Frequently Asked Quesions

Yakima Valley Hops is an online hop supplier serving craft breweries, beverage producers, pilot breweries, and small batch brewers. We’re a John I. Haas company built to make sourcing hops faster, easier, and more flexible. 

Yakima Valley Hops began after founders Jeff Perkins and John Snyder encountered an unexpected problem: even while surrounded by hop farms, it was difficult for smaller brewers to conveniently source quality hops in the quantities they needed. What started as a garage operation quickly grew into an e-commerce hop supplier serving homebrewers and commercial breweries nationwide. 

You can read more about the Yakima Valley Hops story here.

Yakima Valley Hops is a John I. Haas company, and John I. Haas is part of the global leader BarthHaas network. This gives Yakima Valley Hops customers access to Haas and BarthHaas expertise, varieties, advanced hop products, breeding programs, processing capabilities, and growing regions around the world.

Both commercial breweries and homebrewers can purchase from Yakima Valley Hops. Small-pack products are available to general customers, while wholesale sizes and commercial pricing require an approved Craft Brewery Account.

We offer hops in every format — pellets, whole cone, extracts and advanced products — in domestic and international varieties through an e-commerce platform designed to make sourcing hops fast and flexible. The portfolio includes hops from major growing regions around the world as well as innovative Haas and BarthHaas products. We also offer brewing ingredients and other small-batch brewing equipment.

No. The Yakima Valley is our home and a leading source of American hops with over 70% of the nation’s production, but our portfolio extends well beyond Yakima. Our portfolio includes hops from the United States and major international hop-growing regions including Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Czechia, France, the United Kingdom, and others. Availability varies by variety, crop year, and harvest.

Our model is built around flexible, transparent spot purchasing. Brewers can see availability, purchase what they need online, and avoid committing to a hop contract when a contract does not make sense for their business. We combine that e-commerce model with direct access to John I. Haas and BarthHaas products, technical expertise, and global hop supply.

We're easy to get a hold of! You can easily use live chat on YakimaValleyHops.com, email info@yakimavalleyhops.com, or call 509-245-6363. The team generally responds to online inquiries within one business day.

You do not need a commercial account to browse the site or purchase standard small-pack sizes. An approved Craft Brewery Account is required to access larger, 11-pound pack sizes and wholesale pricing. A Craft Brewery Account is our wholesale account for verified commercial breweries and eligible beverage businesses.

Complete the Craft Brewery Account registration form and provide your brewery or business information along with applicable tax documentation, such as a Tax ID or reseller permit. Most applications are reviewed within 24 business hours. Weekend applications are generally reviewed on the next business day.

Once verified, your account can be approved for commercial purchasing. Approved accounts receive access to commercial pack sizes, wholesale pricing, purchasing tools, and other features designed for professional brewers like adding multiple addresses and users.

Yes. Breweries in planning are encouraged to contact our team. If your business is not yet fully operational or you are waiting on tax or licensing documentation, tell us where you are in the planning process and we can determine the best way to help.

Yes. Commercial accounts can support multiple users and locations, making it easier for brewing, procurement, operations, and accounting teams to manage purchasing while maintaining visibility across the brewery.

If you are logged in but cannot see commercial pricing or 11-pound sizes, your account may need to be linked to the correct brewery or wholesale profile, or it may be pending approval. Contact us by chat, phone, or email and we can help locate or update your account.

Accounts associated with the former John I. Haas online shopping experience have been migrated to Yakima Valley Hops. Sign in using the email associated with your Haas account and verify your account details. Please contact us if you have any issues signing in. 

Yakima Valley Hops supports online spot purchasing, while your existing Haas sales relationships remain available for contracts, larger account needs, technical support, and product guidance.

A spot purchase means buying hops that are currently available for sale without committing to a future contract. Spot purchasing gives breweries flexibility to adjust recipes, volumes, varieties, and purchasing schedules as their needs change.

No. Buying hops on the spot market does not mean you are purchasing inferior or “leftover” hops. When brewers travel to Yakima for hop selection, they are choosing lots that best match the specific flavor, aroma, and performance they want for their brands. Selection is about fit and consistency for a particular brewer, not simply ranking lots from “best” to “worst.”

