How did IPA craft beers get so popular? What’s driving the thirst? Hopped Up: How Yakima Valley changed craft beer forever is a feature-length documentary about the world-famous hop growers of Yakima Valley and how their innovative breeding practices have changed the way craft beers are consumed and brewed. This film goes into the science and lives of 5th generation farmers that are enjoying the fruits of their labor after many years of struggle. The yearly harvest is the pinnacle event for craft brewers worldwide who come to this Washington state region yearly to select the hops for the craft beers they will create in the coming year

“Hopped Up” is an award-winning documentary about how Yakima Valley hops changed beer forever. It’s a story of hard work, toil, and year-to-year persistence. This has fueled innovation from hop farmers and brewers for up to 6 generations. This is also a story of craft beer in America. With its credo of using the best quality ingredients, craft brewers create a huge variety of beers for a thirsty craft beer-drinking public.

Hopped Up. A film about hops and craft beer is a documentary that was shot over a 5 year period. It follows the hops cycle from dormant fields covered in snow to the round-the-clock scurry of activity during the fall harvest. Additionally, it delves deeply into the technology of breeding hops. From the lucrative private breeders to the fledgling USDA public breeding program. Could this golden age of hops and craft beer be in peril? From overproduction to climate change and a tightening supply of immigrant workers. The industry is ripe for change. Can it sustain itself for another 100 years?

With interviews of farmers, hop distributors, beer culture notables, and the craft beer industry experts, this documentary paints a detailed and complex story of craft beer. The hottest drink sensation that’s taking over the world one IPA beer at a time. This story travels from Oregon’s Willamette Valley, the birthplace of modern hops. to the grain fields of the Skagit Valley. We up in Washington’s Yakima Valley, currently the largest producer of Hops in America.

The production team from Bakerbuilt Works of Everett, WA under the direction of Daniel A. Cardenas and editor Tony Capelli follows this story on the road throughout the Northwest and even to the holy grail of the craft beer movement, the Fresh Hop Ale Festival in Yakima, WA.

With over 25 years of experience as creators of TV programs, commercials, and documentary videos for clients, the team has no ties to the hop or beer industry, the executive producer is Daniel A. Cardenas.