Drinks Atlas: Yakima Valley, Washington

In a verdant corner of Washington State, green is gold. Less than 150 miles outside of Seattle lies the Yakima Valley, the largest hop-growing region in the country. Some two-thirds of the hops grown in the U.S. come from this 1,000-or-so-square-mile area east of the Cascade Mountains.

“The Yakima Valley is a really agriculturally driven community,” says Bryan Pierce, the chief of customer success for Yakima Chief Hops, a grower-owned hop supplier in the city of Yakima. Crops like apples, cherries, peaches, and hops “are why most of Yakima is here,” he says.

With an arid climate that gets just eight inches of rainfall each year, the region wasn’t always an agricultural power player. In the 1860s, settlers irrigated the area so they could cultivate tree fruits, berries, and vegetables. Circa 1872, a homesteader named Charles Carpenter planted the first hop rhizomes in Ahtanum, Washington. Within four years, growers shipped 80 bales of homegrown hops to brewers across the state.

The Yakima Valley has three regions with distinct growing conditions. The largest, the Moxee Valley, is nicknamed “the hops capital of the world.” It’s joined by the Lower Yakima Valley and the expansive Yakama Indian Reservation. Each region has different microclimates, soil types, and growing conditions that contribute to different hop expressions.

There are more than 50 types of hops grown commercially in the valley, spanning high-alpha varieties like 1325, CTZ, 682 and others, and aromatic varieties like Cascade, Centennial, Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, and more. In recent years, hops like Talus and Krush have emerged. “Krush has a lot of complexity to it, I’ll be interested to see where it goes,” Pierce says.

Pierce describes hops as “a B2B product,” noting how the agricultural connection isn’t always apparent to people who don’t drink beer. “It’s not like with grapes for wine,” he says.

Within the beer community, however, hops are synonymous with Yakima Valley. “Hops are a huge part of our region,” Pierce says. “If you spend time in Yakima, you see them every day. There’s definitely a sense of pride in that.”

5 to Know

Cascade

“Cascade is a really classic variety,” Pierce says. “It’s not as expressive as some of the varieties you get today, but it’s part of the greatest hits of hops—it’s not going anywhere.” A staple of craft beer’s first-wave, “these are the hops that define the flavors of that time. They’re closely associated with West Coast IPAs and Pale Ales, and they have a bit of spice, earth, citrus, and fruit to them.”

Centennial

Another signature during craft beer’s early days in the 1990s, Centennial hops have tangy grapefruit and other citrus aromas. “It’s very high in certain survivable oil compounds that express a lot of brightness in beer,” Pierce says. Look for Centennial hops in iconic craft IPAs from the era, including Russian River Brewing’s Pliny the Elder.

Citra

The most widely grown hop by acres in the Valley, Citra has “the dominant flavor profile that you experience in craft beers today, particularly if you drink a lot of IPAs,” Pierce says. “It has tons of citrus notes in it and can be a little grapefruity. It’s very bright, very distinct, and it’s a backbone to a lot of great beers.”

Simcoe

Characterized by freshness and piney notes, Simcoe hops add drinkability and have “really low bitterness and a lot of smoothness,” Pierce says. The variety is particularly distinctive in fresh-hop beers, where it can create juicy, fruity flavors, “almost like a watermelon Jolly Rancher,” Pierce says. “It’s a really cool hop, it’s definitely one of my favorites.”

Talus

A newer hop variety, Talus was introduced in 2020 and has “a really strong grapefruit character,” Pierce says. While it was intended for IPAs, “it has a life of its own—we’re starting to see lots of traction with it being used in lighter-style beers, like lagers and light pale ales. I’m excited to see more craft brewers start experimenting with it.”