Motueka Hops

Greetings to all,

Was perusing threads earlier today in another forum and ran into one that mentioned Motueka hops. Did a little researching and found they might be good as a late addition to an IPA or Pale ale. I guess my question is, has anybody used them and what did they bring to the party? I am in search of new stuff to try, not because I have gotten good at what I have done so far, but just kinda curious. Anybody with any recipes they would be willing to share that has used those hops? I am mostly an IPA drinker, but Pale Ale’s and other Ale styles are cool too. I had a black IPA that was awesome, so if that is a possibility I am willing to check it out.

Lots of info here:

I like them. IN the beer’s I have used them in I got more of a chardonnay character with some lime hints. It was thiolized yeast though

Motueka is a neat hop in that is a daughter of Saaz, and you definitely pick up that spicy note in the flavor profile at typical lager hopping rates. Once you push it to higher hopping rates you start to pick up a cool lime zest character on top of the herbal/spicy noble-hop character. I will say that it isn’t going to give you that saturated citrus character that you get from typical IPA hops. It works great as a single hop in something like a Pale Ale, or in a lager if you are looking for some non-traditional hop flavors. I don’t think it excels as the main hop in an IPA, but it’s a great accent hop when added to something like Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy, Vic Secret, etc.

Cool.  I have been experimenting with a Pale Ale using Citra and now Mosaic.  Might try one with the Motueka and see what I get.  Thanks.

Not sure, but I believe Motueka was called NZ saaz when it first came out.

Yep. It is Saaz parentage. That’s probably why it makes a good hop for thiolizedbeers, which is all I have use dit in.

I recall using it many years ago when we first got it at the homebrew shop, because of the name at the time (NZ saaz) I used it like I would saaz, basically a couple ounces with 20 minutes left in the boil of a ligther beer. I wasnt very impressed, it gave off a weird gummy bear fruitiness that I didnt like. Clearly I wasnt using it right, as its now a very popular IPA hop.

I would say it is definitely different. The last beer I brewed with it was a “Cold IPA” at the tap room (it was a commercially produced beer). Many people loved it but, to some, it was off-putting. I happened to love it.