Father and son alumni David and Aaron Hopkins continue their family’s agricultural legacy in Harve De Grace, Maryland. The Hopkins family has been farming the same plot of land since the 1920s; in 2020, they added a farm brewery. David Hopkins, UD plant science alumnus, farmer, and operator of Hopkins Produce, grows the barley his son Aaron Hopkins, UD agribusiness alumnus, uses in brewing beers and seltzers on-site.
Father and son alumni David and Aaron Hopkins continue their family’s agricultural legacy in Harve De Grace, Maryland. The Hopkins family has been farming the same plot of land since the 1920s; in 2020, they added a farm brewery. David Hopkins, UD plant science alumnus, farmer, and operator of Hopkins Produce, grows the barley his son Aaron Hopkins, UD agribusiness alumnus, uses in brewing beers and seltzers on-site.
Since the 1920s, the Hopkins Family has farmed the same plot of land in Havre De Grace, Maryland, west of Newark.
The farm housed a dairy from 1926 until 2000. Since then, the Hopkins family has produced tomatoes for canning and grain crops like barley, corn, wheat and soybeans. Today, fresh produce, grown on-site and harvested by hand, is sold at Hopkins Produce farm stand, and beer, brewed on-site, is served at Hopkins Farm Brewery.
“Things change in farming and agriculture, and you have to change with them,” said David Hopkins, a UD Class of 1979 alumnus of the University of Delaware. “I think a half dozen dairy farms might be left in Harford County, maybe a few more. In the 1970s, there were probably 120, and you could make a good living milking cows.”
David grows the barley, and his son Aaron Hopkins, a UD Class of 2012 UD food and agribusiness marketing and management alumnus, uses it to create a range of craft beers. The alumni duo are joined in their endeavors by David’s siblings who are co-owners of the farm and managing partners of Hopkins Farm Brewery.
David Hopkins, UD plant science alumnus, farmer and operator of Hopkins Produce, grows the barley his son Aaron Hopkins, UD agribusiness alumnus, uses in brewing beers and seltzers on-site.
Aaron’s interest in brewing beer started during a senior class at UD. The class project was to develop a business plan for an agriculture-based business. Aaron was considering a farm-to-table restaurant.
The same week his business idea was due in class, Aaron attended an event at the UD Barnes & Noble Bookstore. As Aaron listened to a local author read from a newly released book, the seed of another idea was planted in his mind. The speaker was Sam Calagione, co-founder of Dogfish Head Brewery, Milton, DE.
Aaron founded Chesapeake Malting Company in 2014, providing locally-grown and hand-crafted malted grains to breweries and distilleries throughout Maryland.
“Aaron was home-brewing and working at different breweries,” David said. “Then around 2018, my brother, his uncle, said, ‘Let's build a farm brewery.’”
Hopkins Farm Brewery’s “Level Common” went on to receive a gold medal in the historical beer category at the World Beer Cup.
“If Aaron hadn’t gone to the University of Delaware and met Sam, we might not be sitting here in this brewery today,” David said.
Luckily help is on the way for David, who is looking forward to semi-retiring from the produce business. His nephew Mitchell is keen to continue the Hopkins farming legacy.
The spacious brewery is decorated with reclaimed barn wood and stone found on the property. There are pavilion tents, space for events and 16 beers on tap.
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