moa sultana IPA

This is part of Moa’s ongoing series of single hopped IPAs.  The hop this time around is a recent American variety that started life as the experimental X06277 before being commercially released as Sultana towards the end of 2019.  As hops go it’s a new one for me, so I’ve gotten lucky being able to try it on its own.  The up-front aroma has HUGE citrus oil, like crushing fresh grapefruit peel right in front of your nose.  Behind that there’s fresh pineapple and a streak of sticky pine resin, but really that nose is all about the grapefruit.  The citrus is less outrageous on the tongue, still out in front but giving the more subtle tropical mango, melon and pine notes some room to move.  The malt body is on the lighter side of medium for  6.0% abv, which gives the bitterness lots of space to charge in on the end of the palate and really hit hard.  A lighter bodied and absolutely hop forward IPA, the perfect beer to really show off what a hop can do on its own.

First-Timers Win 2025 Rare Beer Challenge

New Plymouth’s Shining Peak Brewery were crowned — or capped, as it were — the winners of the fifth annual Rare Beer Challenge on March 7. Hosted by Wellington’s Fortune Favours Brewery, this year there was not only a sister bar in Auckland serving the beers on the...

Moa Superdelic IPA

As much as it was exciting to see the recent Superdelic hop step onto the stage of commercial New Zealand varieties, it’s one I’ve been struggling to really love when put in the lead of an IPA. That red berry confectionary note has always come on a bit strong. Perhaps...

Sunshine Brewing Wants Sale or Merger

New Zealand’s oldest craft brewery, Sunshine Brewing in Gisborne, looking for new owners or — more intriguingly — seeking expressions of interest for a merger with an existing brand. The move comes as the trio of existing owners, who have been at the helm for the past...

Green, fruity, dank … Tom Shellhammer On hops

For a hop scientist, a months-long summer holiday coinciding with the annual hop harvest in New Zealand is a dream sabbatical. Tom Shellhammer is a Professor of Fermentation Science at Oregon State University where he leads the brewing science education and research...

Hop Federation Concrete Jungle

Fresh off the line this week Hop Federation Concrete Jungle is this bright version of the (also rather good) Inflation hazy IPA that dropped a little earlier in the year.  Sporting an identical 6% ABV and hop bill of Idaho 7, Rakau, and Nectaron, the difference here...

Instagratification: Dusty’s Best of the Summer releases 2025

Photographer, beer-lover and Instagram influencer Dusty, picks his highlights from the latest releases heading into summer. Sprig + Fern Ridgy Didge Crikey! What a lil ripper! Sprig + Fern’s latest sud tube Ridgey Didge is an all-Aussie hopped 4.4% hazy pale ale...