Yakima, Wash.'s Hop Capital Brewing Serves Frolicking, Fruit-Tinged Experiments at Johns Landing - Willamette Week

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The pandemic pivot became an awkward, ever-shifting dance virtually everybody in the hospitality industry found themselves performing. Restaurant operators were quick to change menus to transport-friendly fare. Miles of city sidewalk became al fresco oases virtually overnight.

But perhaps none was as substantial as what Hop Capital Brewing pulled off when—in the middle of a global health crisis—it opened a Portland taproom more than three hours away from its headquarters.

Following a year when restaurateurs endured many stops and gos—most would consider a mild case of budgetary whiplash a success—you might rightfully wonder why anyone would choose to launch a bar.

For Hop Capital co-owner Johnathon Thomas, the motivation was simple: He needed a reliable beer outlet to help keep his Yakima, Wash., brewery afloat.

“The biggest thing was changes in distribution,” he explains. “As restrictions started lifting, our distributors focused on their top brands, and since we weren’t one of those, we’re not getting all of our tap handles back. So I needed another opportunity to drive sales.”

RIGHT UP YOUR ALLEY: Hop Capital’s snug back terrace is probably the best seat (not) in the house. (courtesy of Hop Capital Brewing)

The resulting Johns Landing outpost, open since January, introduced local drinkers to a lineup of beers that land somewhere in the middle of the city’s world-class and well-established scene.

That assessment may not get your typical “I’ve been to every Portland brewery” fanboy or bottle-exchange buff to make a beeline down Macadam, but really that might not matter. The taproom’s mix of thoughtfully made classics and frolicking, fruit-tinged experiments has forged a hyperlocal bond, creating another much-needed pub for the South Waterfront neighborhood that somehow still seems to have the fewest number of bars per capita in a city swimming in booze.

Located nearly 200 miles northeast of the Rose City, the original Hop Capital Brewing takes its name from its verdant surroundings. The Yakima Valley is the world’s leading producer of the aromatic green cones that lend flavor and scent to beer, edging out Germany as top grower in 2015, according to the Hop Growers of America.

Founded in 2007, Hop Capital was previously known as Yakima Craft Brewing, and at the time, it was the sole brewery amid acres of bines and the farming towns that rose up around the industry.

Thomas and his wife, Aimee Quast—both Portlanders—purchased the entire operation from her family four years ago, renaming and rebuilding a business that was on the verge of bankruptcy.

“It was basically starting from scratch,” Thomas says. “So [we] took over a huge problem, started turning it around, and then COVID hit.”

But even in those few years before the world turned upside down, the couple managed to build a 6,000-square-foot Yakima taproom and ramp up production from 400 barrels a year to 1,900 on a 20-barrel system. They were even about to take over a lease in downtown Portland in March 2020, though that deal quickly fell apart once the first lockdown began.

Now that Hop Capital has settled in Johns Landing, you can’t help but size up the beers and compare them to those crafted by the city’s many decorated producers. The Wizrd IPA, for instance, doesn’t match the sharp assertiveness of Von Ebert’s Volatile Substance or the wonderfully refreshing bite of a Breakside IPA—at least not right now. But it does flood the tongue with classic pine notes, making each sip a blink’s journey to the breezy, forest-covered flanks of Mount Hood.

There are some misses among the recent offerings. Love the Beer Not the Label, a watermelon and Concord grape sour, was slightly more pleasant than taking a spoonful of flavored cough syrup. The fact that it poured as gray as wrung-out mop water—apparently the result of an unsuccessful experiment in glitter beer—didn’t help. The Zero to Hero Hazy IPA was also underwhelming, lacking the style’s signature citrus and spirit.

But Polish-born, Oregon State University-educated head brewer Ambrose Kucharski is clearly having fun amid the hop flowers up north. His Donut Peach Raspberry Sour sounds as giddy as a Katy Perry costume and drinks just as tart and punchy. And the SupercalifragilisticHopsialidocious—a milkshake IPA that may set a record for the longest beer name to fit on a tap board—smells like a cotton candy stand. Lactic acid provided the batch with the thick, smooth mouthfeel of a dessert beverage, but the sugary sweetness is cut short just in time by a bitter, back-end fade.

Customers who arrive expecting to be transported to the emerald fields of Yakima may be disappointed initially. The taphouse and its sprawling open kitchen are still outfitted with the previous tenant’s furniture: metal bistro sets and long wooden plank tables under a somber black ceiling. However, Thomas says he just purchased all of the amenities for an upcoming makeover that should create a modern, upscale look.

For now, take your pint to the curbside picnic porch or the rear terrace, which resembles a romantic alley cafe adorned with string lights.

Once Hop Capital’s fresh hop beer arrives in October—an all-El Dorado collaboration with Russia’s Panzer Brewery—you should be able to close your eyes, sip and become fully immersed in the earth’s largest hop yards.

DRINK: Hop Capital Brewing, 6500 S Virginia Ave., 503-206-4042, hopcapitalbrewing.com. 5-9 pm Wednesday-Thursday, 5-10 pm Friday-Saturday, 11 am-7 pm Sunday.

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