New NZ hop variety set for commercial launch

A new New Zealand hop variety is tipped to make a splash here and overseas when it comes to market in the next few months.

The country’s largest hop grower, Tasman-based Clayton Hops, has announced the commercial release of NZ Rhapzody™ (previously known as CIP014), developed in partnership with the Bioeconomy Science Institute's hop breeding team.

It’s the first exclusive hop variety to come out of their joint initiative, known as the Clayton Innovation Project (CIP), which is designed to bring new hop varieties to market.

NZ Rhapzody will be harvested in March and is available for pre-order now.

NZ Rhapzody has undergone more than five years of trialling and sensory testing, including rigorous testing and brew trials by some of the world’s most influential brewers in Canada, China and Australia. It was bred from hop varieties Nugget and Smoothcone.

Clayton Hops describes the new release as: “An exciting hop with ripe passionfruit, sticky mango, sweet peach and juicy citrus all layered to create a vibrant tropical juicy fruit character”.

Clayton Hops CEO Paul Teen says that while New Zealand-grown hops only make up around 1% of the global hop market, in recent years brewers internationally have shown that they are extremely keen on the aromas and flavours found in hops from New Zealand.

“We are driven to expand the global hop variety offering to allow brewers to create more diverse and flavourful beer that consumers continue to clamour for,” says Teen.

He says the name ‘NZ Rhapzody’ was selected for several reasons. “Music and craft brewing enjoy a shared culture of artistic expression and experimentation. We think of brewers as rockstars and NZ Rhapzody™ as an exciting new instrument for them to create their own epic masterpiece.”

Bioeconomy Science Institute hop breeder, Kerry Templeton, says NZ Rhapzody™ has been a firm favourite with the breeding team, consistently delivering good results. “Hop breeding is grounded in science, we use our expertise in plant genetics and sensory testing to identify cultivars with unique aroma profiles. We’re really proud to be helping bring new varieties to market and supporting the growth of New Zealand’s hop industry.”

The Clayton Hops team will showcase NZ Rhapzody™ alongside its other premium New Zealand hop varieties at a 2026 Harvest event and launch party on 17 March in Nelson, and then in Australia at the High Country Hop Harvest in Beechworth, CBC Philadelphia in the USA, BrewAsia in Vietnam and BrauBeviale in Germany.