Yakima Chief Hops (YCH) is proud to announce the new frontier of freshness with Cryo Fresh™! Combining the innovation of Cryo Hops® with the Frozen Fresh Hop concept of YCH Trials 301 and 302, we are pleased to offer brewers a new way to brew fresh hop beers with a convenient, easy-to-use, pelletized product. Cryo Fresh is derived from the concentrated lupulin of fresh whole-cone hops to capture the vibrant flavors and aromas of fresh hops, with a fraction of the footprint and less of the mess compared to fresh whole cones. Cryo Fresh offers brewers the opportunity to replicate harvest-fresh aromatics year-round.

Fresh Hop beers harness the verdant virtues of harvest, but brewing them, as romantic as it may seem, presents extreme logistical challenges from start to finish. Fresh hop cones are highly perishable and begin to degrade the moment they are cut in the field. Local brewers have the ability to schedule a brew day around a trip to the farm, but those farther away may not have options for receiving the sensitive product before it begins to diminish in quality.

Once you have the beautiful bounty of green in your brewery, care must be taken not to get them jammed into the plumbing, or worse, the heat exchanger. Fresh hops often require equipment workarounds, like repurposing the mash tun as a hop back. Despite the challenges, brewers find a way, because Fresh Hop beers are worth it.

But what if, instead of renting a truck to transport 22 cubic feet of hops so you can add 65 pounds to your whirlpool, you could safely sprinkle two 11-pound bags as a dry hop? With Cryo Fresh, you can.

“Brewing with whole cone hops logistically changes the whole brew day, Cryo Fresh doesn’t change anything,” says Joe Mohrfeld Co-Founder and VP of Brewery Operations at Pinthouse Brewing and Pizza in Austin, Texas. Pinthouse was one of Cryo Fresh’s earliest adopters, trialing products YCH 301 and YCH 302 after experimenting with their own whole cone freezing process.

Pinthouse has had incredible success with their frozen fresh hop beers, winning awards at both the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup in Fresh Hop and other IPA categories. Cryogenic Jellyfish IPA, the Cryo Fresh version of their flagship Electric Jellyfish, was praised by Stan Heironymous as one of the top 10 beers of 2024. “We find that it’s better than brewing with a wet whole cone,” Mohrfeld says, “Even if it’s a relatively quick time from harvest to brew, there is still degradation that is happening rapidly.”

Mohrfeld praises Cryo Fresh for expanding the brewer’s creative ability. With products like DynaBoost™, HyperBoost™, and Cryo Hops®, brewers now have more precision than ever when it comes to dialing in the exact hop expression they’re after. “You can really fine-tune how much hop note, how much oil or resin character, how much polyphenol load goes into your beer,” he explains. Cryo Fresh builds on that control, offering another way to shape the profile of the finished beer. “It adds fresh hop character even when used at a small percentage. It really doesn’t take a lot.”

Cryogenic Jellyfish IPA from Pinthouse Brewing, brewed with Cryo Fresh.

“Cryo Fresh is the closest I’ve seen to getting that harvest-ready hop field experience.” - Sean Lavery, Sierra Nevada

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is arguably one of the most well-equipped breweries in North America to handle fresh hop brew days, thanks to brewhouses designed to work with whole cone hops in every recipe. Innovation Brewmaster James Conery appreciates the simplicity Cryo Fresh brings to the process. “Because it breaks down and homogenizes so well,” he explains, “It needs very little time in a mix tank, so there’s no need for high shear blenders.”

Isaiah Mangold, Innovation Manager at Sierra Nevada, values the efficiency Cryo Fresh offers, but what really stands out is the sensory impact. “It's walking the field at peak ripeness, you know, right as you're ready to pick that hop.” He says opening a bag of Cryo Fresh takes him back to Yakima during harvest. “It doesn’t have any kiln-dried character, it’s entirely different. Cryo Fresh gives that visceral experience you don't get with any other product.”

YCH teamed up with Sierra Nevada to create a unique beer using Cryo Fresh to be featured at YCH’s Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) booth. The brew also features HyperBoost™ and uses whole cones on the hot side for a layered hop experience. “It turned out amazing. We got every faction of the hop, it’s all represented,” says Mangold of Audition IPA–a name Sierra Nevada reserves for experimental hop trials. “It just made for this very highly expressive, true to style, IPA experience.”

Sean Lavery, VP of Technical Brewing and Innovation at Sierra Nevada, points out that the foam density and lacing observed in Cryo Fresh are impressive. “In our pub, you can tell if somebody's drinking one of the Cryo Fresh beers, because the glass is just completely laced.”

Lavery also shares that their experimentation with Cryo Fresh has extended beyond beer and into hop water. “It’s amazing. It captures the same experience as walking in a fresh field. It has a really nice, full mouthfeel compared to other hop waters we have done.” He says the staff drank through those kegs almost immediately and laughs that they need to get some more going.

“Cryo Fresh is the closest I’ve seen to getting that harvest-ready hop field experience,” says Lavery.

Key Benefits of Cryo Fresh:

- Scheduling flexibility – brew fresh hop beers any time of year

- Pellets are easy to handle

- Robust fresh hop expression adds depth and complexity to any beer

Cryo Fresh will be available internationally through pre-order for the 2025 harvest season. Orders will be available to ship as they are produced and must be shipped no later than July 31st, 2026. If your brewery is planning to meet entry deadlines for Fresh Hop Competitions, we recommend selecting early-pick varieties. Please note that harvest timing is subject to the whims of nature; we are unable to guarantee any delivery window.

EARLY PICK VARIETIES:

Simcoe ®

Sabro ®

 

LATE PICK VARIETIES:

Citra ®

Mosaic®

Krush ®

 

To secure your supply, please fill out our pre-order request form by July 31st, 2025, indicating your desired quantities for each variety.

For more information on Cryo Fresh, review our Product Overview and FAQ sheets. Use the link below to place your preorder. For any additional questions or assistance, reach out to hops@yakimachief.com