Freestyle Nelson Bliss - The latest experiment out of the Freestyle Hop Research Lab

Building on field trials from 2023 Freestyle undertook a new experimental processing trial for the 2024 season. This is called our "Bliss process" which has the goal of capturing as much of the tropical intensity of Nelson Sauvin as possible without losing the brighter citrus and wine-y notes from earlier harvested Nelson.  This process is aimed at maximising the free thiols (sweet tropical characters) that are most prominent in a super late harvest Nelson Sauvin lot without losing some of the terpene-driven brightness which typically would happen in those types of lots. The 2024 Nelson Bliss tries to thread the needle and get the huge tropical sweetness while maintaining a balanced and brighter character.  

This Nelson Sauvin lot has field aromas of Mango, Red Grapefruit, Lychee.

Elevate your lager game with the WHC Lab Einstein German Lager yeast, meticulously crafted based on the trusted Weihenstephan strain. This yeast strain embodies the essence of German brewing precision, offering you a tool to create lagers that truly stand out. Renowned for its clean and crisp profile, it ensures that your beer’s essence shines through with unrivaled clarity and purity.

Kohia Nelson is Freestyle Hop's botanical blend which extends their love of the unique flavours of New Zealand grown crops. They have been experimenting with a process to add botanicals to hops to produce a uniform pellet that has something really unexpected to it. Their latest version of that blend combines Nelson Sauvin and Rakau with New Zealand passionfruit. 

NZH-101 is a triploid variety that was crossed by Dr. Ron Beatson in 2012 through NZ Hops' partnership breeding program with Plant and Food Research. After performing well in the small plot trials and early brewing trials, it was fast tracked by our Grower Committee to the NZ Hops trial hop farm in 2017. This has been evaluated further through the Bract Brewing Project in 2022 for its high mite resistance, desirable late training date, high yield, and excellent machine harvestability.

The unique oil chemistry profile produces unique flavours and aromas of lime and ripe mandarin, melon and tropical fruit.

Superdelic™ is a triploid variety (cultivar) that was crossed by Dr. Ron Beatson in 2012 through the NZ Hops partnership breeding program with Plant and Food Research (PFR). Superdelic™ was developed from both European and North American ancestry. After showing promise in clonal selection trials, and showing sensory attributes of berry fruit in pilot brewing trials, Superdelic was fast-tracked into the NZ Hops trial hop farm programme in 201, due to its unique aroma and chemistry profile.

This exceptional hop is a playful number, and the unique oil chemistry profile produces red fruit, candy, citrus and tropical fruit characteristics, offering brewers something totally different to use in their craft.

Superdelic™ is a versatile hop that can be used as a single hop addition and has great synergies in combination with other hops. Pairs well with Citra, Simcoe, Nelson Sauvin, Motueka and Riwaka.

LalBrew® New England is an ale strain selected specifically for its ability to produce a unique fruit forward ester profile desired in East Coast styles of beer. A typical fermentation with LalBrew®  New England will produce tropical and fruity esters, notably stone fruits like peach. Through expression of a β-glucosidase enzyme, LalBrew® New England can promote hop biotransformation and accentuate hop flavor and aroma. LalBrew® New England exhibits medium to high attenuation with medium flocculation, making it a perfect choice for East Coast style ales.

Full product details are available from Lallemand.

LalBrew® Abbaye is an ale yeast of Belgian origin. Selected for its ability to ferment Belgian style beers ranging from low to high alcohol, LalBrew® Abbaye produces the spiciness and fruitiness typical of Belgian and Trappist style ales. When fermented at higher temperatures, typical flavors and aromas include tropical, spicy and banana. At lower temperatures, LalBrew® Abbaye produces darker fruit aromas and flavors of raisin, date, and fig. Traditional styles brewed with this yeast include but are not limited to Belgian White, Belgian Blonde, Belgian Golden, Dubbel, Tripel, and Quad.

Full product details are available from Lallemand.

Kveik is a Norwegian word meaning yeast. In the Norwegian farmhouse tradition, kveik was preserved by drying and passed from generation to generation. Kveik is the original, traditional dried yeast! The LalBrew® Voss strain was obtained from Sigmund Gjernes (Voss, Norway), who has maintained this culture using traditional methods since the 1980s and generously shared it with the wider brewing community.