Hops are agricultural products, so natural variation exists between farms, fields, and lots. Haas evaluates hops against rigorous quality and sensory standards before they are offered for sale. A spot lot can be an excellent hop and may be a perfect fit for your beer, even if another brewery selected a different lot of the same variety for its own flavor target.

For many brewers, spot purchasing offers the added advantage of flexibility, allowing them to buy high-quality hops as needed without committing to future volumes or long-term contracts.

No. Our spot model is built for brewers who want the flexibility to buy hops when they need them, with no contract required. If you'd like to secure future volume or specific varieties, our sales team can also provide a contract quote, and many brewers combine spot purchasing with contracting as part of a broader sourcing strategy to ensure consistency and manage risk.

Yakima Valley Hops is designed to support orders ranging from small packs to commercial quantities. There is generally no requirement to purchase a full pallet or contract quantity simply to order hops. Product availability and pack sizes vary by item.

Hops are available in small packs, including one-pound options, up to brewery pack sizes like 11-pound bags, and commercial brewers can purchase by the bag, case, pallet, or larger volume depending on product availability. Many products also offer volume discounts, with full cases and pallets often qualifying for more favorable pricing. Commercial customers should log into their approved account to view applicable pricing, or contact the sales team for larger volume needs.

Credit cards are accepted for online purchases, and commercial customers can also use ACH bank transfers. Eligible customers with established account terms should contact the team if they need assistance with their payment setup.

Yes, we offer payment terms on a case-by-case basis and for customers of John I. Haas with existing payment terms. Please reach out to your Haas Representative to confirm terms and set up your account with Yakima Valley Hops. We take into account purchase history, order volume, and business credit rating through CreditSafe.

Possibly. Contact us as quickly as possible through live chat, email, or phone. Changes and cancellations are handled case by case, and once an order has entered processing or shipped it may no longer be possible to change it.

Samples are available for qualifying commercial brewery customers and certain products. Contact our team with the variety or product you want to evaluate, your brewery information, and the intended application, and we can help determine available sample options.

Yakima Valley Hops ships directly to addresses within the United States, including the contiguous states, Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. territories, and APO addresses. Local pickup is also available for qualifying orders. Select the applicable pickup option during checkout or contact the team if you have a special request.

Yakima Valley Hops no longer ships directly to international destinations. International customers can work with the appropriate BarthHaas partner or regional distributor, or arrange shipment to a U.S.-based freight forwarder that handles the international portion of the shipment.

Most online orders are targeted to ship within one to two business days, with larger pallet and freight orders requiring additional processing time. Orders placed before 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time Monday through Friday may qualify for same-day shipment, depending on order size, inventory, carrier availability, and current workload.

A HOPmergency is an expedited order for brewers who need hops quickly to keep a brew schedule moving. HOPmergency express orders placed before 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time may qualify for same-day processing.

Pallet orders shipping via LTL freight typically process within one to three business days. Very large or made-to-order purchases may require additional lead time.

Shipping rates are calculated at checkout based on shipment weight, destination, and selected service level. Multiple carrier and service options are available so customers can balance delivery speed and cost.

Tracking information is emailed after the carrier scans your shipment. If you do not see the email, check your spam or promotions folder. You can use the tracking link for current carrier updates or contact us if you still need assistance.

If damage occurred during shipping, file a claim with the carrier and contact Yakima Valley Hops with your order information, photographs of the product and packaging, and the carrier claim number. We will work with you to determine the appropriate next step.

Contact us with your order number and a description of the issue. Photographs of the shipment, contents, and packing slip are helpful. Our team will review the order and help resolve the problem.

Not necessarily. A small pinhole or loss of vacuum during shipping does not mean the hops immediately degrade. Reseal the package, minimize exposure to oxygen, and store the hops cold. Contact us if you have concerns about the product when it arrives.

Opened or used hop products generally cannot be returned because product quality depends heavily on storage and handling after the package is opened. If a product arrives damaged or appears defective, contact us so we can review the situation.

