Our highly successful hop breeding programme is based at our Nelson Research Centre. Currently about 99 percent of hops produced in New Zealand are from HortResearch cultivars.
Fifteen new cultivars have been released from our hop breeding programme in the last 50 years. Both high alpha and high aroma types have been developed. The most recent releases are 'Southern Cross', 'Pacific Hallertauer', 'B Saaz', 'Pacific Sunrise', 'Nelson Sauvin' and 'Pacific Jade'. The programme is closely associated with the hop and brewing industries in New Zealand, both of whom guide the direction of research in conjunction with HortResearch via the Hop Research Committee.
Hops are a dioecious, latitude-sensitive crop. Our breeding strategy is aimed at the development of seedless triploid cultivars of high alpha types with good bittering properties, and aroma types with good flavour characteristics.
The cornerstone of the breeding programme is the creation of tetraploid parental material (usually female genotypes). These are hybridised with male parents that have proven genetic performance, to produce triploid seedling populations. Selection criteria are based on the agronomic and resin chemistry performance of female seedlings.
Commercial services provided by HortResearch include the chemistry testing of the commercial domestic crop (including the analysis of hop resin extracts), a maturity testing service and the propagation of ‘high health’ cultivars for the growing industry.
Our hop breeding programme is supported by funding from the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, New Zealand Hops Ltd and the New Zealand brewing industry. Brewing trials of advanced selection material are carried out by DB Breweries Ltd and Lion Breweries Ltd.