NZ is always a blast, great folks and awesome quality hops.  This year, the pleasant surprise was our first trip to Pikimai Hops.  Wandering into their midst kinda felt like finding a secret zone in a game, or finally cracking a code you've been trying to break for a while.  Hop quality on the bine and out of the mill was awesome.  Eugene from Totopia, Matt from Sakamichi and myself were literally instant fans.  One of the wild things about 2026 Pikimai however, was the flooding.  TWO once-every-100-year floods in one season, at remarkable timing so as not to wipe out fields, but potentially enhance them?  Floods certainly aren't ever something you wish upon anyone or any business, but if there is a silver lining, it might be that these hops are absolutely RAD.  Riverphilia is a nod to mother nature doing mother nature things - the awesome power to destroy and yet also create.  And it also is an excellent reminder that these ingredients we use aren't grown in a lab--the seasonal changes, senescence, even natural phenomena play a role and eventually, if we can get our shit right, find their way proper into your glass.  The beer is a well-balanced, diesel dank, dare I say lovely hazy.  Enjoy the last of our Pikimai for 2026, and look forward to 2027.