My latest article for The Bulletin is all about hops—specifically, the harvest and hop selection that takes place each year, focusing on Yakima, Washington. The backstory: I was recently invited on a media trip to the Yakima Valley to explore the hop, beer, and tourism culture for a long weekend, and was impressed with the up-close scale of the hop industry. There are also some great breweries in the region, and I attended the Yakima Fresh Hop Ale Festival which was the best of its kind that I’ve been to.

Yakima, Washington, is ground zero for hop selection, with hundreds of brewers from all over the country descending on the region this time of year. Two weeks ago I was invited on a media trip to Yakima with several other writers, and we learned about the scale and effort behind this entire process.

For starters, 75% of the nation’s hops are grown in the Yakima Valley. In 2018, the region’s yield was over 77 million pounds. From mid-August through the end of September, hops are harvested, dried and packaged into 200-pound bales, a process for which time is of the essence to ensure the highest quality product available.

During our visit, the air was palpable with the scent of freshly picked hops, and every brewery we visited featured at least three fresh hop beers on tap. Some breweries, such as Bale Breaker Brewing Company and Cowiche Creek Brewing Company, blur the lines between brewing and hop growing.

The photo on this post is from Bale Breaker, actually, which hosted a terrific tour and hop overview for our group. I’ll have more to say on Yakima and the breweries (and hop culture) soon.