“New terroir, new flavours. Nelson Sauvin, Rakau and Cascade, literally picked in the snow on New Zealand’s and possibly the world’s most southern hop farm, Garston Hops. Situated in the mountainous highlands of Southland, here different soils and extremes of heat and cold push the flavour profiles of the hops we know to new and exciting places. A true taste of the South.”

Glassware: IPA.

Appearance: Pours somewhere between light yellow and deep gold with a mild haze and a thumb of well retained head nestled in on top. Decent lace work as we go.

Aroma: A very appealing idea this one. GP have sourced the hops from Garston Hops who are a hop farm based in the high mountains of Southland, New Zealand. They claim to be the most Southern hop farm in the world where extreme hot and cold weather creates vastly different hop flavours. They’ve used Nelson Sauvin, Rakau and Cascade in this brew so we’re really keen to see what it produces.

Flavour: Smells and tastes like any other great IPA that GP have brewed. Other than a couple of small differences. We get Frosty Fruits as a main scent but we’re also picking up orange popsicles. Also picking up ripe melon, papaya and apricot, passion fruit, dank weedy herbals, lemongrass, oregano and freshly cut fennel. It holds a crisp bitterness until the finish where it gradually tapers off and lingering notes of weed/dank herbs and candied orange punctuate.

Mouthfeel: Fairly clean and effortless with a nice and lively Co2. Mild-medium body and a well placed 6% ABV.

Overall: We like the concept and the beer itself. Picking hops in the mountains on the edge of the southern frontier sounds like not only an experience but also pure and pristine produce for a beer. Big ups GP!