Two of the most trusted brands in brewing raw materials have officially teamed up to best serve brewers and growers: RahrBSG and Yakima Chief Hops (YCH) are joining forces to bring even greater value to their customers in 2026 and beyond, while remaining proudly independent, family-owned and separately operated businesses.
Brewers across North America can expect a broader selection of YCH’s hop varieties and enhanced hop products available closer to them, thanks to RahrBSG’s distribution network.
Strengthened Partnership
As longstanding pillars of the brewing industry, the partnership between RahrBSG and Yakima Chief Hops is a natural enhancement for both companies.
“As one of the leading distributors in North America, we’re focused on helping brewers make great beer using the best products available,” says Terry Little, Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at RahrBSG. “Partnering more closely with YCH is a natural fit given our shared values around supporting brewers, quality, and accessibility. This collaboration allows us to bring innovative products closer to customers across our entire network and continue strengthening the craft brewing industry.”
“Our focus is always on delivering best-in-class hops to our brewer partners and connecting our family-owned hop farms with the world’s finest brewers. Our partnership with RahrBSG strengthens brewer-access to the highly sought-after varieties and trusted products from the Yakima Chief Hops portfolio through their network of brewers they serve,” says Bryan Pierce, Chief Customer Strategy Officer at Yakima Chief Hops.
We Are Family
RahrBSG and Yakima Chief Hops both take pride in being independent, family-owned companies – a bit of a rarity in this day and age, and reflective of the craft brewing industry they serve:
The story of Yakima Chief Hops began in 1988, when the Perrault, Smith, and Carpenter families envisioned a grower-owned hop company in the hop-growing mecca of the Pacific Northwest. The company worked with Chuck Zimmerman, a legendary hop breeder, to develop Yakima Chief Ranches, a hop breeding program. In 1997, additional hop farming families joined to form Yakima Chief Inc. A formal merger in 2014 with the grower-owned Hopunion, LLC established a robust network of hop farms throughout the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and evolved into Yakima Chief Hops as it is known today. YCH continues to operate as a 100% grower-owned network of family hop farms and a world leader in hops.
RahrBSG’s roots date back to 1847, when German immigrant Wilhelm Rahr founded a brewery and malt house in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The Rahr family has remained at the helm for five generations since then. Today the company operates malting facilities in the United States and Canada, along with barley sourcing and a distribution network that spans North America.
Yakima Chief Hops now stands alongside other family-owned ingredient producers in RahrBSG’s portfolio including Weyermann®, Simpsons Malt, and Mouterij Dingemans.
Coming Together To Serve Customers
What does all this mean for brewers?
YCH’s innovation and leadership in hop breeding and hop processing plus RahrBSG’s network of cold storage-equipped warehouses will mean greater selection and savings for the brewing industry. Customers will enjoy increased access to in-demand and new hop varieties and formats from YCH, alongside the cost savings achievable through RahrBSG by bundling malt, yeast, and other raw material needs.
That’s something we can all raise a glass to.