Ilkley Brewery has unveiled a new hop, named ‘Olicana’ after the Roman fort from which the spa town grew.

The Herefordshire-grown hop, by Charles Faram & Co Hop Merchants, was revealed at the 2014 SIBA BeerX conference in Sheffield.

The Olicana seed, which has hints of mango, grapefruit and passion fruit, was originally sewn in 2009, and Charles Faram and Ilkley Brewery teamed up last year to exclusively harvest and brew with the new hop.

Ilkley Brewery, which produces more than 40,000 pints a week from its Ashlands Road base, will brew exclusively with Olicana this season, but it is hoped the hop will go into full-scale production in 2015.

Chris Ives, the brewery’s managing director, said: “British breweries have been importing aromatic hops from countries like America and Australia for many years now, but the knock-on effect is that British hop growers have taken a back seat. Creating different and exciting hops like Olicana, and growing them here in the UK, is vital for the British hop industry to stay alive.”

Paul Corbett, managing director of Charles Faram, said: “We are delighted to have had the support of Ilkley Brewery with one of the first varieties from our new hop-breeding programme, and we hope that it is well received.”