There aren’t many drinks that start with a dawn dash to the airport, but green hops craft beers do. Using fresh hops is a race against time for Kiwi craft brewers keen to take part in the once-a-year opportunity. They only have a 24-48 hour window to capture the little green flowers’ unique, aromatic flavours once harvested. The clock is already ticking when they're picked in the Tasman area in the wee small hours. They’ll only be good for a few hours more, so it’s onto the first flights out to Wellington and Auckland, into a van and the...

6 October 2017 And they're off! 3 October 2017 Look what's back!

If you haven't already figured out, hops are a really important part of what we do at Epic. We love the flavours that hops give beer, and we put a lot of effort in selecting the right types of hops, as well as how we use them. Luke will be heading to Yakima soon to select our hops from the 2017 US Hop Harvest. Here's a fun fact for you: Epic has used more aroma hops than any other brewery in NZ in the last ten years. I had a chat with Ed Jefferies, Epic Production Manager, on the subject of hops....

SOLD OUT! We've tried to accomodate as many extra people as possible - we've doubled the number - but we've really hit the limit! This has had a lot more interest than anticipated, so we'll organise another one next year. Make sure you're signed up to our mailing list and we'll let you know when it's happening. For those who are coming, we're super excited to get amongst the hops with you! To help celebrate Nelson Beer Week, we're inviting you to join us at New Hoplands to enjoy some beers and a BBQ in the sunshine amongst the hops. You'll...

I'm sure you've been closely following the progress of #MyLittleHopGarden, so you'll know that our precious little (but growing out of control) hop plants need a proper home, with the support structure that they need. How would you like to build us a hop support frame? What we need: In an ideal world, we would love to turn the soil and plant our hops. The reality is that our Onehunga 'soil' mostly comprises of gravel, rusty nuts and bolts and probably an impressive array of chemicals. Our hops are staying in their pots. Here is what we'd need if we...