Riwaka Hops – New Zealand – 4–7% AA

An intensely aromatic New Zealand hop with bold grapefruit and passion fruit character

Riwaka is a highly prized New Zealand hop known for its powerful citrus and tropical fruit aroma. Bursting with grapefruit, passion fruit, and bright citrus notes, it delivers an intense and distinctive profile that stands out in any beer.

Produced in limited quantities, Riwaka is a favourite among brewers looking to create vibrant, hop-forward beers with maximum aroma impact.

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Key Features

• 🇳🇿 Origin: New Zealand

• 🌿 Flavour: Grapefruit, passion fruit, citrus, tropical fruit

• 🍺 Best For: IPAs, Pale Ales, NEIPAs, Pilsners

• 🔬 Alpha Acid: 4–7%

• 🧪 Hop Type: Aroma

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About Riwaka Hops

Riwaka hops are grown in the renowned Nelson region of New Zealand and are known for their exceptional oil content and intense aromatic qualities. Originally released as D Saaz, this variety has become one of the most sought-after hops for modern brewing.

Its standout characteristic is its bold grapefruit and citrus profile, supported by tropical fruit notes that bring depth and complexity. Due to its intensity, Riwaka is often used in late additions or dry hopping to fully showcase its aroma.

Limited availability and high demand have made Riwaka a premium hop choice, particularly for brewers focused on creating expressive, hop-forward beers.

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Heritage & Lineage

Riwaka is derived from Saaz, one of the classic noble hop varieties.

This lineage contributes to its refined base character, while New Zealand breeding enhances its bold citrus and tropical intensity.

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Flavour & Aroma Profile

Expect intense, vibrant notes of:

• Grapefruit

• Passion fruit

• Citrus zest

• Tropical fruit

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Brewing Applications

Riwaka is ideal for brewers looking to create highly aromatic, hop-forward beers.

Perfect for:

• IPAs

• Pale Ales

• NEIPAs

• Pilsners

Works particularly well for:

• Late additions to maximise citrus intensity

• Dry hopping for explosive aroma

• Showcasing single-hop beers

Popular in:

• New Zealand-style IPAs and Pale Ales

• Hazy and juicy hop-forward beers

• Modern craft Pilsners with bold aroma

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Substitutes

If you’re looking for similar hop varieties, consider:

• Motueka

• Nelson Sauvin

• Citra

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Specifications

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Freshness, Packaging & Traceability

At The Malt Miller, we take hop quality seriously. All hops are stored in our temperature-controlled cold store to maintain their freshness, aroma, and brewing performance.

Each pack is nitrogen flushed and sealed in a high-quality, resealable mylar bag. This protects the hops from light, oxygen, and moisture — preserving their essential oils and alpha acids until you’re ready to brew.

Every pack is labelled with a batch code, allowing full traceability back to the supplier. This means you can access detailed information such as alpha acid content and harvest year, giving you complete confidence and consistency in your brewing.

Sold in 100g mylar bags, nitrogen flushed, and cold stored to ensure you get ingredients of the same quality that professional brewer would receive.

Also available by the gram to create your own bespoke recipes using our Recipe Generator

Hop Revolution is committed to growing high-health hops, developing new and exciting varietals and trialling growing techniques to produce the unique flavours our brewers are seeking.

Hop Revolution is committed to growing high-health hops, developing new and exciting varietals and trialling growing techniques to produce the unique flavours our brewers are seeking.

We are partnering with others and have our own inhouse science programme and nursery to ensure the best plants are growing on our gardens.

We have installed two brand new Wolf 1000 Pickers and Wolf Kilns to ensure our hops are dried and conditioned to the highest quality.

Our hops are grown, dried and baled onsite before being transported in cold storage in a bale form to the USA where they are pelletised and distributed directly to Brewers in USA and Canada.

Our model is to partner with leading pelletisation and cold storage facilities in-market, to utilise the best facilities available and to provide fast and reliable delivery timeframes to our brewers.

Back in 1980, a feisty South Island craft brewer named Terry McCashin came out of the hills of Nelson and single-handedly took on the two big breweries that controlled almost every aspect of beer production and distribution in New Zealand.

An ex-All Black rugby player with a reputation for hard-tackling, McCashin simply wasn’t born to follow.

Driven by his own passion for the potential of New Zealand hops, he took on the big boys by establishing his own craft brewery and his own craft beer brand, (Mac’s).

Fast forward to 2014. Dr Wheeler and Kerry Skilton, inspired and encouraged by McCashin, collaborate to create what is now New Zealand’s largest single site hop garden (116ha).

Today the hops produced on the gardens of Hop Revolution reflect not only the vision we have to bring New Zealand’s most flavoursome hops to the world but also who we are as a close-knit family of brewers, plant scientists, farmers, nurserymen and kiwis who just love a great challenge!

Now UK home brewers have their first chance to use the finest quality New Zealand hops direct from one of the worlds leading growers thanks to a new partnership with The Malt Miller where are are going direct to the farms to source the finest hops around the world.