Hops and beer are all part of the succession plan for Slovenian turned Southland farm manager Blaž Jelen.
The 28-year-old is ready to step up as a fifth-generation farmer back home, but he’s got a bit of time to kill before his father retires. So, he’s here experimenting with New Zealand hops, much to the delight of Southland’s Garston Hops.
“I had done some research and realised New Zealand is a really good place to grow hops, so I decided I am going to leave Slovenia,” Jelen said.
“It is a very good climate here and we don’t have many problems with pests and diseases.”
When he moved to Aotearoa more than two years ago he started in Nelson, before being hand-picked by the newly forming Garston Hops farm, located on the main highway between Queenstown and Invercargill.
Having completed a degree in agriculture and his Master’s on the differences between European hops and Kiwi hops, he knows a thing or two about the beer-producing plant.
“Coming from a place where it is pretty much 45-plus latitude and here it is 45-minus, the nature is similar. We are in a valley at home and a valley here on riverbed soil, which is perfect for hops.”
Hops thrive in Southland conditions such as cold winters, hot summers, long hours of sun and plenty of water in the soil.
The key differences between the NZ farm and Jelen’s family farm at home are the varieties being grown as well as the cost of growing them.
NZ and the United States still have higher demand for the more expensive craft beer, and so both countries predominantly use aroma-variety hops, giving craft beer its taste and strength.
Blaž Jelen enjoys the fruits of his labour. Brewers take the flowers to extract lupulin, which is full of the alpha and beta acids and essential oils that make the beer taste unique. Photo: Supplied
European hops farms use a bitter variety, which doesn’t sell at the same premium.
“Aroma hops are very important to make a good craft beer. By having this special variety such as in Motueka and Nelson, now Southland, we can make really good hops for craft beer and get paid for premium price as it is unique on the world market.”
The aroma hops grow 5m high, while the hops back home climb a further 2m, Jelen said.
Labour and the costs to process are higher in NZ, but the premium price makes up for that.
“In Europe the craft beer market is still picking up. It’s not that much compared to America or New Zealand.”
Jelen manages 73,000 plants on 23 hectares in Garston, and all his plants are girls.
“The flower is waiting to be pollinated, but we don’t want that as it decreases the quality of the flower and you end up with seeds. We only want male plants if we are changing the variety.”
Each plant will make 100 litres of beer accumulating to 300 cans. Brewers take the flowers to extract lupulin, which is full of the alpha and beta acids and essential oils that make the beer taste unique.
Garston Hops sends its dried flowers to Nelson to be processed before producing beer nationwide with the likes of Emerson’s, Altitude, b.effect and Rhyme x Reason.
While his forever plan is taking over the family farm, Jelen’s home for now is the tiny town of Garston.
“It is a good place. A cool night will always bring a sunny day after that. I am a country boy.”
More: The Farmers Weekly Rural Living series highlights the rich diversity of Aotearoa New Zealand’s rural communities, farming families and other contributors to the food and fibre sector.