Floating World, a quest around the globe for new alpha acids.

Just as locally grown hops are starting to find a place in San Diego beer, exotic foreign hops have also begun to capture beer drinkers' imaginations. The fruity, winy Nelson Sauvin variety out of New Zealand is highly valued by brewers for its versatility and great taste. Stone just released a 19th anniversary IPA featuring all Australian hops. But unique among the San Diego landscape was the mid-August debut of Modern Times' Floating World IPA, featuring hops grown exclusively in South Africa.

South Africa actually faces similar challenges to San Diego hop farms. The plant grows most fruitful between 35 and 45º latitude. We're around 32º north, whereas the farms in the southern cape sit around 34º south — in the Southern Hemisphere yet still outside the usual growing zone.

The J-17 hop variety used in Floating World was developed to grow well in that region over the course of 12 years by South African Breweries (SAB), the dominant beer force in South Africa, part of the same multi-national corporation that owns Miller.

Southern Passion, the other South African hops found in Floating World, were also developed by SAB. They're said to have a spicy, grassy flavor, with alpha acids a respectably robust 6-10%. By comparison, J-17 hops measure up to 14%, putting them on par with Nelson. Alpha acids provide the variety of bitter flavors that give hop-forward ales diversity — the distinctive characteristics that allow San Diego breweries to continue adding to the hundreds of local IPA releases without getting boring. At least, that's the hope.

Tropical and melon notes are commonly associated with the blandly named J-17. It's also touted by some as the great, multipurpose hop that will give South African craft beer a signature character. Finding it in American beer is not unheard of, but to my knowledge this is the first all–South African–hopped beer found in SD.

Thanks to a little Twitter diligence, I managed to draw the first pint tapped at Modern Times' North Park tasting room, curious as can be to see what flavors awaited. Presented in a tulip glass, it possessed a typical golden ale color with a slight orange tint. I got a sense of tangerine from its aroma, which followed through on first sip, along with a hint of tropical and stone fruits.

Up front, it was refreshing, almost juicy — with a unique underlying bitterness. As I continued to drink, it started to lose some of the fresher, more citrusy notes, which became buried by that unusual bitterness, a piney, resinous dankness that remained on the palate long after.

The experience took me back to the first hoppy beer I ever drank, Sierra Pale Ale. At first, the bitterness threw me. Then at some point I acquired a taste for it, started craving and then finding comfort in it. In a bizarro universe, where Southern Hemisphere hops were the norm, this could be the IPA I acquired a taste for. But on first blush it's a curiosity and a bitterness that will take time to get used to. In other words, it's not Nelson.