Vic Secret

Vic Secret™ comes from the breeding programme of Hop Products Australia (HPA). According to HPA, it originated in 2000 from a cross of Australian high-alpha hop with hop from the English Wye College, which itself has English, European and North American ancestors. According to BarthHaas, the father was a male plant from the United Kingdom and Vic Secret has the same parentage as the Australian variety Topaz. The breeding number is 00-207-013.

The variety came on the market in 2013. According to HPA, it is now its second-largest variety. It combines high alpha acid with a lot of oil: according to the current HPA variety sheet, 2.1–3.2 ml per 100 grams of hops.

HPA sums up Vic Secret as 'big pineapple and big pine': a lot of pineapple and a lot of pine, with lime and ginger alongside. BarthHaas distinguishes by the moment of addition. Early in the kettle it gives an earthy character; late in the whirlpool or when dry hopping mainly sweet fruit, with pineapple up front. In the raw hop, BarthHaas smells lime, grapefruit and strawberry, with pepper, ginger, marjoram and resinous pine. A brewer in the variety sheet mentions overripe or spicy pineapple and pine. What you smell, according to BarthHaas, therefore also depends on the moment at which the brewer adds the hops.

Independent research on the aroma is scarce. A Brazilian study from 2025 divided 76 hop varieties into two large groups on the basis of their chemical composition. Vic Secret fell, like Galaxy, in the group with mainly hops of North American origin, with Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe, among others.

According to BarthHaas, Vic Secret is a dual-purpose hop: it can bitter, but comes into its own best late in the whirlpool or when dry hopping. HPA recommends it for lager, XPA, hazy pale ale, IPA and West Coast IPA. BarthHaas also mentions stout and porter, and writes that brewers often combine it with other tropical hops, such as Galaxy, Mosaic and Azacca. A brewer in the variety sheet calls it an 'oil monster' and says they use 10–20% less of it than of comparable hops from the American Yakima Valley.

Besides ordinary hops, HPA also offers Vic Secret as a liquid product for dry hopping (Spectrum).

Related hops: Galaxy comes from the same breeding programme and falls in the same chemical group in the study mentioned. BarthHaas also names Galaxy as a tropical hop with which brewers often combine Vic Secret.

According to HPA, Vic Secret was on the point of being dropped, despite the chance of a high yield. HPA's growers in the state of Victoria had always found it a pleasant variety to grow. In 2011 a neighbouring brewery used it in a harvest beer, and according to HPA that proved its worth in beer. The variety then moved on from the trial group and in 2013 it came on the market. On the name, BarthHaas writes that the variety long counted as an 'insider tip', which would explain the name.

A good starting point: an IPA or pale ale in which Vic Secret plays the lead. Smell for pineapple and pine; perhaps you will also find lime or something spicy, such as ginger or pepper. Try putting it next to a beer with Galaxy, from the same breeding programme: there you look more for passion fruit and peach. Hop aroma fades: drink such a beer fresh.