Real German bier, in a real German town, made by real Stubborn Germans. Stubborn German Brewing Company is located in Waterloo, Illinois and is officially open! Chris Rahn from Waterloo is the Brewmaster and owner, along with his wife, Tammy.

We would be honored to have you help spread the word with us! Please share this page! We will be absolutely dependent on our local community to help support us, spread our name, and patronize us whenever possible. We want to earn your business the right way, by brewing the tastiest beer around, pint after pint.

DESCRIPTION
In case you haven’t opened a brewery before, this is a lot of work and requires a lot of time (and a lot of waiting for responses/approvals), but we are up for the challenge and are excited about this venture!  Typically the federal/state/local approval process takes almost a year.  The building also needs major renovation before the equipment can be installed. We have a 4 year old 3 barrel Premier Stainless direct-fire brewhouse purchased and in storage...just waiting on finalizing the building.  When ALL of this is complete, THEN we are legally able to brew the first batch of beer, and pray that it’s up to our quality standards, in order to start selling it! We also have two lovely children and another business, Rahn’s Hometown Auto Repair, which will remain open. Your patience is greatly appreciated!

Chris Rahn, the Brewmaster, has 10 years of homebrewing experience and is very passionate about bringing delicious beer to Waterloo and the surrounding areas.  Chris is a BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) National Beer Judge (one of the highest ranked in Illinois), and a longtime member of the St. Louis Brews homebrew club.  Chris has had a passion for craft beer since turning 21 – while his friends were drinking watery, mass-produced light flavored lagers, he was always enjoying the “weird” beer that was offered.

On to the beer! The styles of beer we will brew will be decidedly German, with some American varieties as well. Some of the styles we plan to brew year-round include: Oktoberfest, Honey Kolsch, American IPA, and many more. At home, we have brewed everything from “light lagers” and “blonde ales” up to “jalapeño beer” and “bourbon barrel aged double oatmeal, double chocolate, double coffee stout”, so the beers we have chosen to brew year-round are tried and true recipes that have been brewed many times and adjusted to have the best flavor.

WHY "STUBBORN GERMAN"?
The name “Stubborn German” comes from a phrase heard pretty often around the Waterloo area. It describes the old Germans that came to this area long ago and seemed to be set in their old ways. We like this description for our new brewery for a few reasons:
1. We think those old Stubborn Germans made, and still make, some of the best beer in the world, and we want to mirror that.
2. We are stubborn ourselves, in that when we brew a great beer, we repeat it the same way. Over and over and over again.
3. We are also so stubborn that we will not let one style of beer define us! Oh yes, there will be German beer brewed at our brewery, but also plenty of other styles, especially American beers, along with some British, Belgian, and Irish beers eventually as well.
4. We are, ourselves, Stubborn Germans!