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Hop variety · 🇳🇿 NZ

Nelson Sauvin

White-wine passionfruit gooseberry. Bred by NZ Plant & Food Research, released 2000.

Alpha acid
10–13 %
Total oil
1.1 mL/100 g
3MH-family thiols
High
4MMP
Low
Data
Verified

Aroma in one line

Brewers describe Nelson Sauvin as white-wine passionfruit gooseberry. In Hoparoma's hop notes its thiol character is filed as thiol extreme. That places it among the varieties whose tropical and citrus punch depends heavily on bound thiol precursors, which only show up when the yeast releases them.

Brewing values

Typical ranges come from supplier datasheets and lot certificates; the median column pools 14 published sources. Oil fractions are percent of total oil.

MeasureTypical rangeMedian
Alpha acid %10–1312.5
Beta acid %5–8–
Cohumulone % of alpha24–
Total oil mL/100 g1.11.1
Myrcene %22.242
Humulene %36.422
β-Caryophyllene %10.710
Farnesene %0.42
β-Pinene %0.40.4
Linalool %0.7–1.20.9
Geraniol %0.6–10.8

Range source: NZ Hops Nelson Sauvin spec + BMC Plant Biol 2023.

Thiol potential

3MH family (passionfruit, grapefruit) High
4MMP (blackcurrant, catty) Low

Most of a hop's thiol aroma sits in the cone as odourless precursors bound to cysteine or glutathione; free thiols are a small fraction of the pool Gros et al. 2012 Kishimoto 2009. The tiers above summarise published precursor measurements and supplier statements for this variety. They are qualitative on purpose: Hoparoma's internal weighting is not published, and lot-to-lot variation is large.

Crop year lots

Year-specific rows come from published lot certificates of analysis. Where a lot reports only alpha and oil, the composition columns fall back to the variety's typical range, and the note says so. Rows marked carry-forward are placeholders until that harvest is analysed.

CropAlpha %Beta %Oil mL/100 g Myrcene %Humulene %Caryophyllene %
2024 16.317.531.76 38.6926.717–11
2025 146.931–1.2 21–2335–377–11
2026 146.931–1.2 21–2335–377–11
  • 2024 · Hop Alliance 2024 Lot PKI-24NEL Year-specific lot-level full breakdown (AA/BA/Coh/Oil/Myr/Hum); exceptional 2024 crop year — AA well above 10-13 baseline; caryo/linalool/geraniol/b-pinene baseline ranges
  • 2025 · Hop Alliance 2025 Lot L12-NS Year-specific lot-level AA/BA confirmed; oil composition baseline ranges (lot CoA reports AA/BA only)
  • 2026 · Hop Alliance 2025 Lot (carry-forward for 2026 SH harvest March-April 2026 not finalized) 2026 current crop estimate based on 2025 lot, finalizes after SH harvest March-April 2026

Which yeast brings it out

To cash in the bound precursors, ferment with a strain rated high for β-lyase activity: Berkeley Yeast Tropics, Escarpment Labs Thiol Libre, LalBrew Diamond Lager, Omega OYL-402 Cosmic Punch, Omega OYL-404 Star Party, Omega OYL-405 Helio Gazer, SafLager SH-45, WLP077 Tropicale Yeast Blend, WLP830 German Lager. A clean Chico-type strain (US-05, WLP001) leaves most of this potential locked; London III and Conan lineage strains sit in between.

Rule of thumb only. See the yeast table for every strain's rating and the literature behind it.

In Hoparoma

Hoparoma computes how much of Nelson Sauvin's aroma compounds survive your boil, whirlpool, and dry hop, and models the thiol side across yeast, hop, malt, and Phantasm together. The result is a research-based estimate of where the beer is likely to land, not a guarantee.

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Sources and data quality

Full list with links on the sources page. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct the dataset in the next release. This page's tables are published under CC BY 4.0; reuse with credit and a link.