Our Sesiones Del Migrante collaboration is back and better than ever in 2023! We’re celebrating Mango Tango Summer Ale and Sesiones Del Migrante, on Saturday, May 13th in Yakima and Saturday, May 20th, in Seattle. The beer is already out in both of our taprooms and has hit our wider distribution channels – find it near you using our beer finder!
What exactly is Sesiones Del Migrante?
It’s actually pretty simple: no migrant workers = no hops. No hops = no beer. But back in 2017, when Esteban Silva, of Cervecería de Colima (Colima, Mexico), Alejandro “Alejo” Magallanes of Cerveza Loba (Guadalajara, Mexico), and Victoria Garza, of Yakima Chief Hops met at a tradeshow in Mexico City, they knew that this story was simply not being told in the world of craft brewing. While craft brewers and craft beer fans are known for celebrating the hops that go into their beer (fresh hop season is, after all, the happiest time of year in the industry), the workers who are growing and harvesting these hops year after year are often left out of the conversation. They knew that had to change – and we agreed, so it was an easy collaboration to say yes to back in 2017, along with two California breweries– Ronin Fermentation Project (Truckee, CA) & SouthNorte (San Diego, CA). Bale Breaker co-owners Kevin Quinn & Kevin Smith traveled to Mexico to brew their first Sesiones Del Migrante beer, and an amazing, long-lasting collaboration was born.
Every year, Mexican laborers travel from their hometowns 5,000 miles south of the Pacific Northwest to come to Yakima to harvest hops for breweries across the globe. It’s backbreaking labor – 12-hour days during peak season, in tough conditions. Some hop farms in the area need over 200 people for daily labor throughout the busiest season. There just aren’t enough laborers here in the area to complete our annual hop harvests without these migrant workers.
