One of the first Canterbury fresh hops on the scene this year, Brood Mother Hazy IPA is brewed just over the hill at Thief in Banks Peninsula. While most freshies tend to stick to one or two hop varietals (for logistics as much as anything else), Brood Mother casts a much wider net (or basket), smashing in Riwaka, Rakau, Motueka and Taiheke. While three of these take the form of typical pellets, it’s Motueka that provides the fresh element, via a whopping 75 kilograms of Canterbury grown cones courtesy of Bold River Hops. The result is an aroma that bursts of passionfruit, followed by lime sorbet and mint ice cream, with sweet stone fruit and tropical flavour juice-box on the palate. Smooth drinking, just mildly bitter, and downright opaque, Brood Mother is definitely one for the hazy crowd; as it demonstrated at the recent Two Thumb Fresh Hop Festival, where it took out the people’s choice award.