Simon Nicholas
Chief Brewer at Hop Federation
Nestled in the small town of Riwaka is a very special brewery.
Simon Nicholas and his wife Nicki found it on TradeMe back in 2013 while working for a brewery near the heart of Auckland City – some thousand kilometres away.
Thirsty for change, they moved down to Riwaka with their daughter, Lily, and started chasing their dream of crafting artisanal beer that tells a story. The rest, as they say, is history.
Today, Hop Federation is brewing up a storm – and we’re not just talking about Sky’s Wide Open.
The beer Simon is working on in his video, affectionately named after the near-devastating Boxing Day hailstorm, is one of a long list of exciting brews for this year.
In fact, Simon and his team are set to brew and release a new beer, can and keg, every month.
And so far, they’ve been “bloody brilliant!”.
After Sky’s Wide Open, another fresh hop called Green Limousine stunned customers across the country. This was closely followed by the Matariki Hazy IPA, released in June to celebrate the Māori new year and the coming together of Hop Federation and Kono .
Simon’s excitement is contagious as he shares the next two creations on the brewing calendar:
“For July, we’ll see It’s Dark Out There, a hearty 8% stout. Then in August, there’ll be Space Cadet, a West Coast American IPA and Hop Federation’s entry into the West Coast IPA Challenge in Wellington.”
It’s an impressive lineup. Our Chief Brewer is a master of his craft.
But, he explains that these ambitious plans are one of many dreams made possible with Kono.
“Now that we’re part of Kono, we’ve got the resources, the team, the knowledge, and the networks behind us to get to where we want to be.”
After joining the Kono whānau in 2020, Hop Federation is ready to put Riwaka craft beer on the map.
Hop Federation can now use the finest local hops, grown less than five kilometres from the brewery by the Kono Horticulture team.
Led by Hop Manager, Dylan Morris, Kono has been growing hops for well over a decade. The 37 hectares of hop gardens boast 8 hop varieties, grown with increasingly sustainable practices.
And by teaming up with Dylan, Simon can be part of the decisions and strategies used to produce the hops for his beer.
“We’re excited to work with Dylan and see how certain growing practices, harvest windows, and hop varieties affect the flavour profiles of the beer. For Dylan, it’s an opportunity to see what happens with his hops after harvest – and if he grows bloody good hops, it’ll be reflected in the beer! ”
By bringing the grower and the brewer together, Kono and Hop Federation can create a more sustainable, intentional, and truly stunning beer.
This integration also provides Hop Federation with a skilled sales and marketing team to amplify and distribute the beer to craft beer lovers throughout New Zealand – and around the world.
Simon laughs that it’s sometimes challenging for the Kono team. The hectic brewing calendar means the sales and marketing team must design new labels and messages every month – and chase Simon for final decisions while he’s busy in the brewery!
But with this winning combination of horticultural knowledge, the finest local ingredients, and brewing best practices, the resulting product will tell a special story of the people who made it and the land it came from.
“We’re going to be able to brew more seasonal beers, where we play with different hop varieties. Now that we have a bigger audience, our beers can go further afield. We’ll start getting more feedback to help us develop the beer and try different techniques.”
It’s all part of our encompassing ethos of bringing people together – the vertical integration of not just resources and skills, but ideas and values, too.
With the support from Kono behind him, Simon is determined to take craft beer further by exploring the impact of terroir on the taste of the beer.
The concept of terroir has been crucial to winemaking for years now, but Simon believes it could have the same impact on craft beer – that story just hasn’t been told... yet.