Importing whole cone hops?

[Nick Demetras]

Got back from a holiday in the US six months ago and brought back a few ounces of Citra, Sarachi Ace and Amarillo whole cone hops. MAF didn't even bat an eyelash when I showed them. These varieties are the BEST I've ever brewed with, nothing grown in NZ seems to compare. I've found a few places I can get imported amarillo hop pellets from but I don't really like using them in my all grain system, quite a pain in my opinion. Seeing as I've finished everything off I'm itchin' for a new batch of the above mentioned varieties. I've contacted freshops.com and they are willing to ship them with MAF approval. Before I contact MAF I thought I'd see if anyone else has done the same and what were the outcomes?

 

Cheers

Nick

[Richard Jack]

I'm not sure about maf but I'd be really keen to get in on an order if it would make it cheaper with regard to shipping!

[Nick Demetras]

Found this on the MAF website.... http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/files/ihs/bnz-npp-human.pdf 

Dried and processed plant material intended for human consumption shouldn't be a problem.

[jt]

There's plenty of reading there, try this

http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/imports/plants/standards/bnz-dppp-im...

Must be accompanied by a manufacturer's certificate stating that the hop product has been pelletised

[Doug]

 

Hi Nick,

 

Importation of whole hop into New Zealand is a major bio-security risk and outside of the MAF PEQ Level 3 protocols. If it were safe to bring whole hops into the country we ourselves would import them. New Zealand is hop disease free and introduction of a myriad of disease and plant viruses would have devastating effects on the industry. Currently hops produced in the Northern hemisphere are subject to weeks of intensive spraying with fungicides to manage the pressures of fungal disease such as Downy and Powdery mildew which have the potential of total crop destruction within weeks if left unchecked and untreated. I strongly advise against any further breach’s of teh bio-security protocols in relation to whole hop importation.

 

Regards,

Doug.

[JoKing]

I whole heartedly agree with Doug. I wanted to say something before, but as a store owner - I thought that the sentiment might have been somewhat diluted down. Good on you for speaking up Doug.

 

A fungul or viral infection would absolutely devistate the entire hop industry in New Zealand. Our unique varieties have never even had a sniff of the nasties that overseas varieties have to deal with. Spraying against the majority of the diseases that hinder the Northern Hemisphere hop industries isn't even necessary here.

 

Hundreds of Tonnes of crops would be decimated for years due to an insignificant amount of wrongly imported hops.

 

I'm a huge user of imported hops - but I use pellets, and have adjusted my system to suit, howver I couldn't imagine the NZ craft beer scene being anywhere as good as it is now without the excelent varieties developed over here in good old NZ.

 

Keep up the great work NZ Hops.

 

Joe.

[martin w]

i've just read this thread and i understand the potential problems but what i don't understand is why maf didn't care when he showed them?

[Greig McGill]

I have a mate who used to work at MAF. I won't out him here, as a few of you know him, but suffice it to say he had many a horror story to tell of incompetence. Some born of "good enough for government work" type employees, but much born of ridiculous and unachievable policy goals, driving an apathetic attitude. Suffice it to say that his opinion at the time was "might as well not bother at all". This breach is typical, and for every one of these, there are a hundred more.

[Brett Mason]

Hmm, I used Willamette cones (5% AA) in my last brew which I'm told was imported.

[JoKing]

Willamette is an American cultivar which is grown here in NZ. There is no chance that if your bought your cones through a LHBS that it's an imported product.

[Brett Mason]

Ah, sounds like there is a lot more grown here that what is listed on nzhops.co.nz

[Nick Demetras]

Thanks for the info. Doug. In no way have I ever decieved or tried to skirt around MAF regulations. I declared and produced the hops last time I went to the states. I trolled through MAF regulations yesterday, found several hop related articles but nothing answering my questions on their website. So I contacted them again, as I did a week ago, and haven't been contacted back. Seems that MAF is driopping the ball on this one... over and over again. Wasn't gonna go ahead with an order until I got a reply. No doubt RealBeer is a better source than MAF on this subject. Quick question Doug (genuinely interested/concerned not questioning your authority on the subject): How are pelletised hops safer than whole hops? Aren't they just ground/pelletised/vacuum packed? Should there just be a blanket ban on the importation of all hops in all forms?

 

Cheers

Nick 

[Nick Demetras]

Time to adapt to pellets...

 

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/default.asp?CID=7