Washington’s Heritage of Hops (and beer)

Washington is a haven for beer lovers everywhere, thanks to our prolific craft breweries and the farms across the state that grow the bulk of the country's hops. And it's remarkable to think that these 150 years of hoppy history can likely be traced back to two 19th-century farmers who cultivated some plants and changed the state's agricultural landscape for good.

In 1852, pioneer Ezra Meeker and his family traveled from Iowa to Washington along the Oregon Trail and founded the town of Puyallup, where they began farming the land. Thirteen years later, Meeker and his father, Jacob, planted a few hop cuttings a friend had given them — and the hops took off, becoming, for a short time, the Puyallup Valley's biggest crop.

A few years later, an East Coast hop farmer named Charles Carpenter planted the first hop fields in Ahtanum, in the Yakima Valley, using plants from his family's farm in New York. They took well to the region's desert climate, fertile soil, and abundant irrigation — and, unlike on the East Coast, the crops could produce a yield in their first year.

More hop farms began sprouting up all over the valley and the state, and Washington quickly became known for the crop. In the fall of 1891, the New York Times published an article about Washington's booming hop production, writing that "there is no State in the Union where hop growing is carried on with more success than in Washington... The industry has passed beyond the experimental stage and is steadily gaining ground."

These days, Washington is the No. 1 producer of hops in the country, and according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, we grow about three-quarters of the nation's hops, mostly in the Yakima Valley. Washington has nearly 40,000 acres of hop farms, and countries worldwide clamor for Washington-grown hops, especially Belgium, Germany, and Canada. In 2023, Washington exported $319 million worth of hops around the world.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, local breweries began taking advantage of easy access to the crop, and the beer industry blossomed, with breweries like Seattle Brewing & Malting Company, the Capital Brewing Company, and Schade Brewery in Spokane opening around this time. In 1916, however, Prohibition forced all the state's breweries to cease production.

"Prohibition nearly killed the industry," said Michael F. Rizzo, the author of "Washington Beer: A Heady History of Evergreen State Brewing." "Almost every brewery closed; hundreds of jobs were lost. Several larger breweries made near beer, and some tried making other food products."

After the end of Prohibition in 1933, Rizzo said, only a few wealthy businesspeople were able to restart their breweries, but smaller companies often failed to get off the ground. In addition, new laws banned any beer and wine above 3.2% alcohol by volume (ABV), which stymied production.

Some breweries thrived despite that restriction, and one example was Rainier Brewing Company, under the new leadership of Fritz and Emil Sick. While the brewery had operated before Prohibition and sold soda and other nonalcoholic beverages from 1916 to 1933, the Sick family re-energized the brand, paving the way for Rainier's iconic, unhinged 1970s ads and its eventual status as a cult classic.

In 1982, the legal ABV limit was raised to 8%, and Washington's craft beer movement officially began. A month after the new law, Bert Grant opened Yakima Brewing and Malting Company, the first post-Prohibition brewpub, and in the subsequent years, breweries popped up all over the state, winning national awards and garnering worldwide attention. In 2023, the state's 459 craft breweries produced more than 560,000 barrels of beer, according to the Brewers Association, and in March, Washington breweries took home 27 Best of Craft Beer Awards.

"It is a big industry in the state, creating jobs and revenue," said Rizzo. "We were an industry leader for many years."

And all along, the partnership between Washington's craft breweries and its hop farmers has benefited all parties, including beer lovers. In addition to the environmental benefits of using local ingredients, Washington brewers are also able to brew fresh-hopped beers using local hops. By brewing the beer within 24 hours of harvest, breweries create ales that retain the bright, nuanced flavors of the fresh hops.

"The fresh-hops beers that come in early fall are always something unique and sell well," Rizzo said.

So the next time you order a delightfully hoppy Washington beer, raise your glass to the farmers and brewers who made it all happen.