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(Courtesy Yakima Chief Hops)
It was kind of a big deal…Providing brewers on the other side of the globe with access to hops in their purest form was a huge get for Korean craft brewers that allowed them to produce exotic fresh hop ales.
In 2019, Yakima Chief Hops announced that it had exported the largest shipment of freshly harvested hops from the Pacific Northwest to South Korea in just one day for the first time in brewing history.
Fresh hops are typically purchased by breweries located closer to the source, hop farms of the Pacific Northwest where 75% of the nation’s hops are grown. And because they’re so highly perishable fresh hops must be delivered from bine to brewer in 36 hours.
Due to logistics and complications like timing and brewing schedule coordination, fresh hop ales remain a rarity in many US regions.
But working with the Washington State Department of Agriculture’s International marketing team and Korean distributor, Brew Source International, and hop breeding partner, Yakima Chief Ranches, the company was able to pull off what many thought was impossible.
In September, 2019, Yakima Chief Hops (YCH) sales and logistics staff oversaw a Fresh Hop first… the successful transport of 720 pounds of Mosaic® and Ahtanum® brand Fresh Hops delivered to three breweries South Korea in one day.
Tyler Shearn, Import Export Manager at Yakima Chief Hops saw the event as a milestone for the brewing industry…
“When Jim Lambert, YCH Asia Sales Representative, originally proposed the idea, I really felt the energy…It proved to be quite challenging, requiring months of preparation, attention to detail, and collaboration.”
The freshly picked hops traveled more than 5,345 miles to Seoul Brewery, Amazing Brewery and Playground Brewery, undergoing time-consuming export inspections and adhering to strict customs requirements along the way.
But those hops made their way to their final destinations with 24 hours. And all three of those breweries produced their first fresh hop ales ever in October, 2019.
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