Yes. Tell us what you are seeing, your beer style or beverage, the hop products being used, your process point, and what outcome you are trying to achieve. The more details you can provide, the easier it is for our team to connect you with the right resource or technical expert. Customers have access to hop and brewing expertise across Yakima Valley Hops, John I. Haas, and the broader BarthHaas network.

Yes. Rather than simply comparing price per pound, we can help evaluate hop cost in the context of utilization, beer loss, dry-hop absorption, storage, labor, tank time, and finished-beer yield. Advanced hop products can be particularly useful where heavy hop loads are reducing sellable beer volume.

Yes. If pellet absorption, trub, or dry-hop solids are reducing finished beer volume, products such as LupoMAX®, Incognito®, SPECTRUM®, and concentrated bittering products may allow you to reduce vegetative material while maintaining or increasing hop impact.

Yes. Contact us with the unavailable variety, beer style, point of addition, required quantity, and flavor target. We can recommend alternatives based on sensory character, alpha acids, brewing application, and current inventory. Many of our product pages include suggested substitutions. 

Contact us with the variety, quantity, crop year if relevant, and the date you need it. Inventory and incoming crop availability change throughout the year, and our team may be able to locate the product or recommend an appropriate alternative. Availability changes throughout the year, so be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for up-to-date announcements.

Yes. Whether you're looking for a substitute, building hop combinations for a specific style or flavor target, or troubleshooting things like yield and process loss, our team can help. Many of our product pages include suggested substitutions. Customers have access to hop and brewing expertise across Yakima Valley Hops, John I. Haas, and the broader BarthHaas network.

Crop year identifies the year hops were harvested, and because hops are an agricultural product, each crop can vary in alpha acids, oil composition, yield, and sensory character. Newer isn't automatically better — variety, lot quality, processing, packaging, and storage all matter. A well-selected, properly stored hop from an earlier crop can outperform a newer one that doesn't fit the flavor target. Properly stored hops remain excellent brewing ingredients well beyond their harvest year.

New crop availability depends on the growing region: U.S. hops are harvested from late August for about six weeks, with new crop domestic pellets typically arriving October through January after processing. Germany and U.K. hops harvest on a similar timeline, but since they're imported, they typically become available January through spring. Australian hops harvest from early March through April, typically arriving on our site around July.

Alpha acids naturally vary by crop year, farm, growing conditions, harvest timing, and individual lot, so product pages may show a typical range. Always use the actual value for your lot (printed on every bag and/or box) when calculating bitterness. Lot-specific analytical information and Certificates of Analysis are available for many products, either linked directly on product pages or by request from the Yakima Valley Hops team.

Freshness depends on controlling oxygen, temperature, light, and moisture, so Yakima Valley Hops uses protective, nitrogen-flushed packaging and cold storage to protect hop acids and aroma compounds. You should do the same: keep pellets cold, dark, sealed, and protected from oxygen, since refrigeration or freezing dramatically slows degradation while warmth, light, and oxygen accelerate quality loss.

Shelf life depends on variety, format, packaging, and storage temperature, but properly stored T90 pellets generally retain quality for up to 5 years. Once opened, use hops as soon as practical, and if storing leftovers, remove as much oxygen as possible — vacuum sealing or purging with an inert gas like CO2 or nitrogen — before resealing and returning to cold storage.

Type 90, or T90, pellets are the most common form of hop pellet used in brewing. Dried whole hops are milled and pelletized, creating a compact and relatively homogeneous product that is easier to ship, store, and handle than whole cones while retaining the brewing value of the hop.

Yes. Whole cone hops are seasonally available in select U.S. varieties. Availability changes throughout the year, so check the whole cone collection or contact us if you are looking for a particular variety or quantity.


Advanced hop products use processing and extraction technologies to concentrate or isolate valuable hop components, helping brewers improve flavor, aroma, bitterness, haze, or improve process efficiency while reducing vegetative material, beer loss, or storage needs. Many advanced products do not require special equipment to use, designed to integrate into normal brewery operations with simpler dosing.

