E ngā iwi, e ngā reo, e ngā kārangarangatanga maha tēnā koutou katoa.
To the peoples, to the many voices, we greet you all.
Tēnei mātou te mihi atu ki a koutou i roto i ngā tini āhuatanga o te wā. He kairangahau hāpi (hops) mātou nō te pūtahitanga o Hāpi, e kimi nei, e hāhau nei i ngā momo hōu, i ngā huarahi hōu e tupu ai te ahumahi hāpi o Aotearoa ki tōna teitei.
We acknowledge you and your ancestors, and all of the things happening in our various worlds.
We are researchers into hops, from the research collective known as Hāpi, who are seeking out new varieties and methods of hop farming, to ensure the hops industry of New Zealand grows to its full potential.
With hop harvest getting closer, our focus has been on preparatory work for the coming growing season, with growing and precision farming trials a priority. We are working hard to make sure projects are starting and moving along, so valuable data can be gathered and analysed.
Hop Breeding
Our research partner, Lincoln University, has made good progress, with hop gardens built and plants in the ground. We look forward to gathering valuable agronomic data from this research and development garden at Lincoln University.
The project is planning to plant out 3,000 seedlings this season, and will grow-on six advanced selections from last year, as part of its traditional crossing breeding work. Preparatory work is underway for both harvesting and screening this year’s seedlings as well as making crosses for the following harvest. Sensory feedback on the advanced selections from last season has showed promising results. As a result of those findings, one of the advanced selections has been fast-tracked for a more rapid scale-up to a large scale plot trial.
Sensory Feedback
Chemistry analysis from the first year of the harvest-timing trial has been completed and that project will now move forward with the collection of sensory feedback from participating breweries. Additional years of data will be required before definitive conclusions can be reached. Initial results indicate that actionable correlations between measurable compounds and cone ‘ripeness’ may exist. The next step is linking the levels of those compounds to sensory analysis of finished beer.
2020 Hāpi Symposium
Planning for the 2020 Hāpi Symposium is well underway. This event is to be held in Wellington on Friday, April 3rd, followed by the Garage Project Hāpi International Beer Festival on Saturday, April 4th. Save the date reminders will be going out soon with all the details. We are putting together a thought provoking group of speakers, and plan to feature individual talks on relevant topics, as well as a panel discussion. The symposium will cover a wide range of topics, from beer and hop science, to the latest market trends. We’ve taken the lessons learned from hosting the event in 2019, to make the 2020 experience even better. As with last year, there will continue to be a focus on connecting New Zealand and international brewers, as well as breeders and growers.
New Educational Resources
Our information sharing platform is growing with a variety of new resources, all available on the Hāpi website. We’ve recently published a Fertility Guide for Hops, which gives general information about hop fertility, soils, tissue sampling, and fertilising. We have also provided a link to an academic article, from the Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists, on the influence of nitrogen fertility practices on hop cone quality. This article provides some thoughtful insights on hop fertility. A Useful Links page is now up on the Hāpi website, giving easy access to additional information about hops and hop related topics from academic hop programmes, industry organisations, academic papers, and YouTube videos; we will keep adding to this resource over time.
Head over to the Hāpi Research website (Hapi.co.nz) for access to our educational resources, as well as information about what we’ve been working on, and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook.
Cheers,
The Hāpi Team