U.S. Hop Harvest: A Brewer’s Guide

Photography courtesy of Bale Breaker Brewing Company

For a larger craft brewery like Stone, which needs countless hops each year to pump out its core beers, the team makes several trips to Yakima a year. They start visiting even before the hops are ready for picking.

“We do an annual visit before harvest,” Stone Senior Manager of Brewing Innovation and Supply Chain Jeremy Moynier says. “We touch base with the farms and promote food safety. At the end, we throw a big party for them.”

Stone tries to contract as many hops as they can. Moynier says it’s good practice for them at their size and better for the farmers. Going into the harvest, they know the varieties they will pick, so whoever is going to select—they try to have the same group go each year—does a refresher.

“We remind ourselves what we’re looking for in each variety,” Moynier says. “We put together a chart and try to target three to four things and intensity level. For example, Lemon 3, Pineapple 2, and Resin 1. It’s simple, but we pinpoint those main descriptors. Then we rub hops too, to remind ourselves.”

Strangebird Owner and Brewer Micah Krichinsky likes to clear out his schedule so he can brew beers during harvest based on when farmers are ready to pick hops. Krichinsky says he has made his way to the Pacific Northwest occasionally but by and large does his picking in New York.

“Our schedule is ready when the hops are ready,” Krichinsky says. “Being in constant contact with the farmers to know their schedule to have a tank open and yeast ready is the most important thing in the leadup.”

Krichinsky says there are some farmers they communicate with directly, but because Strangebird is located in Rochester, NY, they get a huge assist from the New York HOPGUILD and its owner, Chris Holden.

Photography courtesy of Bale Breaker Brewing Company

We put together a chart and try to target three to four things and intensity level.

Jeremy

“It’s nice to have one point person to go to [for] multiple farms,” Krichinsky says.

Bale Breaker Brewing has a unique perspective on the hop harvest. They double as a hop farm and a brewery, so they toggle between the growing and brewing sides.

“It’s more just getting mentally prepared and rested before it starts,” Bale Breaker Co-owner and Brewer Kevin Quinn says. “There’s a rhythm and pattern to it.”

Quinn says that it is, by far, the busiest time of year for the brewery and farm. They’ve been at it for over a decade, each year making new friends within the industry, meeting people, learning techniques, and doing a bunch of collabs.

“This year, we will do fifteen fresh hop beers,” Quinn says.

Quinn notes that they ease into the flow of things in late August by checking the hop quality. Afterward, Yakima Chief Hops (YCH) hosts a hop and brew school for roughly two hundred people. By the end of that week—late August, early September—they harvest on the farm.

“It’s busy. Not a lot of sleep,” Quinn says. “There’s the other eleven months out of the year to sleep.”

Photography courtesy of Bale Breaker Brewing Company

Quinn says it’s really about pacing. He says brewers don’t typically come in droves early in the season, when you see Cascade and Centennial being harvested.

“The next week, [roughly the second week of September], is the big week for early varietals,” Quinn says. “If you’re a brewery that has enough money to harvest twice, you come [that week] for early stuff, and then you wait and come back the week of Sept. 20-21 to select Citra, Mosaic, and Krush.”

Quinn says that the last week of September and first week of October is when he sees many breweries just big enough to have a hop contract come out to have the whole lot of the season to pick.

From the brewery side of things, Quinn says they work out logistics for a number of things, including activities and collaborations—they have one this year with U.K.-based Verdant as well as two others with U.S. breweries.

“Before the brewery started, we had a tradition of having dinner with [Russian River Owners] Vinny and Natalie [Cilurzo] and [Bell’s Brewery Director of Operations] John Mallett,” Quinn says. “Certain things are tradition, we know [they] are going to happen and we schedule around that.”

Quinn adds, “Our first collab in 2014 … Elysian Founder Dick Cantwell and Steve Luke [who went on to found Cloudburst] came out and we did Citra fresh hop, Citra Slicker. The beer turned out really good. Then we took a year off because Elysian sold; then in 2016, we picked it up with Cloudburst. This year will be the tenth time brewing Citra Slicker.”

Making the fresh hop beers is a breeze for Bale Breaker. As the only commercial brewery on a commercial hop farm, Quinn says they can just head to the farm, get thousands of pounds of fresh hops, and add them to the brew—all in a few minutes.

“We [generally] do three on our thirty-barrel production brew system, and nine or so on the five-barrel pilot system,” Quinn says.

Moynier schedules the trips and sets the appointments with several different growers for Stone. Each year, they have a core group that travels to hop harvest. If they feel a brewer has performed well, they’ll give that person an opportunity to pick hops.

Moynier says arranging the trip is tricky. Although Stone selects hops from vendors across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, Moynier says they start in Washington because “that way you only have an hour to drive any way.”

Moynier says that Stone leans on the growers during the first week of September to pick hops that fit what they want. They also plan another visit sometime in the last two weeks of September.

