The Hop Kiln @museum.de

F: Water, yeast, barley malt and hops. That's all it takes for a good beer, and no other ingredients are permitted.

M: Then it's all about the processing. In the Ammerland region, they had a very special trick: after the hops had been harvested and the cones stripped from the bines, they had to be dried. To do this, they were brought to this small shelter and tipped on to the wooden surface. To achieve the correct drying temperature, a fire was lit in the small fireplace below. The hot air rose through the hop cones, dried them and also gave them an extra smoky aroma.

F: In the old days, hop growing was widespread in the Ammerland region, and every farmstead brewed its own beer. Later, breweries took on that job. The Budden brewery, for example, was not far from here, right on the lake shore, and it sold a highly praised bottom-fermented light beer.

M: Anyone who'd drunk their fill of beer used the hop kiln to roast freshly harvested chicory roots and turned them into coffee substitute.