Hop Harvest

Brewers wouldn't get their hops—fresh or otherwise—without the unusual machines that pick them. Here’s a look at how these pickers work on a few different farms.

Ready to rodeo? With its immediate proximity to the bulk of American hop-growing—and the ability to drive to nearby farms at harvest time and see what’s freshly picked—Zach Turner and his team at Single Hill Brewing are perfecting fresh-hopped beers.

Here we depict the most-grown hops (by acres harvested) in the Pacific Northwest from 2014 to 2019, showing the top 10 each year. The width of each band represents the number of acres grown that year; one inch is about 6,500 acres.