A plant with tradition.
A plant that has grown with its tasks.

Hops have been planted in the Hallertau for 1,300 years. Today, the Hallertau is the largest contiguous hop-growing region in Germany and the second largest in the world. To this day, the hops are produced almost exclusively by family farms. The cultivation area of the Johann Brenner Hop Centre in Eja near Pfaffenhofen covers over 60 hectares. In spring, the hop farm starts the so-called “hop pruning” in the hop gardens. After hop pruning, more than 250,000 wires are manually hung and then anchored into the hop bine. Then comes the next big step – the twining. This is one of the most strenuous jobs,

as it does not have to be done by machine, but still by hand on the ground. Many hop-bar workers work on this seasonally. At the Johann Brenner Hop Centre in Haltetau, workers are busy at this time of year, whatever the weather, expertly guiding the hop shoots along a wire up to seven metres high. There are a total of two wires per vine, which serve as climbing aids for the shoots. To ensure that the hops can develop and ripen properly, only the strongest shoots are selected and fed back several times to reach the scaffolding height of seven metres, which is customary in the Hallertau region, by the end of June.

State-of-the-art hop plant at the Hop Centre Johann Brenner Hallertau

From the Hallertau to the whole world. Hop processing at the highest level.

Every year, around 250,000 hop bines grow on the cultivation areas of the Johann Brenner Hop Centre in the Hallertau region, which are tended in the fields for months, tied up and guided by hand. Innovative technology enables hops to be processed both gently and economically.

  • Hop plucking machine with a plucking capacity of 1,200 hop bines/hour
  • Self-developed, novel hop cleaning system based on compressed air
  • Hop drying with a volume of over 80 m² on three levels – one of the largest kilns to be built
  • 4 conditioning chambers for uniform and fully automated homogenisation of the hops
  • Automatic, centrally controlled irrigation of all hop yards over a length of more than 200 km, with up to 50 m³ pumping volume per hour and fertiliser feeding
  • All processing is computer-controlled

With this highly efficient and powerful equipment, we ensure the consistently high quality of Brenner hops – and the reliable supply to our contractual partners all over the world.

Noble hop varieties from the Brenner Hop Centre

  • Saphir
  • Hersbrucker
  • Herkules
  • Bavaria Mandarina
  • Akoya
  • Amarillo