Pacific Gem

A New Zealand bittering hop with dark berry and oak.

Origin

Nelson

Country

New Zealand

Released

1987

Alpha Acid

13.0–15.0%

What it tastes like

Pacific Gem is a New Zealand high-alpha bittering hop with a characterful aroma of dark berry, blackberry and oak with a spicy, woody edge. It lays down firm bitterness while adding a distinctive fruity-woody note.

berryspicywoody

Best in these styles

IPAstout porterenglish ale

Tasting Tip

Use Pacific Gem as a bittering charge with character — it adds a blackberry-and-oak note that suits darker ales.

Beers showcasing Pacific Gem

Specific beer examples coming soon.

Substitutes & relatives

If you can't source Pacific Gem, these hops bring overlapping character.

Lineage & family

How Pacific Gem connects to the rest of the hop family — its parents, and the varieties it spawned. Trace the full pedigree in the Hop Lineage explorer →

Founding lineage

● California Cluster 50% ● Late Cluster 25% ● Fuggle 12% ● open-pollinated 12%

Blood relatives

Genetically closest in the pedigree (may taste different):

Southern Cross

citrus · pine · spice

Rakau

stone fruit · floral · resin

Nelson Sauvin

white wine · gooseberry · tropical

Green Bullet

raisin · spice · floral

For brewers — technical profile

Alpha Acid

13.0–15.0%

Beta Acid

7.0–9.0%

Total Oil

0.8–1.6 mL/100g

Oil composition

myrcene

30–40%

humulene

20–30%

caryophyllene

6–12%

farnesene

0.1–1%

History

Pacific Gem is a triploid alpha variety from New Zealand's Plant & Food Research programme, released in 1987 from New Zealand Smoothcone crossed with Californian Late Cluster and Fuggle.

Sources

So you can see nothing here is made up — the published specifications on this page are traceable to grower / breeder data:

Freshness Note

As a high-alpha hop, Pacific Gem stores reasonably well; keep cold and sealed for clean bitterness.

Explore more hops

→ Browse all hop varieties

→ More from Nelson