Hophead – craft beer made in Cluj-Napoca

Hophead is the only brand of craft beer in Cluj-Napoca, sold exclusively in only two restaurants (Off the wall and Sax, both in Museum’s Square) and at the Hophead Brewery in Manastur neighborhood. Hophead beer contains only quality ingredients - some imported from abroad - which are treated by state-of-the-art equipment. The result is a natural, healthy and above all, delicious beer.

Hophead Brewery was founded in 2013 and has quickly gained popularity. The brewery only makes 400 liters of beer per month but it is quickly sold out. The producers intend to increase their monthly yield to 1.000 liters in the future.

The firm was created by Darko Jovik (33) and his wife, Dana Marmorstein-Jovik (31), who lived in the United States for five years after which they decided to come back to Romania and start their own business. They worked very hard to save money there, which they invested into their idea. They both love good beer and Darko has a long-standing passion for it. They also thought it would be relatively easy to enter the market since there is no other craft beer produced in Cluj and the restaurants and bars sell only lager.

They produce five types of beer, each defined by specific brewing characteristics and taste. Autopilot is the simplest assortment, much like lager beer. Its taste is defined by the fact that it contains little hop and the malt is only slightly toasted. Immigrant is a pale ale, containing predominantly pale malt which gives it a lighter color. It also contains more hop and the malt is caramelized, making for a more intense flavor. Red Line is an amber ale, its reddish color given by the well toasted malt that tastes like biscuit. Dark’oh is a robust porter, an English type of beer, tasting like coffee or hot chocolate. Finally, Opium is an India pale ale – also an English-style beer – made after the Joviks’ own recipe.    

Hophead Brewery is still very small – the smallest brewery in Romania, more exactly – but it is highly appreciated by the locals. It is one of the initiatives that show how creative and enterprising Romanians are.

Sources:

https://cluj.com/articole/unica-bere-artizanala-ale-produsa-in-cluj-poate-fi-gasita-la-off-the-wall/

actualdecluj.ro/doi-soti-fac-singura-bere-artizanala-din-cluj-si-nu-o-gasesti-decat-in-2-baruri-si-in-manastur/