When you think of a Beer, what ingredients come to mind? Water, a source of starch such as malted barley, yeast, and hops all may be on the list. Of course, different types of beers all have different types of ingredients along with the many varieties of ingredients such as hops (around 130 varieties exist currently, for brewers to chose from).
Regardless of how it’s made though, there are several hidden ingredients in beer that you might not know about. Recently I’ve had the chance to move back to Yakima, Washington from Seattle after 15some years living and working there. I grew up in eastern Washington, about an hour east in the town of Prosser so it was in a lot of ways me coming home.
What I wasn’t aware of, though, was just how vibrant the culture of hop growing and beer making was in the valley. Did you know Washington grew 77 million pounds of hops last year, bringing in $427 million dollars and its all within driving distance to Yakima? That’s 77% of the total hops grown in the United States, on 75% of the total US hop acreage. Yakima even has shirts available on iheartyakima.com that proudly declares “We Grow Your Beer”.
It was in getting to know the folks at Bale Breaker, a craft brewery here in Yakima with a heritage in hop farming dating back into the early 1900’s that I really got to know craft beer, and those hidden…
