Even though Bamberg is a world heritage site, a cathedral city and a university town, it is primarily and first and foremost a beer city. The region around Bamberg is the area with the highest density of breweries in the world and there are still more than a dozen breweries in the city itself. There used to be a lot more, but the connoisseur spirit and love of beer is undiminished. The fine barley juice is part of Bamberg's cultural treasure and is lived and celebrated every day in the countless beer cellars, pubs, restaurants and breweries. In the past, hops were grown in Bamberg alongside barley - a Bamberg resident is now continuing this long-forgotten tradition.
Kris Emmerling comes from a long line of gardeners. The family business can be traced back an incredible 450 years, so it's fair to say that the Emmerlings were born with green fingers. The Bamberg gardening family decided some time ago to revive hop cultivation in their home town. After local cultivation of the green gold was completely stopped around 100 years ago, the local breweries had to get their hops from Spalt behind Nuremberg, the Hallertau or other hop-growing regions. Because Kris is not only a passionate gardener but also an enthusiastic beer connoisseur, he noticed this problem and couldn't help but think of a solution straight away. The first hops were planted and as the aromatic umbels blossomed, an idea sprouted in the resourceful gardener's head: beer from your own hops, that would be it!
No sooner said than done — a short time later, the first batch was brewed in the newly founded Hopfengarten brewery, which, according to its own information, is the smallest brewery in Bamberg. As a gardening company, Kris and his team have a wealth of resources: not only do they have a wide selection of different hops right on their doorstep, the garden also offers the young brewers a whole host of material from which to create unusual beers. Mint , eucalyptus and strawberries are just three of the unconventional raw materials that find their way into the brewing kettle in the Bamberg hop garden. As well as experimenting with herbs and fruit, Kris is also interested in innovations in the brewing process. The Bamberg native caused a real sensation with his development of smoked hops: in a multi-step process, the cones from the hop garden are turned into the finest smoked hops — a brand new invention that revolutionized the production of smoked beer. The most convincing advocate for this innovation is Rauch Hopfen , the fruity smoked beer with patented smoked hops.
Hopfengarten Bamberg GmbH & Co. KG
Zollnerstrasse 24
96052 Bamberg
Deutschland 
