Pacific Gem
- Variety:
- Pacific Gem
- Assignment:
- Bitter
- Genetic origin:
- NZ, UK
- Direct substitutes:
- Dr Rudi, Green Bullet, Moutere
Brief history
Pacific Gem was developed in New Zealand from breeding material that includes Smoothcone and was released in the late 1980s. It became one of New Zealand's established high-alpha varieties.
General description
A powerful profile with black pepper and dark berry notes, particularly blackberry, together with a light floral character.
Brewing use
Effective for bittering and also useful in darker ales, porters and stronger beers where its peppery and berry-like character can add complexity.
Grow-on-Demand Programme
Our Grow-on-Demand Programme gives breweries access to American and New Zealand hop varieties that are currently produced in limited quantities in Europe.
Adapted to León
The programme is based on a nursery collection of 34 plants from European, American and New Zealand genetic backgrounds, established in León for more than five years.
Their agronomic performance has been monitored annually, providing a solid basis for assessing how each variety behaves under local growing conditions.
Production based on demand
The programme is designed to develop commercial production according to brewery requirements.
Reaching commercial scale takes approximately three years:
- Year one: propagation and establishment.
- Year two: first, limited harvest.
- Year three: larger and more stable commercial production.
This allows us to plan specific varieties in advance and adjust planted area and production volumes to expected demand.
Taking part
Interested breweries can contact us for more information. Our aim is to make difficult-to-source American and New Zealand varieties available through planned, demand-led production in León.