Value creation is at the core of Yakima Chief Ranches. We put a large emphasis on hop breeding, producing new innovative varieties that have attributes that add value to both the growing and brewing communities. Once a new brand is created, we ensure we’re protecting that value by applying our consistent brand management strategy.
The YCR breeding program joined forces with the John I. Haas, Inc. breeding program to form Hop Breeding Company (HBC) in 2003. HBC’s mission is to develop pest-resistant and disease-resistant hop brands with strong commercial qualities. This hop breeding powerhouse takes advantage of the combined resources of both companies through full integration of breeding efforts. All brands from the breeding program are released jointly.
The first step within our breeding process is selecting the parent plants with desirable sensory and agronomic traits. The parent plants are then crossed, resulting in seeds.
The seeds obtained from the crossed parents are then germinated and grown into seedlings. These seedlings are also screened for desirable traits, and those that do not exhibit said traits are discarded.
The selected seedlings are planted in a field to observe their sensory and agronomic attributes on a larger scale.
The best performing seedlings from field testing are then selected for further evaluation. This involves an in-depth sensory analysis to confirm the aroma and flavor profile of the variety, along with commercial market trials to assess if the variety is successful amongst our customers.
Once a new hop variety has been put through rigorous testing, it can be released to growers and brewers for commercial use. This entire process takes about 10-15 years on average.