Washington state beer guru and writer Kendall Jones penned a piece about our local hop heroes at Bale Baker Brewery for Seattle Magazine. Here’s an excerpt:
“You might not know it, but each year Washington produces approximately 75 percent of the United States’ hops crop and 25 percent of the world’s, and virtually all of our state’s hops are grown in the Yakima Valley by a handful of families that have been doing it for generations. While the family farming tradition continues, some children of the hops have ventured off the farm. But they have not ventured far.
Kevin Smith and Meghann (Smith) Quinn didn’t even leave the family farm to open their brewery; the siblings built Bale Breaker Brewing, which opened in April, in Field 41, right in the middle of the family’s hop fields just a few miles east of Yakima on State Route 24 (Meghann’s husband, Kevin Quinn, is in charge of sales). Mike Smith, the patriarch of the family, tells us that his eldest son, Patrick, will take over the family’s farm someday, and he glows with pride when he talks about what his other two children have brewing.”
Want to read more? Here’s the full online story. Congratulations Bale Breaker! Happy brewing.
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