Fresh hop brews showing up in shops

BEER made from freshlypicked hops is starting to appear on shelves — and New World today takes delivery of nearly a dozen different ones.

The harvest season, which ended at Easter, started in March when some Wellington brewers hitched on the trailer and did a same day return crossing of Cook Strait to grab hops as they came off the bines. Others chartered aircraft.

More than 20 had their hops couriered to waiting brews.

Hops are otherwise sent straight to a kiln for drying.

The fresh hops produce beer with ‘‘green’’ characters rather than the wide range of aromas and flavours dried hops deliver.

The beers arriving in New World are from Auckland breweries Epic (Green Machine), Liberty (Invictus Nectaron), Parrotdog (Brent), Sawmill (Fresh Hop riwaka) and Urbanaut (which has a pack of six made with different hops) and from Wellington’s Garage Project (One day in March). But there is not much of them because each brewery’s pick was limited.

Altitude in Queenstown will launch three brews on May 15 from Garston hops and Cargo, which uses hops it grows at its brewery in Gibbston Valley, will have one on tap there by early next month. Keep an eye out for others: Moa usually makes one.

Russian ale

Russians now drink more beer than vodka and the country is the fourthbiggest (after China, the United States and Brazil) beer market in the world.

One of the beer labels found on some of our shelves is Trekhgornoe.

There are about 550 Russian breweries, although only 40 are large. Moscow Brewing started in 2008 and, in 2017, resurrected the Trekhgornoe (meaning three hills) label. Trekhgornoe brewery operated in the Three Hills district of Moscow from 1875 until its closure in the 1990s.

The brewery has been preserved as an historic place.

Its ale is imported, including limited edition onelitre bottles ($8) featuring Russian folk art.

This one is a good oldfashioned ale, malty with a hint of sweetness and nice bitterness — something of a relief from those soupy hopdriven hazy ales that are in vogue at the moment.

This one uses polaris hop which was released in

Germany in 2012.

It is high in oils which contributes sweetness and high in acids for bittering.

Trekhgornoe is found in New World City Centre, FreshChoice Green Island and Thirsty Liquor in Dunedin and in Invercargill Licensing Trust outlets.

Arrowtown pint

Arrowtown’s annual pie, pint and pinot afternoon is being held on the library green on Monday as part of the fiveday Arrowtown autumn festival.

Not so ‘special’

A price special is not always that ‘‘special’’ — especially for beer that is getting fairly old and therefore discounted to get it off shelves.

Most beer has a ‘‘best before’’ of nine months (although it is drinkable for probably twice that time), but loses its freshness from the day it is packaged. It is better in cans because ultraviolet light cannot react with hop particles to produce off odours.

Foreign beer can take a while to get here and therefore rarely is at its freshest best.

A 12pack of Czech beer, four months short of its ‘‘best before’’, was recently discounted by more than $5. I once bought a pack of two bottles and a glass going cheaply.

When I opened it at home it had one day to go before the ‘‘before’’ date was reached.

(Note: ‘‘best before’’ can be sold after its date; ‘‘best by’’ or ‘‘use by’’ cannot.)

A key to spotting old beer: it can be flat; sediment might be floating in it, or there might be a butter or wet cardboard aroma or flavour.