The lineup includes LupoCORE™, LupoMAX®, Incognito®, SPECTRUM®, FLEX®, PRYSMA™, PHA®, Euphorics™, HopAid® Antifoam, HopHaze®, and CO²  hop extract — availability and pack sizes vary, so check the advanced hop products collection for the current assortment.

LupoCORE™ is an enhanced, general-purpose pellet that replaces T90 one-for-one with no recipe conversion needed, with improved flavor consistency and brewing performance. 

LupoMAX® is a more concentrated lupulin pellet with less vegetative material, generally used at around 70% of the T90 weight — it can be used anywhere a traditional pellet would go, but is especially effective in whirlpool and dry-hop additions where reducing vegetative load improves flavor and yield.

Both pellets are produced using Sensory Plus™, a production methodology that ensures consistent, year-over-year hop flavor and expression. You can read more about the Lupo Series™ and Sensory Plus™ here.

Incognito® is a concentrated, flowable product for the whirlpool that delivers variety-specific hop flavor and aroma without pellet vegetative material, reducing process loss in heavily hopped beers. It can be used alone or alongside pellets and other advanced products.

SPECTRUM® is a flowable, 100% hop-derived product for cold-side dry hopping that disperses without vegetative material, reducing beer lost to spent hop solids. It can replace part or all of a traditional pellet dry hop and is often combined with T90 or concentrated pellets to balance traditional character with efficiency.

The key difference is the process stage (hot-side whirlpool for Incognito® vs. cold-side dry hop for SPECTRUM®) and the two are often used together across a recipe.

Yes. Products with little or no vegetative material — like LupoMAX®, Incognito®, SPECTRUM®, and certain bittering extracts — reduce beer retained in spent hop solids, though actual savings depend on the product, hop load, and brewery process. SPECTRUM® in particular is designed to mitigate both beer loss and hop creep associated with traditional pellet dry hopping, as it doesn’t contain amylolytic enzymes that could restart fermentation.

FLEX® is a concentrated, flowable bittering product derived from hops, designed for hot-side kettle bittering with much of the vegetative material eliminated. It typically provides improved alpha-acid utilization compared with T90 pellets while reducing wort loss and spent-hop material, and is added directly to the brew kettle near the beginning of the boil.

CO² hop extract is produced from hops or hop pellets using pressurized carbon dioxide. The resulting concentrated product contains hop resins and oils and is commonly used as an efficient source of kettle bitterness.

HopAid® Antifoam is a natural, hop-based antifoam product that reduces excessive foam during fermentation, letting brewers potentially use more fermenter capacity without affecting the final beer's foam retention. It's generally added to cooled wort as the fermenter is filled, with the appropriate dose depending on recipe and fermentation conditions.

HopHaze® is a 100 percent hop-derived product designed to create and stabilize haze in beer without significantly changing finished beer flavor or aroma. It is typically used after fermentation and filtration, before final packaging.

PHA® is a family of fully soluble hop-derived aroma products designed for precise and consistent flavor and aroma adjustment. PHA® products contain no hop alpha acids and can be used late in production to build, enhance, or fine-tune a beverage’s aroma profile.

PRYSMA™ is a flowable, liquid hop flavor platform from BarthHaas that uses a hop-derived carrier system to deliver variety-specific flavor. It's typically added late in production, allowing brewers to create multiple flavor variants from a single base beer without separate full brews for each.

Euphorics™ is a highly concentrated, water-soluble flavor and aroma product made with natural hops and botanicals. It is intended for cold-side or post-fermentation use and can add layered flavors to beer, hop water, and other beverages.

Many do not. Products such as LupoMAX®, LupoCORE™, FLEX®, Incognito®, SPECTRUM®, and PHA® were designed to integrate into normal brewery operations with relatively simple dosing. Always follow the specific technical data sheet because storage, temperature, dosing, and mixing requirements vary by product.

Yes. Hop-derived products can be used in applications such as hop water, non-alcoholic beverages, seltzers, teas, kombucha, and other beverage concepts. Product selection depends on the beverage matrix, desired flavor, bitterness, solubility, and process. Euphorics™, PHA®, and other soluble flavor products are particularly useful for beverage innovation.