Calicross Hops

Calicross represents an incredibly vital, industry-saving chapter in the history of Southern Hemisphere hop cultivation. Developed in the early 1960s by the legendary Dutch-born plant geneticist Dr. Rudy Roborgh at the Riwaka Research Station near Nelson, New Zealand, this diploid cultivar was born out of sheer agricultural desperation. By the late 1940s, Black Root Rot (Phytophthora citricola) had decimated New Zealand’s foundational "Cali" (California Late Cluster) yards, threatening the survival of the nation's entire hop industry. Dr. Roborgh cross-pollinated a female California Cluster plant with a disease-resistant male Fuggle seedling, creating a hybrid that inherited complete immunity to the root rot along with exceptional, heavy clustering habits. Officially accepted into the USDA germplasm collection in the spring of 1966, Calicross anchored New Zealand’s commercial brewing sector for nearly two decades before being phased out by 1980 in favor of newer, high-vigor triploid titans, cementing its legacy as a rare and vital historical bridge.

The aromatic matrix of Calicross delivers a beautiful, deeply nostalgic intersection of clean, old-world European elegance and robust, rustic American character. It opens with a distinct, headlining floral bouquet of sweet summer blossoms and English lavender, heavily reflecting its Fuggle paternal heritage. This soft floral canopy is immediately anchored by a punchy, vibrant mid-palate display of ripe orchard fruits, sweet blackcurrants, and sun-warmed raisins. Deep in the background, a grounding baseline of damp forest loam, clean topsoil, and dried orange peel provides a beautifully complex, earthy finish. Free of the aggressive, sulfur-forward tropical notes found in contemporary New World varieties, Calicross yields a smooth, highly cohesive wood-and-fruit fragrance that evokes the unrefined, wholesome character of mid-century ales and provides reliable dual-purpose utility in the brewhouse.