Hopulist Issue Eight

A PERFECT STORM
You might be asking yourself “why Wellington?” – why
does this relatively small and humble capital city have such
an enviable craft brewing scene. Like many of life’s great
questions, the answer isn’t straightforward. A starting point
may well be the outstanding quality and uniqueness of
New Zealand’s hops. The country’s particular geographical
location is like nowhere else on Earth, so subsequently hops
grow here that don’t grow anywhere else. If you can cast your
mind back far enough to Hopulist’s first issue (man, that
feels long ago) you might remember a few of them. Nelson
Sauvin, Kohatu, Motueka, Wai-Iti and Southern Cross have
cemented themselves as some of our favourite flavour and
aroma profiles in craft beer – so already New Zealand is
coming from a special place as a brewing nation.
These magical hops were quickly hoovered up when the
country began to see a huge rise in interest in home brewing.
Kiwis were taking to their garages, sheds and attics to brew
their own beers, which also fitted a more general pattern
in the country that saw beer drinkers focussing on quality
and not quantity. Overall beer volumes consumed by Kiwis
dropped some 10 per cent between 2008 and 2014, which
tells its own story. The craft beer industry was seeing regular
30 per cent annual increases in total value at this point. At
the same time, Wellington, which was already known for
a vibrant independent café and restaurant culture, started
to really take craft beer under its wing. People wanted to
support local businesses, they wanted beer that was big and
bold and not made for drinking by the tens of pints. They
wanted to savour a glass or two of punchy yet refined IPA
while chatting to their mates at the end of a hard day. Craft
beer had found its perfect petri dish (excuse the turn of
phrase, pandemic on the mind). Wellington had always had
great bars, now it had great brewers ready to sell you beer
fresh from the storage tank.
THE COUNTRY'S
PARTICULAR
GEOGRAPHICAL
LOCATION IS LIKE
NOWHERE ELSE
ON EARTH, SO
SUBSEQUENTLY
HOPS GROW
HERE THAT
DON'T GROW
ANYWHERE ELSE.