Across the Tasman district the hop harvest is in full swing, with growers in Motueka, Riwaka and Tasman busy picking the crop that helps flavour beers around the world.
Growers Waimea Weekly spoke to say the hops are looking good and the weather has been kind leading up to harvest. Sales remain slow, however, and there is still uncertainty in the industry, although growers remain positive and expect a new normal around supply and demand to form over coming seasons.
Hop harvest usually runs from late February through to early April. Hops are the green cone‑shaped flowers of the hop plant and are a key ingredient in beer, providing bitterness, aroma and flavour. The plants grow several metres high up strings supported by tall poles through summer. These plants are known as bines, as they climb by wrapping their stems around strings rather than using tendrils like grapevines.
In the lead up to harvest it is common to see sheep grazing under hop gardens to get the grass down and create a clear space for cutting the bine. When harvest begins, the tall bines are cut at the base of the plant and again at the top wire before being pulled down and taken to specialised picking machines. These machines strip the hop cones from the bines before they are dried and processed.
According to the Brewers Guild, about 85 per cent of New Zealand’s 2025 hop production was exported. As a nation we produced about 3.13 million pounds, roughly 1,420 tonnes, which was a decline from 2024 when about 3.88 million pounds, or 1,760 tonnes, were produced. Despite the overall drop, 2025 saw a surplus of certain hop varieties, with growers continuing to focus on key export markets including the United States, Europe, Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Research is underway locally to better understand exactly when hops should be picked to produce the best beer flavours. New Zealand Hops, based in Richmond, has launched a collaborative research project with the New Zealand Bioeconomy Science Institute and Oregon State University to study how hop aroma develops as cones mature. Researchers are sampling hops weekly to track how harvest timing affects flavour outcomes for brewers, helping ensure the hops harvested in Tasman today contribute to even better beer tomorrow.
