Australia: New varieties of hops provide key ingredients for unique craft beer flavours

"Can I have a beer with citrus, passionfruit, lychee and floral flavours, please?"

In past years such a request in a blokey beer barn serving only bitter and lager would have sparked disbelief — and possibly a brawl.

Not these days. Liquor stores and pubs are awash with new-age trendy brews.

And there's a growing thirst for them, the ABC.net reported on April 2.

Known as the "craft beer" movement, it's re-inventing and re-invigorating the world of beer.

Per capita, beer consumption in Australia has fallen in recent years, but the demographic of drinkers and their taste in beer has changed markedly.

"It's definitely got younger over time, and it's definitely broadened its appeal," said Laura Bray, from Bright Brewery in Victoria's alpine region.

"People have finally realised there's a whole second gender that enjoys beer."

The brewery was a trendsetter. Close to Victoria's hop fields, it opened in 2005.

By 2013 Australia had 200 craft or microbreweries.

Now there are some 650 small independent brewers.

Two-thirds are in rural and regional areas and a drawcard for tourism.

Until 2006 Australia's hops industry was dominated by bitter varieties, high in alpha acids that act as a bittering agent that gives beer its bite.

The growing popularity of "craft brews" and the brewers' quest for distinctive aromatic taste has put the focus back onto plant breeders.

"It has given us the opportunity to work with not only mainstream breweries but the craft sector in developing new varieties, and it's showcasing the Australian industry to the world," said Greg Croke, who runs Ellerslie Hops at Myrrhee in north-east Victoria.

Mr Croke's family hop-growing business began with his grandfather in 1932. In the decades since, major breweries such as Carlton United and Cooper's have been their mainstay market.

Increasingly in recent years, craft brewers from a range of countries, including India, Japan, Europe and the USA, have beaten a path to his door to source hops that will give their brews a distinctive flavour profile and a marketing edge.

It's a similar story at Hop Products Australia.

It recently hosted visitors from Japan and USA, who timed their visit for the annual harvest.

The US craft brewers, including Nate Lanier of Treehouse Brewery in Massachusetts, inspected new hop varieties, including Galaxy, an Australian-bred hop derived from a German variety, and Topaz, a variety that produces a beer with tones of lychee and tropical fruit.

"So, bitterness isn't necessarily a bad word, but certainly this current craft beer incarnation, this explosion of hazy IPA, so to speak, is led by that soft, roundness, fruity, hop-full forward character," Mr Lanier said.

That's been a new trend within the last 10-plus years.

"We see our role in the beer industry as presenting choice and diversity of flavours for brewers to turn into delicious beers," Owen Johnston, of HPA, said.

The company is owned by a German family with a 200-year history in brewing.

Its Australian operations comprise about 900 hectares in Tasmania and Victoria, accounting for about 90 per cent of Australia's annual crop.

Just now, the harvest, requiring almost 400 staff in two daily 10-hour long shifts over six hectic weeks, is almost finished.

It'll be close to a record tonnage, and after the hop flowers are carefully dried and baled, almost half will be exported.

HPA sees a buoyant future. It has invested A$50 million in modernising its processing capacity in the past eight years and is about to increase it further with a A$25 million conversion of the former tobacco processing factory at Myrtleford.

Greg Croke's Ellerslie Hops is also expanding its capacity.

Craft beer is a small portion of the overall Australian beer market — somewhere between 5 and 10 per cent, and the definition of craft beer is still a little rubbery.

Nor is it all brewed in small batches by artisans.

In recent years some of the best-performing craft brands have been bought and taken over by the big companies.

Nate Lanier believes increasing breweries here will emulate wineries and their cellar-door experience.

"By inviting people in and having spaces for families to hang out and big open spaces and beautiful vistas and beautiful food to pair with the beer," Mr Lanier said.

Where we all might enjoy a lychee and tropical fruit-flavoured beer without any fear of a fight.

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