The Yakima Valley Hops Story

If you've ever struggled to find quality hops in the quantities you actually need, you're not alone. That's the exact problem Yakima Valley Hops was built to solve, and it's a problem our founders lived firsthand. We make hop sourcing easier and more flexible so brewers can spend more time making great beer.

Starting with a supply chain problem (2012-2014)

Jeff Perkins and John Snyder grew up together in the Yakima Valley. As homebrewing friends surrounded by hop fields, they ran into an unexpected wall: they were unable to find good hops for their own brew day, despite living in the heart of hop country.

This problem extended well beyond their own homebrew setup. Homebrewers and smaller craft breweries faced many of the same barriers: sourcing hops was time-consuming and hard to navigate, pricing wasn't always transparent, purchase quantities and terms were inflexible, and access to sought-after varieties tended to favor larger buyers.

That disconnect between the world’s most important hop-growing regions and the brewers who needed hops became the foundation for Yakima Valley Hops.

Like many startups, the company began in a garage. Jeff and John sold hops on eBay, repacked orders by hand, stored inventory in secondhand freezers, and shipped hops to brewers worldwide. The operation started small, but the idea behind it was bigger: make it easier for brewers to get the quality hops they need, in the quantities they need, with fewer barriers in the way.

Building a better way to source hops (2015-2019)

The company quickly outgrew its garage beginnings, launching the YakimaValleyHops.com e-commerce marketplace and moving operations to Yakima’s historic Fruit Row where it remains today. 

Wholesale operations followed in 2015, extending that same self-serve model to commercial brewers through a new account option. Whether a brewer needed a few pounds for a pilot batch or pallets for production, Yakima Valley Hops set out to make the purchasing experience straightforward.

As the company grew, so did the infrastructure behind a sourcing model that remains central today:

• Transparent purchasing with up-front pricing, visible availability, and no contracts.
• Built around the brewer’s schedule with easy online ordering, responsive customer service, and fast fulfillment.
• A focus on hop quality with direct grower relationships, access to quality lots, and nitrogen-flushed packaging for freshness.
• More choice, less friction with a broad selection of varieties and crop years from around the world.

By 2019, Yakima Valley Hops had grown from a garage startup into an established supplier serving thousands of homebrewers and craft breweries around the world.

Expanding access with John I. Haas (2019-2025)

John I. Haas was one of Yakima Valley Hops’ early hop suppliers. In 2019, that relationship expanded into a strategic partnership that brought two complementary strengths closer together.

Yakima Valley Hops brought a transparent and digital-first way for smaller breweries to purchase hops. John I. Haas brought generations of experience in hop growing, brewing solutions, and global supply. Together, this gave Yakima Valley Hops customers greater access to hops, new innovations, and a more resilient supply network — all while preserving the flexibility and convenience the company was built on. Brewers also gained easier access to advanced hop products beyond traditional pellets, built to improve flavor, consistency, and brewhouse efficiency, along with the economics of every brew day.

The next generation of hop sourcing (2026-now)

As a John I. Haas company, Yakima Valley Hops is now supported by the global BarthHaas network, further combining the strengths of each to improve the sourcing experience for all breweries with a broad portfolio spanning the world’s most celebrated growing regions.

Through it all, the mission that began in a Yakima garage remains consistent: remove the hurdles from hop sourcing. With flexible purchasing, reliable access to hops, and knowledgeable support, brewers spend less time navigating procurement and more time making great beer.

Because when sourcing is simple, brewers have more freedom to adapt, experiment, improve efficiency, and brew with confidence.

“Yakima Valley Hops has made sourcing hops simple, reliable, and even a little fun.” James Ewen, Wooden Hill Brewing Company

 

Blog originally posted in 2021, updated 2026.