Yakima Chief Hops launches Bigger Than Beer podcast, its first series is dedicated to women

Yakima Chief Hops continues to catch our collective attention. You only have to see this just finished state-of-the-art cold storage warehouse in Belgium to say, holy shit, that’s a company on the move. The global hop supplier also just completed the installment of a CO2 recovery system within its extract production facility to reduce its environmental impact and announced it was building a second CO2 extract facility in Sunnyside, Wash. We, of course, must also mention its latest cutting-edge products from frozen fresh hops to water-soluble CBD distillate.

The natural progression to all of this awesomeness is to, of course, have a podcast, so here comes Bigger Than Beer, a new series that will (at first) be dedicated to women in the brewing industry. From the press release:

Operating for more than 30 years as a grower-owned organization, Yakima Chief Hops is deeply rooted within the Pacific Northwest hop community. YCH has had the opportunity to witness the amazing evolution of the hop and beer industries, as well as the talented women and men that make it happen, from field to pint. With this, they recognize not only the incredible progress in increasing diversity, but also the opportunities for continuous improvement to become more inclusive.

In August 2021, YCH launched a new podcast, Bigger than Beer, with the mission of exploring new topics each year that focus on the larger picture of the craft beer community’s impact, including both social and environmental initiatives. This year’s Bigger Than Beer series, Women+ in the Industry, features women in the hop and brewing profession and provides a platform to share their different perspectives in the hopes of inspiring meaningful conversations and positive change.

What a way to start 2022 — with the gift of a new podcast with a great theme. Bigger Than Beer is available on both Spotify and Apple Podcasts. There are currently 12 episodes in the Women+ in the Industry series, with guests ranging from the operations and processing manager at Sodbuster Farms, Alexa Weathers, to the R&D brewer at Breakside Brewery, Natalie Baldwin. The Women+ in the Industry series will come to a close in March as we all celebrate International Women’s Day and the Pink Boots Collaboration Brew Day. The Bigger Than Beer podcast will then transition to a new topic. Exciting!