Pacific Gem
A bittering hop with black pepper and a distinct blackberry aroma, and brewers describe an oaky flavor, per NZ Hops. The workhorse of New Zealand lager kettles.
- Smells like
- Black pepper, Berry, Woody
- Bitterness
- Very high (13–16% alpha)
- Swap it for
- Galena · compare them →
Brewing values
Alpha acid
13–16% typical 14.5
1 source, spread of 3%
- New Zealand Hops Ltd13–16
Beta acid
7–9% typical 8
1 source, spread of 2%
- New Zealand Hops Ltd7–9
Total oil
1.3–2.3 mL/100g typical 1.8
1 source, spread of 1 mL/100g
- New Zealand Hops Ltd1.3–2.3
Alpha to beta runs about 1.8:1, which is what governs how fast the bitterness fades in storage.
Oil composition
- Myrcene67%
- Humulene22.3%
- Caryophyllene8.3%
- Geraniol1%
- Linalool0.8%
- Farnesene0.7%
Normalised to 100% so this hop can be compared like for like. The published components sum to 78.4% of total oil in the source data.
Aroma
What to swap it for
Scored on aroma overlap, oil composition and acid chemistry, then nudged up where a brewer has vouched for the swap by hand. An axis we haven't measured earns nothing, so a hop known only by its acid numbers caps out around 30 — the score is how much evidence there is for the swap, not just how close the numbers happen to be. Anything under 50 is a different beer, not a substitution.
Pedigree
Smoothcone. Smoothcone crossed with a Californian Late Cluster x Fuggle.
Notes on this record
Purpose bittering: NZ Hops calls it a solid bittering hop.
For brewers and data folks: this hop as JSON · the source file