Hans Hopf - a traditional Bavarian

by Elfi
One would think that with the name Hopf (hops), one is predestined to own a brewery. Perhaps this is why Han Hopf’s grandfather founded the very unique Hopf-Brewery in 1910. Why was it unique? Because unlike many other breweries, Hopf Brewery, then and now, produces traditional wheat beers and wheat beers only.
Nestled in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, where the water for the brewing of the famous wheat beer originates, Hans Hopf and his forefathers have been producing some of the country’s finest wheat beers for generations.
Hans Hopf, who gave his name to Pattaya’s first and only microbrewery, the Hopf Brew House, recently visited with his wife, Vilma, and two of his three daughters.
E. I assume this is not your first visit to Pattaya.
H: No, I have come to Thailand for vacation many times. This is my third visit to Pattaya.
E: Why was Pattaya chosen for the Bavarian brewery and not Bangkok?
H: There are a few breweries in Bangkok already, but none in Pattaya. We thought it would be a good idea to bring Bavarian beer to Pattaya. Lutz, the brewmaster, worked for Singha beer first and he met the right people. Together they had the idea to make a brewery. Since he knew my brewery from Bavaria, he is also from there, he contacted me. I came to Thailand to meet the future investors and then they came to Bavaria to take a look at my brewery. After that, they made their decision and the rest is history.
E: You were born into a traditional brewery. Was it always clear for you to step into your forefather’s steps?
H: No, I was kind of a rebel. I didn’t want to be a brewmaster. I wanted to be a pilot. My father was very angry and didn’t allow me to become one. I was his only son, besides one daughter, and he was worried about me. I gave in and studied according my father’s wishes. The second rebellion was when I met my wife, Vilma, 28 years ago. She is Italian. I saw her for the first time in Italy during short vacation, and six weeks later we were married.
Hans starts to laugh. That was really something in the Bavarian Alps at that time. To avoid all the staring and gossiping, I took an offer to work in Tehran for two and one-half years as the manager of a brewery. Our first daughter was born there. I liked it a lot and after my father, who was old, asked me to come home and take over our own brewery. He said I’d better be the manager of my own company. It was a hard decision for me to make, but then I realised where my duties were and I went home.
E: No more experiences abroad?
H: There was not enough time for it. When founded by my grandfather, our brewery was the same size as it the one in Pattaya. My father made it bigger and I had to make it even much bigger. It is a very modern brewery, computerised, and we employ only 25 people. Right now we are producing 35,000 hl’s of wheat beer a year. I want to bring it up to 65,000 hl. That’s it. Not more, otherwise it would be too hard to handle.’
E: I lived in Munich, Bavaria for a while and of course I knew about Hopf Wheat Beer. Is it true that your beer received an award?’
H: Yes. Just recently, we received the most prestigious of German brewery awards, the DLG exceptional performance accolade, an award which is granted as a result of years of quality controls and tests by the University of Munich, Weihenstephan. I am very proud of it, since only 3% of Germany’s 1260 breweries have been presented with this award.
E: Congratulations, Hans. I always thought wheat beer was wheat beer. The only difference I knew of was that there is a light and a dark one. Is it true that you’ve changed this image a lot?’
Hans smiles and gives me a look only a Bavarian can give to a more or less uneducated beer-consumer. ‘As you probably know, in Bavaria we have special beer laws. Only natural ingredients are allowed to be brewed into beer, nothing other than malted barley and wheat, water yeast and hops. One must still use imagination, since people don’t drink so much alcohol anymore. A small brewery like our has to compete with the bigger ones. We now produce 8 different kinds of wheat beers. Besides the traditional light and dark wheat beers, we have light wheat beer (only one half the alcohol content), we have a double wheat beer, 2 kinds of ice wheat beer, a lighter one and a stronger one and very new, wheat ale, a reddish wheat beer. In autumn, we start to produce the crystal wheat beer, which is very unusual, made without yeast. There is a lot of potential in wheat beer. One cannot stick to tradition only and stagnate in a conservative way. I like to try out a lot and I seem to be successful.’
E: Thank you for the fast lessons about wheat beer. One last question, how do you like Pattaya?’
H: ‘I told you before, I have been to Pattaya twice during my vacation. If I wouldn’t have liked it, I wouldn’t have come back. Now, as there is a Hopf Brew House, my visits will be even more frequent. My wife and my daughters also like it a lot.
‘All the people I’ve met, (he blinks his eye) including you, of course, are very friendly and nice. Pattaya seems to be very open minded and international. The tourists have changed a lot. In earlier days there were only single men, but now so many families. That’s a good sign. Sure, there are still some of those ‘special tourists’, but look around, you have them anywhere, even in Bavaria, I believe. Pattaya is a nice place and it has a future.
E: Thank you so much for this interview. I know you have been very busy since you’ve been here and I appreciate it very much that you have spent so much time with me. See you next time when you come back to the Hopf Brew House.