What is Hop Harvest?

Learn about annual Hop Harvests and how these events became a cultural cornerstone of craft beer.

Hop Harvest is a vital part of establishing hop supply chains and future acreage, but it’s also where brewers connect with farmers to select the hops that will be used in tomorrow’s beers. In earlier years, it was purely practical. Today? There are private bine tours, beer and food pairing dinners, and massive community events.

Yes, sometimes it’s a big party, but at the end of the day it’s a reminder that beer has significant agricultural roots. Brewers get a chance to reconnect with the land, hop farmers get valuable feedback, and communities get to honor the hard work of local farmers and breweries.

Ready to dive into one of the biggest annual events in beer? Read on and learn about the cultural, agricultural, and industry significance of Hop Harvest!

What is Hop Harvest?

In the simplest sense, Hop Harvest is the time when farmers harvest bines, process fresh hops, and finalize contracts with buyers for the upcoming year. However, by the time this event rolls around, hop growers have been preparing for months. 

Claire Desmarais of CLS Farms told Ollie “they keep an eye on all the weather patterns, and then as they near the season, they check the fields daily to pull cones and bind structures to see how cones are developing.”¹

The actual Hop Harvest event starts in late August and lasts through September. This includes North American areas like the Yakima Valley and Willamette Valley, and areas in Central and Southern Europe like Germany and the Czech Republic. 

However, that’s just for hop growing regions in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, Hop Harvest takes place between February and March for growing regions in New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. 

This past April, Australia’s Inner West Ale Trail² celebrated their Hop Harvest Fest with 11 breweries offering, “...new beers made from Galaxy hops which were picked fresh from the farm in the Victorian high country and brought to Sydney to be brewed.”³

If that event sounds fun, social, and like a playground for brewers, beer lovers, and hop enthusiasts, there’s a reason for that. Yes, Hop Harvest is an important annual agricultural event for hop farmers, but it’s also a celebration that brings together farmers, brewers, and local communities.

Brewers and Hop Farmers Build Relationships at Hop Harvest

On the surface, the connections between brewers and hop farmers might seem transactional. However, these are often long-term relationships that heavily influence the success of both parties. At Hop Harvest, brewers and hop farmers can discuss hop quality, characteristics, negotiate contracts, and more. 

Brewers can tell farmers how hops from previous harvests performed in beverages, talk about upcoming brewing ideas, and basically nerd out with the exact people who understand their hop needs best.

For farmers, they can discuss factors that may have influenced this year’s harvest (rainfall, temperature, soil, etc.), help brewers locate hops with specific profiles, collaborate on upcoming brewing ideas, and discuss current and future hop contracts. These connections have a big impact on next year’s beers and hop acreage, but these relationships go much deeper than that.

Sierra Nevada founder Ken Grossman told Craft Beer & Brewing about his Yakima Hop Harvest visits, the first of which was in 1981. These events connected him with three generations of Roy Farms owners, and that’s just the start. “I’ve got long relationships with a lot of the folks — growers, people who work in the warehouses, and in hop processing. So there’s old familiar faces I like to go see as well as picking hops in the field.”⁴

Oh, yeah. Let’s not forget that a BIG part of this event revolves around brewers getting their hands on actual hops.

Hop Harvest Is When Brewers Make Hop Selections

For brewers, visiting farms during Hop Harvest allows them to experience various hop varieties first-hand. 

Brewers can often walk the fields to assess growth and maturation, get their hands on cones to experience their aroma, and select the lots of their preferred variety. They can also provide direct feedback to growers, who may use that information to inform future cultivation practices.

Micah Krichinsky of Strangebird Brewery told Ollie, “Having opportunities to go to the farm and select exactly what you’re looking for or decide what you’re going to do is a really cool part. We all get into brewing for different reasons. This is one of the most enjoyable — talking to farmers, finding materials and brewing with it.”⁵

Some brewers show up looking for very specific flavors and aromas, while others might be more open to experimenting. Farmers sometimes accompany brewers during the entire process, other times they’ll give brewers space to make their hop selections.

Additionally, for many brewers, this is the perfect opportunity to snag hops for fresh hop beers. Brewed using fresh, undried hops that have been harvested within 24 to 48 hours, these beers are enjoyed for their intensely aromatic qualities. That short time window makes Hop Harvest prime time to brew these highly seasonal beers.

What Can You Expect at Hop Harvest 2025?

Other than exquisite hop aromatics, delicious beer, and a grand ‘ol time?

A LOT.

Some farms offer traditional hop selection options (hands-on sensory evaluation), while others may provide cutting-edge data on aroma profiles and various compounds present in the hops. There are even events, like the Haas® 2025 Hop Harvest, offering remote selection options for brewers who can’t be on-site.⁶

Additionally, it’s important to note that the hop market has been undergoing adjustments over the last few years. While a more balanced market could be on the horizon, the industry is still dealing with an overproduction of hops from the last few years due to a combination of changing consumer drinking habits, reduced water access, and uncertainty from tariffs.⁷

The water issue impacts hop growth and quality, but the bigger issue right now is that some farmers concentrate that limited resource on more productive varieties. Reducing acreage of less profitable and/or drought-sensitive varieties can lead to an oversupply of others.

