I noticed today that my friend Eric Radovich has a new job — executive director of the Washington Beer Commission. This makes it official: Eric Radovich is the coolest person I know. He is also the announcer for University of Washington football and an official scorer for the Seattle Mariners. And he gets to live in Seattle!

Most folks wouldn’t think of beer as an agricultural product, but in Washington state, that’s exactly what it is. Beer’s distinctive taste comes primarily from one ingredient — hops — and Washington is renowned for the hops it grows. Forty percent of the world’s supply comes out of Washington, most of those near Yakima, where I lived for four years and, coincidentally enough, where I met Eric. In springtime, the back roads of the Yakima Valley are overwhelmed with the smell of hops blooming.

The funny thing is, I didn’t care for beer one bit when I arrived in Yakima. Beer in Texas was typically sold by the suitcase, bland and insipid.

That changed when I got to the Pacific Northwest, where beer was distinctive and even bold. (I had the same awakening about coffee, but that’s a story for another time.)
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