The Hop Studio felt like a natural extension of this love – showcasing the single most complex, wonderfully diverse ingredient we use in our process bar none. A variety that just seemed to click with our then-fledgling brewery the very first time we used it, Waimea is a curious little NZ hop as complex as it is delicious. First released in 2012 and with a lineage that includes Californian Cluster, Fuggle and Saaz, this hop tends to lean heavily toward the high end of the alpha acid scale, but still manages to maintain some incredible flavour profiles. Best packaged into an easygoing pale ale as that original beer we used it on, expect a fruit salad of ripe mango, pomelo, plantains and papaya, with a very subtle undercurrent of pine to boot.