On a chilly February day, I turn my car down the road into an ordinary middle class neighborhood and soon the origin place of Yakima’s next craft beer brewery comes into view. Like any self-respecting Seattle band from the 90’s, Wandering Hop Brewery was born in Nathan and Whitney Cooper’s garage.
Approaching the one-car-sized space, I notice right away the fastidious manner in which Nate has his current “brewery” arranged. Everything is spotless and organized. Grains in stacked sealed bins. Equipment, clean and shiny, is hanging from various hooks and laid out on shelves. Books and craft beer paraphernalia are displayed just so in the remaining space.
I start off our conversation with a curiosity of mine. How does one with no background in the craft beer industry prepare for the considerable and perhaps audacious undertaking of opening a professional brewery? The husband and wife duo proceed to apprise me of their craft beer R&D; of their nationwide sojourns to breweries from the coast on the left, to the coast on the right. From Populuxe Brewing in Ballard, WA all the way to Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware (founded by Nathan’s hero, Sam Calagione), and a hundred places in between, they’ve taken all of this on like mad scientists. Keeping detailed notebooks and photos of things they liked as well as things they disliked, what seemed to be working or not working at any particular place, and why or why not. All of this observation is backed up by informative conversations struck up over a house pint with the open-hearted brewery folks that have also staked their claims to this culture. As far as the beer part of this endeavor is concerned, luckily for our aspiring brewer, he has the advantage of living in a region that gets inundated with craft beer professionals for several weeks each fall for hop harvest and selection. Nate has put this opportunity to good use, and has gotten his beer in front of pros like Ballast Point for honest critique.
One day a week later, I head over to the north side of Yakima to meet up with Nathan and his little brother Mason at the construction site that is soon to be Wandering Hop Brewery. I walk under a bright green pergola as a workman moves rolling scaffolding away from the front door and lets me in. As I enter, I take in the bare-boned expanse: fresh new drywall, boxes of furniture yet to be assembled, organized piles, and stacks of building materials. I am greeted by the brothers Cooper. Mason Cooper is currently a student in the Craft Brewing Program at Central Washington University in Ellensburg and will be joining his brother in this family endeavor. The guys give me a quick tour of the place (as there isn’t much to see yet). Nate goes over the general layout and points out different design elements that are to be incorporated into the space.
And then we come to the brewery room, and Nate’s current pride and joy. A beautifully tiled wall of large, charcoal colored rectangles with a shiny stainless steel control panel that looks like something out of a sci-fi B movie. This is all that’s in the room except a wall to wall floor drain, but it already feels like the heart of the place. This is where the magic will happen, where Yakima Valley hops will be turned into that age old beverage that has sustained cultures around the world since time immemorial.
Back to our first meeting in the garage. Towards the end of our conversation, Whitney, Nathan and I chew on that one question that a lot of people in and outside of the Yakima Valley have asked. If Yakima is the hop capital of the United States, why then is our craft beer culture not as vibrant as say, Bend, Oregon or Asheville, North Carolina? Not to downplay the importance and contribution of Yakima’s existing and even past craft beer breweries, but Bend for example, with a population of 81,236 has 22 operating breweries. Yakima, with a population of 93,257 currently has 6 operating breweries, and that’s generously including a couple not in the city proper. I ask the couple if they think Wandering Hop will help make Yakima the craft beer mecca we all know it can be. Borrowing a quote from Russell Wilson, Whitney looks up and says sweetly, “Why not us?”
Wandering Hop Brewery is due to open sometime in April 2017.
It is located at 508 N 20th Ave, Yakima, WA.
Thank you Malissa Gatton for sharing this exciting story with rooted!
Congrats and welcome. Can’t wait to try your stuff. I have been in hops all my life as it was my family’s business for 3 generations. I retired from Coors after buying their hops worldwide for over 10 years. I miss the good old days. Wish you well.
Great story & well written – thank you for keeping us up to date!