Luna® is now ready for broader commercial use, and it arrives with two things brewers care about: a distinct flavor profile that reads clearly in beer, and a development pathway that has already tested its value in the field and in the brewhouse.
From a sensory standpoint, Luna® sits comfortably in the modern spectrum, lush mango, dark berry and spicy citrus, with a naturally expressive character that works well on its own and plays well with other contemporary varieties. We also see Luna®’s high polyphenol content as part of its appeal: it can lift perceived flavor depth and contribute to a rounder mouthfeel, particularly in hop-forward styles where structure matters as much as aroma.
On the practical side, Luna® is an early-maturing hop with strong agronomic performance and a clear plan for scaling supply in response to contracted demand.
Built by a program that’s been doing this for decades
Hop Products Australia’s breeding program has been operating since the 1950s, initially with a focus on bittering hops, and later shifting with the market toward flavor varieties that could meet the needs of modern brewing. Luna® is a product of that long timeline, not a quick selection. Luna® (HPA-033) was created in 2003 through a cross of high alpha Australian and Liberty parent lines. When Dr Simon Whittock took over breeding and research in 2007, he narrowed the program’s experimental pipeline and selected what would become Vic Secret™, Eclipse®, and Luna® for extensive field trials.
Those selections were guided by a triploid breeding strategy intended to deliver hops with climate resilience, high flavor impact, and strong brewing performance relative to cost-of-use. Luna® was originally flagged for its early harvest window, and it has continued to perform well through brewing trials.
What Luna® brings in beer
Luna®’s profile is direct and recognisable. HPA’s sensory mapping highlights three core lanes: sweet fruits (mango, passionfruit), berries & currants (blackberry, blackcurrant), and citrus (orange, grapefruit).
Brewer feedback aligns with that structure. Ross Terlick (Rocky Ridge Brewing) calls out a hot-side to cold-side transition that many brewers will immediately understand in practical recipe terms:
“Luna®’s seriously good in beer. It creates some beautifully complex notes of spicy citrus on the hot side, and juicy mango on the cold side… I honestly reckon it’s going to end up rivalling Galaxy.”
Davide Salvalaio, Head Brewer of Busa dei Briganti, Padua Italy had great things to say about the variety:
“In beer, Luna® delivers exactly what you’d expect from the rub: a juicy, clear, well-defined aroma led by sweet citrus, orange, mandarin and marmalade, supported by mango and soft tropical fruit, with a subtle floral lift. On the palate it stays smooth and rounded with good persistence and no rough edges. Modern, expressive, and very drinkable, the citrus–mango combination is the core of the profile.”
That combination, mango-forward sweetness with darker berry depth and a spicy citrus edge, makes Luna useful across a wide range of current styles. HPA’s recommended set includes lager, pilsner, XPA, pale ale, and IPA. In practice, that means you can use Luna® to bring modern fruit character into lighter beers without overwhelming them, or to add dimension and contrast inside bigger hop builds.
From trial lots to commercial reality
HPA advances very few experimental hops beyond field trials, and fewer still into full commercialisation. Luna® has cleared those gates. New plantings are continuing to mature, yields are trending upward, and key metabolites are meeting expectations. The data sheet also notes that oil and alpha content have remained steady as production increases, an important signal as the hop moves from limited availability to broader adoption.
Supply will scale with demand. HPA has a planned increase in production volume, with capacity to expand acreage in response to commercial pull. Contracting for crop 2027 is specifically encouraged.
Available as T90 Pellet and Prysma®
Luna® is available as T90 pellet or Prysma®, our 100% hop-based flavor platform in liquid form. That gives brewers options: classic pellet-led approaches, liquid dosing strategies, or combinations designed around efficiency, consistency, and targeted flavor placement. If Luna® fits where your portfolio is heading, whether that’s modern lager, a fruit-forward pale, or an IPA build that needs berry depth alongside tropical lift, now is the right time to evaluate it while supply is scaling.
Talk with your BarthHaas contact about Luna® availability and crop contracting and request the Luna data sheet for sensory guidance and analytical ranges.
