Hop Products Australia (HPA) has successfully completed this year’s harvest. We picked 519 hectares across Victoria and Tasmania, yielding 1,296 tonnes of hops. This is a 47-hectare (8.3%) or 171-tonne (11.7%) reduction across our proprietary hops – Eclipse®, Ella™, Enigma®, Galaxy®, Luna®, Topaz™, and Vic Secret™ – as well as Cascade. Through rightsizing production, HPA are well placed for market balance with one exciting exception. Luna exceeded all expectations with unprecedented demand in its debut season. With the majority of crop 2026 contracted and strong future interest, HPA are pursuing an expansion plan to rapidly increase supply from crop 2027 and beyond. The present crop year will be available in Australia from May 2026 and globally from July 2026.
Despite HPA’s Victorian crop enduring drought conditions and two heatwave events, yield and quality remain excellent. Impact in beer is expected to remain strong, with this year’s oil content coming in only slightly below the 5-year average for most proprietary hops, demonstrating their climate resilience. Vic Secret continues to be our workhorse. It delivers reliable yields and intense aromatics that will excel in beer. Ella was equally impressive, with oil complexity that will excite brewers. While Luna achieved exceptional oil content and a rich aromatic expression.
HPA have invested heavily in new facilities and process updates to increase throughput for better harvest window management and improve quality for consistent performance in beer. For the past four crop years, we have been working closely with our partners at Haas to implement Sensory Plus™, a rigorous selection and validation system that blends human sensory expertise with advanced analytics to deliver maximum consistency across each variety.
This year’s crop was processed through Hop Central in a record time of 45 days. Within its first year of operation, our modern temperature-controlled pelleting and packaging facility achieved Food Safety System Certification (FSSC) 22000. This verifies that Hop Central follows globally recognised best practice to produce the highest quality hop pellets in a consistent and compliant manner, adding a layer of trust and assurance for brewers.
We’re proud to be part of a brewing community that values innovation, quality and consistency. This year, HPA commercialised Luna, distinguished by its lush mango, dark berry and spicy citrus characteristics with uniquely balanced aromatics and a remarkably smooth mouthfeel. Its launch marks the beginning of a renewed focus on more frequent commercialisations from our breeding program. We produced limited crop 2026 pellet lots of five leading experimental hops. HPA-031, HPA-050, HPA-065, HPA-3029 and HPA-4029 offer a range of flavours from delicate lemon and juicy lime to spicy ginger.
HPA are committed to helping brewers succeed through reliable access to quality hops that are grown with the same level of care they bring to their beers, and technical support to unlock new possibilities for market differentiation. As the hop industry moves toward balance, partnerships and forward planning are essential. This year’s increase in Eclipse and future expansion plans for Luna is evidence of HPA’s capacity and commitment to meeting our brewing partners evolving needs.
