USA, WA: Yakima Valley to increase brewery numbers by over 70% this year

"We grow so much of the world's hops, it just shocked me that there weren't more breweries so I thought there was a real opportunity to open one up,” said Chuck Redifer, owner and brewer at Redifer Brewing Company.

And Redifer's not the only one with that thought, KIMATV.com reported on June 7.

In 2017, the Yakima Valley will increase brewery numbers by over 70 percent with two new breweries already opening their doors and three more expected soon.

"I figured the valley could handle a few dozen at least so yeah, the more the merrier," said Redifer, happy to be a part of the Yakima Valley’s craft beer community.

Yakima’s growth in offering the full beer experience is no surprise to those at Yakima Valley Tourism, recognizing the valley's unique qualities including the rising trend of farm to table, now turned farm to glass for those in the craft beer world.

"Now a movement has come into the craft beverage world where people want to come here, taste the grapes that go into the wine, and meet the winemaker. The same kind of thing goes with beer, they want to meet the hop growers that's farming their hops that are going into their beer,” said Jared Yoakum, Marketing Manager at Yakima Valley Tourism.

With Yakima producing over 75 percent of the nation's hops, Yoakum says it's a great time for brewers to capitalize on our area's proximity and accessibility.

"It lets us stand head and shoulders above any of our competitors in the area because nobody else has this, nobody else in the nation has what we have to offer,” said Yoakum.

And the new breweries are also providing a boost for Yakima’s downtown revitalization.

"Everyone involved with downtown that's stopped in is really glad to have us here and so we're certainly proud to be a part of it and help revitalize downtown,” said Redifer.

Brewing up some good things for both beer lovers and our valley overall.

"It's a pretty exciting time for downtown I think. This is our core. This is Yakima’s heart and it's nice to see it beating so strongly again,” said Yoakum.

Leaders at Yakima Valley Tourism say they hope to capitalize even more on our valley's unique features in the future, hoping to bring in things like formalized beer tours to create more beer-focused tourism.

08 June, 2017