“We lean to the end [of September] because we focus on later varieties,” says Moynier. “In a perfect world, I’d be there all September but there are budgetary constraints. We have to touch the biggest volume for what we’re aiming.”

We go down a day before with a group, smell hops, select hops we’ll take, and they harvest them the next day,

Micah Krichinsky - Strangebird Brewery

Krichinsky says there are hop farms all over the state, and they are fortunate to be in a region that grows high-quality hops.

“We identify a hopyard within an hour of us we can get to and from multiple times a week. That’s important,” Krichinsky says.

Strangebird has taken years to refine its picking method, but Krichinsky says he’s happy with its current process.

“We go down a day before with a group, smell hops, select hops we’ll take, and they harvest them the next day,” he says. “For wet-hop beers, we pick them up that day. Fresh-hop, we pick them up in a couple of days.”

As to when they arrange those trips, Krichinsky says, “We rely on the farmers to tell us when they are going to be ready.”

Photography courtesy of Bale Breaker Brewing Company

Moynier says it’s not really about the look. It’s all about hitting the intensity levels based on their chart.

“We’re already working with the growers. We already know what we’re looking for with them, and they know what we’re looking for,” Moynier says. “If you have a good relationship, they should have stuff they think you’re going to like that’s in your target.”

He adds, “Sometimes we are shown stuff and it doesn’t jump out. If it’s a good grower/vendor, it’s no problem. They really want to get it right. There’s a lot of motivation on their end. And we trust them at this point because we’ve gained this relationship.”

Being in New York, Krichinsky says that Strangebird doesn’t always have the full lot of selections on hops—especially if they wanted to make wet-hop versions of their core beers.

If it smells like s**t, it’s going to taste like s**t. It’s gotta smell right.

Micah Krichinsky - Strangebird Brewery

“We are somewhat limited,” he says. “But I mean, what we have, the quality is very high.”

Going into it, Krichinsky says they have an idea of what they are looking for, but when they arrive, they rub and smell the hops to decide from there. When picking, he says it’s all about sensory.

“We’re in a flavor-driven industry,” Krichinsky says. “If it smells like s**t, it’s going to taste like s**t. It’s gotta smell right.”

Krichinsky says many times that great-smelling hops correspond with the best-looking ones, but it’s essential to crumble the hops in your hands to get the smell yourself.

“Having opportunities to go to the farm and select exactly what you’re looking for or decide what you’re going to do is a really cool part,” he says. “We all get into brewing for different reasons. This is one of the most enjoyable—talking to farmers, finding materials and brewing with it.”

Bale Breaker has its unique situation which allows them to rub hops from different picking windows at the same time to see which ones they like the most.

“We take samples of hops from both baling rooms—before they show at Yakima Chief,” Quinn says. “We take samples from every lot in every hop field, and we keep them in the freezer, and every couple days we rub hops and pick ones we like.”

Quinn says they look for a combination of visual and sensory when they pick their hops—but they always do blind tests.

“Look is a big thing—we like them to be nice and green,” Quinn says. “Cone integrity is a big thing. If it disintegrates in your hand, it’s probably too dry.”

Ultimately, Bale Breaker looks at the last year’s sensory chart.

“We try to match those but look for [the] most intensity,” Quinn says. “As you go through [and] rub and sniff, when one pops way more, you just know.”

Photography courtesy of Bale Breaker Brewing Company

“They usually leave us alone,” Moynier says. “They sometimes leave the room and say call us if you need us. Others are in the room to watch the process—we’re good with that.”

He says that some growers try to get too involved, but generally they leave them to do their selections.

“We talk at the end to give feedback,” Moynier says. “But during the nitty gritty, we are on our own.”

Krichinsky also believes the relationships you build play an important part in the hop-selection process.

“We have a good relationship with farmers. We like to hang out,” he says. “Some are different, but any information they can give we enjoy.”

Krichinsky adds, “There’s a lot of positivity, which can help with the info you get from the person who grows it.”

Photography courtesy of Bale Breaker Brewing Company

Krichinsky says not to be shy about getting into the hops.

“If they invite you out to select, get out there,” he says. “You’re going to need to tear the cone apart with your hands and get in there.”

He adds, “Bring a bottle of isopropyl and a towel to clean your hands between smells.”

Moynier says to lean into the prep work.

“Talk about hops ahead. Think about how they express themselves in your beer at your brewery,” he says. “Do that pre-work and really build these relationships with growers and vendors to get the most out of them. And be organized and have a good schedule.”

But Moynier points out you shouldn’t forget to have fun because, “It’s a magical time of year.”

Quinn advises, “If you’re at a size where you can get a contract, hand-selecting your hops is the biggest benefit.” The experience is invaluable, especially if you can make it to a hop and brew school to learn sensory best practices.

“Come and experience, and it will change your perspective,” he shares. “Talk to farmers and hop suppliers. It’s invaluable knowledge to make you a better brewer.”