and berry fruit aroma characters
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Chinook, a U.S aroma hop.
Varietiesdeveloped by Plant and Food Research and owned by NZ Hops (the grower cooperative), are protected by PVR and not available for sale.
Crowns can be ordered for September delivery and if planted in spring, will produce cones in March. In Brent’s words, ‘they’ll hit the ground running’. Crowns are $15 each, excluding packaging and postage.
Hops grow in pretty much any soil conditions provided it’s free-draining, and is not gluggy clay. They require lots of water over summer and like a lot of fertiliser. MacHops uses organic fish powder, seaweed foliar sprays and compost (hop).
Order from Brent McGlashen, MacHops Ltd, 21 Poole St, Motueka, 7120, or admin@machops.co.nz
Of further interest – TCA members who went on the MacHops field trip will remember the huge glasshouse where Brent was growing passionfruit. In January this year the vines were dripping with large fruit and the other half of the glasshouse was full of cherry tomatoes and strawberries, the latter in vertical plantings. Marigolds everywhere ensure very successful pest control.
