Completed in 1999, Yakima Chief's large state-of-the-art CO2 extraction facility was designed for flexibility - to give brewers the broadest extraction and packaging options possible. It has strict process control parameters to meet customer requirements and achieve optimal extraction efficiency.

The 25,000 square feet facility is impressive, with each extractor vessel handling a ton of hop pellets at a time - equivalent to an acre of hops. This gives the extraction plant a production capacity of 7-10 million pounds of raw hops per year. The entire facility is solid stainless steel, a planning priority in order to reduce any risk of contamination. The extract plant is inspected annually by state regulatory authorities for conformance to stringent food safety and sanitation regulations.

The extraction facility is a vital link in Yakima Chief's continuing efforts to provide all of their hop products direct to brewers worldwide. Having control of every step in the process and being able to trace our hops to the field allows Yakima Chief to certify that their hop extracts are what they say they are. The extraction process is done with the same strict quality control standards, in full compliance with ISO 9001 certification.

The principle benefits of the supercritical CO2 process include:

• no harmful residues of toxic solvents in the extract
• no hazardous wastes to dispose of
• oxygen and light are excluded
• CO2 is natural, colorless, odorless,   tasteless, non-toxic, non-flammable and readily available.

Pellets are inventoried in our cold storage warehouses prior to extraction. Based on demand, the pellets are transferred daily from the warehouses to the plant for extraction. A composite pellet sample is taken when every extractor is loaded to determine the alpha-acid concentration for the lot of pellets.

Our personnel can perform tolling on specific lots of hops owned by the brewery, or package based upon customer specifications from our inventory. Each lot is analyzed in our lab and produced according to customer specifications such as quantity and variety ordered.

Extract can be packaged in drums or tins ranging in size from 0.5 to 4 kilos, containing 150 to 2500 gma. Once packaged, the lot is prepared for shipping and stored in our cold storage warehouses until shipped. We arrange our pallets to maximize the KgA per container in order to save shipping costs and minimize the space between pallets, thereby reducing shifting during shipment.

Customer samples are provided upon request, and two samples are retained by YCI.

For detailed information about specific Yakima Chief CO2 hop extracts, please visit our hop products section on the web site.