While it’s certainly causing brewers to switch up their beverage offerings, reduced alcohol consumption isn’t as big of an issue with the increased interest in NA Beers and Hop Waters (Psst! That’s why breweries are adding hop water to their menus!). However, the volatility of recent tariffs creates uncertainty that’s difficult to navigate.

While predicting upcoming yields can be tricky, looking at Spring Reports from earlier this year can provide a glimpse into what brewers could expect.

For the 2025 growing season, acreage has again been slightly reduced. However, with the inclusion of more Virus-Free cultivars, less acreage does not necessarily mean fewer hops. All Virus-Free varieties have seen an increase in overall yield. As the oversupply of hops begins to taper, growers are cautiously optimistic about rightsizing the market.

Yakima Chief

Key Takeaways from the 2025 USDA Spring Hop Report⁸

As far as hop quality, the recent BarthHaas® Hop Update explains that while limited availability of water for irrigation required restrictions, temperatures “were optimal for [US] hops in all growing regions” and that diseases and pests are not currently a problem.⁹

Fortunately, no matter what happens, you’re guaranteed to enjoy celebrating hops and craft beer with other likeminded folks. Speaking of celebrating...

Hop Harvest is Celebration of Beer, Agriculture, and Community

Yes, there’s a lot of technical stuff that happens at Hop Harvest. However, it’s also an opportunity for farmers, brewers, and the surrounding community to come together and celebrate these unique industries in all their delicious glory.

From city-wide festivals to more exclusive farm dinners and beer pairings, Hop Harvest is a cultural event that fosters a sense of connection. Not only does this strengthen the bonds between brewers and farmers, but it can build interest and increase engagement from the local community. 

For example, the 2025 Fresh Hop Ale Festival in Yakima, WA includes over sixty breweries, live music, food vendors, camping options, and LOTS of fresh hop beer. This festival “is a non-profit organization whose goal is to present one of the country's top 10 beer festivals, celebrate the Yakima Valley's hops, and support Yakima County based arts and science organizations.”¹⁰

This year, the main entertainment at the Hop Harvest Party at Roy Farms is a LIVE Dungeons & Dragons game played by brewers you know and love. It will include fresh beer, food, merch, audience participation, and it’ll even stream on YouTube so those who can’t attend can still enjoy the event.¹¹ 

This particular event highlights just how much Hop Harvest has evolved over time. It might have been less party and more business in years past, but turning up the COMMUNITY element makes beer lovers that much more excited for Hop Harvest.

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1. Albanese, G. (2024, September 5). U.S. Hop Harvest: A Growers’ Guide. Ollie. https://getollie.com/blog/us-hop-harvest-growers-guide#section-4

2. Hop Harvest Fest 2025 on the Inner West Ale Trail. Inner West Ale Trail. (2025, April 10). https://innerwestaletrail.com/harvestfest/

3. Martyn, S. (2025, April 3). Hop Harvest Fest is Back in 2025. Beer & Brewer. https://www.beerandbrewer.com/hop-harvest-fest-is-back-in-2025/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

4. Craft Beer & Brewing. (2022, November 17). Hop Harvests Change, But Celebration Stays the Same. Craft Beer & Brewing. https://beerandbrewing.com/sierra-nevada-celebration

5. Albanese, G. (2024b, September 19). U.S. Hop Harvest: A Brewer’s Guide. Ollie. https://getollie.com/blog/us-hop-harvest-brewers-guide#section-3

6. Hop Harvest: Haas®. Haas. (2025, August 29). https://www.johnihaas.com/harvest/#:~:text=TRADITIONAL%20SELECTION,game%20when%20buying%20on%20spot.

7. Morrow, J. (2025, June 11). Hop Growers Grapple with Glut, Declining Demand. TriCities Area Journal of Business RSS. https://www.tricitiesbusinessnews.com/articles/focus-hops-2025?utm_source=chatgpt.com

8. Yakima Chief Hops. (2025, July 2). Key Takeaways From the 2025 USDA Spring Hop Report. YCH Hops. https://www.yakimachief.com/commercial/hop-wire/key-takeaways-from-the-usda-spring-hop-report-2025#:~:text=In%202024%2C%20hop%20production%20in,conditions%2C%20supporting%20healthy%20crop%20growth.

9. Hop Update August 2025. BarthHaas. (2025, August 21). https://www.barthhaas.com/ressources/blog/blog-article/hop-update-august-2025#:~:text=Czech%20Republic,the%20beginning%20of%20next%20week.

10. 2025 Fresh Hop Ale Festival. Fresh Hop Ale Festival. (2025, August 8). https://freshhopalefestival.com/2025-festival/

11. Dungeons & Dragons - Hop Harvest Party in Yakima. Eventbrite. (n.d.). https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dungeons-dragons-hop-harvest-party-in-yakima-tickets-1559810046839?&utm_campaign=18331218-HOPS+%7C+2025+Newsletters+NEW&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_qOLQBdCfxkZtP3wi_LJkRA5o7sfMRqGNbKgvMN-NCHJ2RGVvtkFO9-M4dN01lMYiZ75MSIZ3k_8t0Xl3XAK4IxUSZVw&_hsmi=376642317&utm_content=376644772&utm_source=hs_email